The average interest rate for a savings account today is 0.45%. It wasn't that long ago that one could easily earn 5% in a well-chosen savings account, like those offered by ING Direct, or bump that up by a point or two by putting money away in a CD.

Do you own enough gold and silver for what lies ahead?

Gasoline consumption in the United States has been dropping for years.

Worldwide, an incredible tower of debt has been under construction since President Nixon's 1971 default on the gold obligations of the US government.

We've received a number of inquiries from Casey Research subscribers about our opinion on the current rare earth metals market. We have covered this topic previously, but this article, we'll take a fresh look.

US-Iranian saber-rattling or impending shoot-out?

The Fukushima disaster reminded us all of the dangers inherent in uranium-fueled nuclear reactors.

To many walking the planet, fracking has a seriously bad reputation. Thanks to hyperbole and misinformation, fracking opponents have convinced a lot of people that the operators who drill and then hydraulically fracture underground rock layers thumb their noses at and even hate the environment.

In last week's Metals, Mining, and Money, Jeff Clark estimated that given the magnitude of the correction that started last September, it may take until May 2012 for gold to reach a new high.

After all, in spite of some short-term fixes, there remains no real resolution to the sovereign debt issues in many European countries.

Doug, a lot of readers have been asking for guidance on how to know when it's time to exit center stage and hunker down in some safe place.

We have reported on changes in global gold demand, from booming investment demand in Asia to European and US debt concerns that have re-solidified gold's long tenure as the ultimate safe-haven asset for turbulent times.