The commodity markets are surging today. Are the bulls charging because of investor fear or is something else going on? Here’s the answer.

There is a buzz in the commodities markets this week. Just about anything that can be pulled from the ground is surging in value. Everything, that is, but natural gas.

Most notably, gold is just about ready to reach over the critical $1,000 level, proving that investors are looking for safety. Even without a hint of inflation, the precious metal has surged by over 5% so far this week.

The quick run means the world’s gold miners are surging in value. The more leverage packed into their balance sheets, the higher their prices are going to go.

So far, Yumana Gold (NYSE:AUY) is up by nearly 20% this week, while AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) is up by over 15%.

It is a similar situation for the silver industry.

Joe Kunkle, Investment U Research Team

With gold and oil hogging the “commodities spotlight,” silver is too often forgotten. However, a new trend is emerging that indicates a major rally may be starting in silver prices and silver related stocks.

Over the past few weeks we’ve seen more and more data that supports a rally in silver: from large institutional money making large bullish bets, to technical indicators of a breakout, fundamental valuations well below where they should be, and a possibility of a massive short squeeze.

The iShares Silver Trust ETF (NYSE: SLV) has gained 18% since the broader markets began to rally in early March, but we could easily see another 25% – or more – in the remainder of 2009.

All in all, they make silver a must-own in any diversified portfolio.

Here’s what the smart money is doing in silver right

The higher this rally goes the more you’ll hear that another bull market has started, says underground investor Chris Weber. But Chris is warning investors not to be fooled.

Chris, who edits the Weber Global Opportunities Report, started investing while in high school and made so much money he hasn’t had a “real” job in his life. He’s an investor’s investor. And that means when he makes a call we listen.

Chris says all the great starts of bull markets have certain things in common. And these can all be summarized with the words “Great Values.” Most important, new bull markets offer investors great dividend yields and low price-to-earnings ratio on most stocks.

Right now, the dividend yield on the S&P 500 is 2.46% — lower than the 3.58% yield the index offered was when this rally started in March.