Michael Lombardi wrote - Quantitative easing has taken a toll on the U.S. economy.

The effects are unseen now, but in the long run, they will show. Trillions of dollars in new money has been created to spur growth in the U.S. economy through quantitative easing, but what really has been achieved from it? At the very best, the stock market has gone up—on the other hand, the U.S. dollar has declined in value against other major world currencies, real inflation is rising, and unemployment is still an issue.

George Leong wrote - Gold and silver are currently taking a breather on the charts, but if the global risk holds, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a rally in the precious metals this year.

The growing sense of fear and panic related to the U.S. debt reduction negotiations and the raising of the debt ceiling coming out of Washington has made a lot of headlines lately. In spite of being an important political and macroeconomic matter, the U.S. debt concerns are not what caused Monday's selloff. Politicians may tell you that it is, but how do you then explain the fact that the U.S.