Crude oil prices have reversed to the downside again and have pressed to a new reaction low.

Don't expect a balanced budget for this year or any year of this president's administration.  Instead, he'll add 75% to the nation's official national debt -- three times more than all the presidents who came before him put together.

This is shaping up to be a very important and a very interesting day for the precious metals and the mining names.

Americans are having a hard time making ends meet.  Their incomes are falling in real terms.  Measured by the official core CPI, incomes are about flat for the last 10 years.

Even modest cuts proposed by the Republicans don't have a chance.  Every privileged group threatened by the cuts will mobilize.

James Mound reviews futures and commodities in his weekly report for the week of January 24.

Be accountable to someone other than yourself can be a big help in profitable trading.

Traders said that gold sales to China had jumped 30-50 per cent since Christmas, driving the cost of kilo bars in Hong Kong more than $3 per ounce above the market price of gold, the highest level since 2008 and an indication of the tightness in the physical market.

The weakness in Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX) from its December high has returned the price structure to a critical convergent support area.

The US now has a higher unemployment rate than Russia, Britain, Germany or Japan.  When it comes to joblessness, the US is a world leader.