News out of Venezuela continues to be quite grim, pointing to further economic deterioration... Here is the the latest:

Last fall, we said the rally in PMs would take longer than most expected. Expectations were unmet in 2013, and it is possible that 2014 may be no different... gold gives no indication of beginning a strong rally that will change the trend, any time soon and, while the next sustained bull market may well favor silver outperforming gold, silver may have to go lower before it can go higher. Let me explain why this is the case.

No matter what you hear or read about gold and the prospects for substantially higher price levels, the trend is down, exactly opposite of what you know. When you compare what you know, an opinion, with what the market is telling you, the market is a more accurate measure, however counter-intuitive it may be to your opinion, [and THIS is what the markets are saying].

Most people deal in the present, rarely questioning the future beyond what they consider to be the very next event. The great majority of people...cannot imagine...a disastrous collapse as being in any way possible because surely, somehow, the governments of the world will fix things. The number of people whose eyes have been opened seems to be growing, however, and many of them are asking what the collapse will look like as it unfolds. What will the symptoms be? Here is how we see it.

I get tired of preaching economic disaster and I am sure readers are just as tired of reading about it. Yet, it is coming regardless. The disaster will be of such importance that one cannot overemphasize it or warn too often about it. It will be a disaster of unprecedented scale.

If you have 401k assets, are a financial professional or individual investors looking to construct portfolios and not move monies very often, and looking to beat inflation over an extended period of time, the chart below is well worth being aware of.

Compared with Ireland, where the individual tax rate is a whopping 48%, the U.S. national average of 36.9% is not so bad. How does your country compare?

There is no need to beat around the bush: junior mining stocks have bottomed. The bear market is over...The evidence is compelling and is growing by the day.

The Canadian housing market is headed for a significant bust, in my view. It's going to be a repeat of the 2008 mortgage bubble deflation. Only it's happening to the north. People will lose a lot of money but those who understand and are properly positioned may gain fortunes.

We are starting to see some subtle changes in market behavior but the trend currently remains down for both gold and silver. For those who want to grow their capital, the best time to make a market commitment is with the trend and given how no one knows how the market will correct, it is best to wait and see first what the market reveals. Below are some daily and weekly charts on gold & silver charts to show you how things are developing.