Montreal, Canada

I've been bullish on gold and the mining stocks since 2002. Personally, I hold far more physical gold than mining stocks because when push comes to shove, I like the metal more and believe it provides far superior financial insurance benefits than a gold mining company. On a risk-adjusted and total return basis since 1996, gold has severely outpaced mining companies.

Jerusalem, Israel

If you're bearish on the stock market like me then it's always hard to sit on the sidelines or remain under-weighted in equities when the market surges. That's the case now following Thursday's big rally in world markets. But you have to stick to your guns if you truly believe we're in a dangerous environment.

Jerusalem, Israel

From a post-2008 high of more than $320, lumber prices as measured by the EOD Index are now in a free fall. Spot lumber prices have now declined a cumulative 36% since peaking in April – technically defined as a deep bear market (see chart below).

Tel Aviv, Israel

A rarely tracked commodity benchmark has been in a free fall since May.

Tel Aviv, Israel

This marks my first visit to Israel. I learned Hebrew at elementary school and, admittedly, spent most of those lessons sitting in the principal's office -- definitely not your model student until I was accepted to McGill University in 1986. To this day, my parents are shocked that I even made it to university, let alone graduated. But I can still read Hebrew and flying into Tel Aviv on Sunday was certainly an experience for this traveler.

- Dugald Malcolm

Montreal, Quebec

Montreal, Canada

Copper prices appear to be forming a double-top. That spells bad news for the commodities complex and the prospects for a continued economic recovery into the second half of 2010.

Both technical and fundamental scenarios are increasingly bearish for this highly cyclical industrial metal whereby China consumes almost 40% of its annual output.

Montreal, Canada

There's another big rally ahead for Treasury bonds this year as markets dislocate once again amid growing debt fears in Europe and how this will impact U.S. bank balance sheets. I think before this deflation scare is truly over, we'll see benchmark Treasury yields surpass the lows achieved in December 2008.

Montreal, Canada

Large-cap oil drilling stocks have now plunged almost 30% since May 1st and continue to lose technical support this morning following Obama’s flip-flop on oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. OIH, or the Oil Services HLDRs, has declined 18.4% in 2010 and is down 13.5% over the last 12 months.

Montreal, Canada

Visions are creeping in about the dark days of 2008 and early 2009 when the global financial system seemed to be at the brink of total collapse. The usual suspects worked profitably again last month in the worst May for the S&P 500 Index since 1962 and 1960 for the Dow.

May was virtually an identical replay of the carnage that unfolded in late 2008 with Treasury bonds, the Japanese yen, German bunds, gold and short-selling scoring the biggest gains. The U.S. Dollar Index also rallied.