The global economy is in a lull right now. Some expect a recovery sooner, rather than later. Others, like us, think that we could see a second downturn. Either way, there’s one investment you need to own right now: silver.

Silver is the most flexible metal on earth. We’re not talking about its malleability. We’re talking about how it is used.

Let’s take the point of view of those expecting a quick, painless recovery. In that case, silver is a great investment. It has many industrial uses other precious metals don’t. As the global economy kicks back into gear, we’ll see more demand from electronics manufacturers, battery makers and solar cell producers — all of which use silver in their products.

There are thousands of uses for silver in industry. It is used in water purification, medical machinery and, of course, jewelry. All of these industries will begin to pump out products again,

The market’s rally so far this year has given way to a flood of profits for investors. Since early March, the Dow is up more than 49%. But starting today, you can begin cashing in even larger gains using the stock market “Trump Card,” which can guarantee you at least triple your money.

But first, there’s a catch…

These “Trump Cards” aren’t traded very often. And you can’t find them on an exchange. That’s what makes them so lucrative. You see, it’s this lack of liquidity that makes these high-yield bonds, as they’re called, double and even triple overnight.

Once you get past the sometimes-frustrating volume issue, you’ll find many advantages high-yield bonds use to trump regular stocks.

First, there is the time element. You can hold a stock indefinitely, as long as the company stays in business. Bonds, however, mature at a certain date. They can even be called away. But unlike options,

The past 18 months have taken a serious toll on normal supply and demand in many industries. But no industry was impacted more than energy…

Oil peaked at $147 per barrel in July 2008 — right before the house of cards came crashing down on the global economy. Once banks started to fail and credit dried up, other businesses slowed production and laid off workers. This created a massive trickle effect on the overall economy.

Big corporations and individual consumers alike were using less energy. That meant the prices of every energy-related commodity plummeted.

This spring, things started to turn around… The unemployment rate quit falling at such a rapid rate. Inventories were too low in many industries, creating a ramp up in production again. Energy prices climbed…

Since the start of this year, the price of crude oil has nearly doubled. In just the last six months, heating oil jumped as much as

So far this year, three of the world’s safest blue chip stocks returned 58.5%, 85.2%, and 112.5%, but most investors weren’t even able to touch them. Today, I’ll show you how you can…

Those gains came from companies you are probably already familiar with: Roche Holdings, Wal-Mart of Mexico, and Adidas. These three companies have a combined market cap of $177 billion, yet produced enormous penny stock-sized gains.

Beyond being large, international, and profitable, these three have something else in common: none of them trade on a major U.S. exchange.

Roche is Swiss, Adidas is German, and Wal-Mart of Mexico is a southern neighbor. So unless you live in Switzerland, Germany, or Mexico, you might be wondering how you can get in on opportunities like these.

Until a few years ago, we wouldn’t have had an answer for you. Luckily, the international investment landscape made at least one change for the

In the next 30 days, we’re going to see the stock market drop by 10%. And if you buy shares of the play I’m about to reveal, you could be in for as much as 20% profits as a result…

While that may sound like a very specific prediction for a market that’s been anything but predictable this year, thanks to our newest investing tool we’ve got a little bit of added insight into where the market’s headed in the short term.

A few weeks back, I wrote to you about the Small-Cap Recovery Index that Penny Stock Fortunes editors Greg Guenthner, Jim Nelson and I have been working on here at Agora Financial HQ.  The index was designed to use the predictive power of small-cap stocks and leading economic indicators to give us some clues as to when we might get our first glimpse at economic recovery.

That’s because historically, small-caps lead

By guest author Jim Nelson (http://pennysleuth.com/a-rare-second-chance-at-making-a-fortune/)

Today you have a rare “second chance” at making a fortune.

Let me explain…

From 1990 to 2004 the number of internet users in the US absolutely exploded — going from less than 1% of the population back in 1990 all the way up to over 65% in 2004.

And, as you know by now, the rapid increase in Internet usage spawned enormous growth in computer and internet-related companies. Microsoft went up 9,750%. Yahoo jumped a whopping 7,763% in just three and a half years. And AOL, the grand daddy of them all, went up 73,050%from its 1992 IPO to its peak at the end of 1999.

The trick was to identify the growth early. And to get out before the bubble burst.

Well today we’ve got a rare second chance to “turn back time.”

As investors and traders, it’s rare that we get any second chances. But when you’re …

Sometime over the next 16 months, one-quarter of the Internet will go on sale. But you shouldn’t be suckered into this deal…

Before we get into the ins and outs of this sale, we need to clarify what it means to actually buy one-fourth of the Internet. Of course, you can’t just own something as large and independent as the Internet. But you can buy a portion of its traffic.

We’ve been recently writing about international telecoms. If you bought up enough of these Internet Service Providers you could potentially own enough Internet traffic to constitute a quarter. But there will soon be another way you can invest in the traffic with just a single click.

About 50% of all Internet traffic is from file sharing– people sharing music, videos, games, and every other type of file you can think of. Regardless of how you feel about Internet piracy, 50% of all bandwidth

The number of Chinese with Internet access is increasing at an astronomical rate – after all right now, the region’s penetration rate is only 17% compared with 75% here in the U.S. And along with that growth, opportunities are emerging for a select few investors to get in on tech growth in the Far East.

Most of the time, backdoor plays offer the largest profits in growth industries like this one. Sometimes, however, a straightforward approach is your best chance at the quickest gains. This is one of those times.

Take China Mobile (NYSE:CHL), for instance. This telecom behemoth is the most obvious play in the region. In the last three years, the company doubled the number of subscribers and grew its bottom line 107%. That’s a rare feat for a $230 billion company.

China Mobile’s growth is impressive, but it’s nothing compared with what a small-cap player can do in this

Say what? Geithner begs for higher debt ceiling, says it will restore world confidence… Deficit now three times last year’s record… so Congress buys 8 private jets… A currency sea change? Bill Jenkins on the dollar’s surprise rally… Jim Nelson on the best sectors for income investing… John Williams digs deeper into Friday’ jobs report… four data distortions you need to know…

“It is critically important that Congress act before the [debt] limit is reached,” Tim Geithner wrote over the weekend in a letter to lawmakers, “so that citizens and investors here and around the world can remain confident that the United States will always meet its obligations.”

Sounds like our Treasury Secretary is finally putting his foot down, insisting that Congress pull back its lavish spending programs and start addressing our incredible $11.6 trillion national debt.

Wait… what’s that? Oh, Geithner’s actually asking for Congress to raise the debt ceiling. If Congress

When you are about to invest in a penny stock, the number one question you need to ask yourself is: What’s the catalyst?

Without some big event or monolithic development coming down the road, there’s no reason for investors to care about these tiny companies.

You see, the majority of investors are only interested in making 5%–10% per year. That’s pretty much the maximum you can expect to gain if you are investing in blue chips. Here at Penny Sleuth, we view the stock market a little differently.

We want the money multipliers — double-, triple-, even quadruple-digit gains. For that to happen, we need some kind of spark to set our penny stocks apart from the rest. After all, there are currently over 6,000 to choose from.

So, what kind of catalysts can make a penny stock pop? Let’s look at a couple big ones: