We have heard much “tough talk” through the years regarding reining in the regulatory excesses of government agencies in the past, but little action has followed those words. Perhaps we will finally see a genuine move away from excessive regulation.

There is one last indicator that I believe may be the most important of all. That is the “Index of Leading Economic Indicators” (LEI), which is a compendium of those economic indicators that point toward future growth, and LEI has just reached historic highs, far exceeding previous peaks in 1999 and 2006.

It’s been no secret that the prices of gold and silver have been moving upward at a fast clip in recent months. Gold has soared 27 percent so far this year. There has not been a significant drop-off in production, so it’s been evident that an increase in demand has been a part of the force driving the price upward.