The Quiet Outperformance of Recent Biotech IPOs
Source: Forbes, Bruce Booth  (8/1/12)
"New biotech IPOs have quietly been putting points on the board with their post-IPO performance. It's now fair to say they have resoundingly outperformed their tech cousins in the public markets." More >

New Hope for Alzheimer's Disease
Source: Gail Dutton, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News  (8/1/12)
"Optimism has been fostered by the more than 150 firms working in Alzheimer's pace and the countless approaches being explored." More >

There's a Pink Gold Rush for Potash: Fadi Benjamin
Source: Peter Byrne of The Energy Report  (7/31/12)
After a tough five years, the price of agricultural potash is rebounding. Demand for fertilizer is on the rise in China, Brazil and the United States, and mining firms are rushing to find new sources of the pink potassium salts. In this exclusive interview with The Energy Report, Fadi Benjamin, mining analyst with Northern Securities Co., shares his top picks in the junior space and talks about the pros and cons facing entrants in an industry dominated by a handful of seniors. More >

Rare Earths and Graphite—The Critical Factors for Success: Gareth Hatch
Source: JT Long of The Critical Metals Report  (7/31/12)
Comparisons are useful in evaluating a company, but in the rare earth market, it's not as simple as a spreadsheet. With so many variables in the mix, no two projects are exactly alike, and each has its relative strengths and weaknesses. But out of hundreds of juniors digging for rare earths and graphite, how can investors evaluate who is likely to be among the handful to finally sell their minerals to end users? In this exclusive interview with The Critical Metals Report, Technology Metals Research Founding Principal Gareth Hatch examines the supply chain to identify advanced companies with good odds for success. He also shares some telling metrics that help show how companies measure up to their peers. More >

Have You Overlooked This Piece of the US Economic Puzzle?
Source: David Galland, Casey Research  (7/31/12)
"In some ways, gaining an understanding of the U.S. economy and its current trajectory is as simple as recognizing a few fundamental facts." More >

World's Gold Deposits Are Drying Up
Source: Mining.com, Michael Allan McCrae  (7/31/12)
"Of the 439 mines or deposits over 1 Moz, only 189 are in production and have an owner with over $1.8B market capitalization. The remainder are owned by juniors, private companies or government-sponsored enterprises." More >

Gold and Silver Await the Starting Gun
Source: Bob Kirtley, SK Options Trading  (7/31/12)
"This week is another political week in that we have meetings across the board involving the ECB and the Federal Reserve followed by the job numbers on Friday. All of these have an effect on the investment community in that investment funds tend to stay on the sidelines until the direction of the markets becomes clear." More >

Most-Accurate Gold Forecasters Split over Gold's Next Step
Source: Bloomberg, Debarati Roy  (7/31/12)
"The only three analysts to correctly predict gold's biggest quarterly slump in four years are now split, reflecting investors' diverging views on the probability of central banks doing more to shore up growth." More >

Junior Miners Still Giving the Street Something to Talk About: Philip Ker
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report   (7/30/12)
Which junior miners are giving the Street something to talk about? Some shining examples of promising companies with good balance sheets do exist despite what seems like a market dominated by bad news. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Philip Ker, an analyst with Vancouver-based Union Securities, shares the good news his latest site visits have revealed about projects in Nevada and Mexico. More >

Some Smaller Gold and Silver Miners Pay Decent Dividends, Too
Source: Kip Keen, Mineweb  (7/30/12)
"There aren't many precious metal producers issuing dividends, but there is a good handful, and they are serious about sharing profits." More >

Oil Prices: Three Factors to Watch this Week
Source: Diane Alter, Money Morning  (7/30/12)
"There are a few catalysts that could propel energy higher this week, thanks to the quest to save the Eurozone, the FOMC meeting and Iran's moves to choke the Strait of Hormuz." More >

Gold Investors Waiting for Signal
Source: Ben Traynor, BullionVault  (7/30/12)
"Prices for gold bullion fell below $1,620/oz during Monday morning's London session, slightly below last week's close, while stocks gained and U.S. Treasuries fell, with markets focused on key monetary policy decisions due later in the week." More >

Gold ETFs Turn Higher on ECB Pledge as Central Banks Meet
Source: ETF Trends  (7/30/12)
"Silver ETP holdings have been on a modest upward trend since early July, indicating some investors view the recent silver price range as a good entry point." More >

As the US Corn Crop Withers, Ethanol Markets Soar and then Slip
Source: John Kingston, Platts  (7/30/12)
"These are the times that ethanol opponents warned against. This past week has been the one where ethanol burst into the news, and where markets gyrated sharply." More >

India's Blackout Underscores Need for Energy Investment
Source: Bloomberg Businessweek, Bruce Einhorn and Kartikay Mehrotra  (7/30/12)
"In India, it's a fact of life: The power goes out. A lot. With the country's power plants and electricity grid unable to keep up with demand in the world's second-largest country, blackouts are everyday occurrences." More >

For Uranium, an Exit From the Doghouse?
Source: InvestorPlace, Aaron Levitt  (7/30/12)
"Things may be looking up for the sector. Rising nuclear plant construction across emerging markets is improving the supply-demand situation. Perhaps more importantly, Japan’s sleeping reactors are starting to wake." More >

Dendreon to Close New Jersey Plant, Cut 600 Jobs
Source: Reuters  (7/30/12)
"The company, whose Provenge treatment for prostate cancer has had disappointing sales since it was launched in April 2010, and which is facing growing competition from easier-to-administer drugs, said the closure of its Morris Plains, New Jersey, factory would greatly reduce its cost of goods sold." More >

Silver Prices Ready for QE3
Source: Jonathan Yates, Money Morning  (7/30/12)
"Just look at what silver prices did after Bernanke announced QE2. From August 2010 to August 2011, silver prices gained 141% to hit more than $43/oz." More >

Challenging the Paradigms of Investing
Source: Frank Holmes, U.S. Global Investors  (7/30/12)
"For all the hype over recent tech IPOs, did you know that investors have lost more money in Groupon and Facebook than the entire assets in all of the gold funds?" More >

Brains Are Different in People with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory
Source: Science Daily   (7/30/12)
"UC Irvine scientists have discovered intriguing differences in the brains and mental processes of an extraordinary group of people who can effortlessly recall every moment of their lives since about age 10." More >

MLPs Are Muddling Through the Earnings Season
Source: Hinds Howard, MLP HINDSight  (7/30/12)
"Stick with the news, because more earnings reports are coming this week. Good luck out there." More >

The Federal Reserve, Gold, Oil, & the Dollar's Demise
Source: Chris Vermeulen, The Gold and Oil Guy  (7/29/12)
"Over the longer term, a weak dollar is positive for precious metals and other hard assets." More >

Harry Dent's Formula for Surviving the Great Bust Ahead
Source: Karen Roche of The Gold Report  (7/27/12)
With a perfect storm brewing on the horizon, investors should be building their cash cache and running for cover, warns Harry Dent, author of The Great Crash Ahead. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Dent explains how central bank stimulus programs are fighting a futile battle because a huge army of aging baby boomers has reached the stage in their economic lifecycles when they curb spending. How is Dent preparing for the gathering storm? Read on. . . More >

Gold Set for Gain on Week
Source: Ben Traynor, BullionVault  (7/27/12)
"Spot market gold bullion hit a five-week high at $1,625/oz during Friday morning's London trading, on course for a weekly gain that would see the pattern of alternating up and down weeks stretched to week number 11." More >

Hong Kong's Largest Gold Bullion Vault Signals Rising Asian Wealth
Source: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen, Mineweb   (7/27/12)
"Hong Kong's largest gold-storage facility, which can hold about 22% of the bullion now in Fort Knox, will open in September to meet rising demand from banks and the wealthy." More >