What you are about to read could give you serious heartburn, especially if you are an economist or a central banker or a retiree or just someone who has lived life playing by the rules, and now you find yourself getting no return on your savings, forcing you to save even more and work even longer.

Given the magnitude of the rally in gold year-to-date, many are questioning whether now is a good time to sell some or all of their holdings in the precious metal. From my perspective, however, I would be reluctant to abandon the asset class because it plays an important role in a portfolio.

If there is a business sector or financial asset class that has outperformed gold in the last 16 years, I can’t think of one yet how many people do you know who understand the necessity for owning gold and have actually acted on that knowledge?

We are better off than ever before according to the Fed Q2/16 estimate of the balance sheets of U.S. households which shows that, collectively, our net worth reached a new high in nominal, real, and per capita terms. The bottom line is that, in fact, life in the U.S. continues to get better and better.

Although low to negative interest rates could persist for years, odds are the current low-yield craze won’t last a full 30 years. Therefore, at some point down the road, today’s buyers of 30-year bonds will likely wish they had parked some of their savings in physical precious metals instead.

We've all heard of big companies like Silver Wheaton, Royal Gold, and Franco-Nevada employing the concept of "streaming" but how does it work, exactly? Today's infographic explains the precious metals streaming model, and the arbitrage opportunity that creates value for both the streamer and the miner seeking to acquire capital.

Analysts expect earnings to improve dramatically (35+%) for the 4 Canadian small cap companies on our list today, hence the high target price estimates.

The deterioration of the federal budget began in slow fashion over a year ago, and it's now become obvious. The deficit is still quite manageable but spending is firming while revenues are stagnating. The public sector is growing while the private sector struggles. Here are some updated charts that speak for themselves:

If you want money and want to survive the massive economic failure that is destined to come, buy and hold gold and silver. The world has not been awash in debt more than it is now and that mushrooming debt cannot be sustained. What’s in your wallet? Words: 860

Dark clouds are now moving in fast across the world and this coming autumn could be very troublesome both for the world economy as well as geopolitically and socially. The combined risks are now higher than at any time in world history. When risks are high, it is advisable to stay away from bubble markets but, sadly, the investment world loves owning things that are priced high, totally ignoring the massive loss potential.