After falling out of favor for so long, gold stocks are overdue to soar this year. The smart contrarians buying in early before the rest of the herd starts understanding gold stocks’ vast upside potential are going to earn fortunes. This article looks at the performance of the HUI, XAU, GDX & GDXJ over the last few months of decline to their lows and their most recent ascent.

Given the fact that a) the historical movement of silver is 90 – 98% correlated withgold-silver gold, b) silver is currently greatly undervalued relative to its average long-term historical relationship with gold and c) many analysts predict a parabolic rise in the price of gold over the next 5 years it is realistic to expect that silver will also escalate dramatically in price - but by how much? This article applies the historical silver to gold ratios to come up with a range of prices based on specific price levels for gold being reached.

Unlike a number of countries in Europe the U.S. is currently not dealing with general price declines but, that being said, the risks of such an occurrence have increased materially. This article outlines a number of such deflationary risks and how they might impact the U.S. economy.

The internet is awash with analysts who believe that gold is going to $7,250+forecasting crystal ball and as low as $725 and that silver is going down to $12 or higher than $120. Such pundits (Roubini, Sinclair, Rickards, Willie and Edelson to name a few) grab a lot of attention in the media but are their prognostications worth paying attention to or are they just a lot of hot air?

Martin Armstrong sees a peak in bond prices by October 1st, 2015 and a low in interest rates from that point forward - a "Sovereign Debt Big Bang" - and, as the defaults begin to materialize over the following 2 years, a run-up in stocks for safety with interest rates rising along with share prices. Below are excerpts from Armstrong's blog complete with notable charts of his Economic Confidence Model.

Will 2015 be a year of financial crashes, economic chaos and the start of the next worldwide depression? Personally, I am entirely convinced that the financial markets are more primed for a financial collapse now than they have been at any other time since the last crisis happened nearly seven years ago and I am certainly not alone.

The “year that was” brought mostly disappointment to precious metals bulls. Silver prices fell for the third straight year but when we finally see a major rotation out of stocks and into precious metals, silver has the potential to lead on the way up just as it has led on the way down. Let me explain why.

“Gird your loins and fasten your seat belts!” Below is Part 1 of my forecast for 2015 related to financial (incl. banking & oil) matters. Those related to geopolitical (incl. Russia, China, Japan, USA, Europe & the Islamic State) particulars and U.S. domestic (incl. political, political & societal) particulars are covered in subsequent articles.

Microcap stocks are inherently volatile, but for those that can stomach it, there is a big profit opportunity. Furthermore, hidden in the market are companies that do have game changing plans or discoveries that could see their valuations rise more than 10x (a ten-bagger, as industry people call it). The key is being able to put in the time, due diligence, and using the right strategy to discover these companies. This infographic covers some of the ins and outs of trading such stocks.

In spite of the positive change of behavior we have seen in gold and silver this past week with strong closes and increased volume - both attributes of buyers in more control than sellers - the weekly trend remains down. While we now see some steps in the right direction - a higher swing high - the market needs to prove itself and once that happens there will be ample opportunities to participate in the paper market.