Frank Holmes's Contributions

In the media’s duty to report risks facing the average investor, some reporters seemed to have overlooked what I believe to be the greatest threat. As Bloomberg only recently quantified, “Americans have missed out on almost $200 billion of stock gains as they drained money from the market in the past four years.”

Historically investors have received a 2-to-1 leverage by owning gold equities instead of the commodity. In today's fairytale of cash costs along with an overabundance of production projects in the pipeline, focus on the gold miners that can successfully manage these challenges.

After decades of importing oil, the U.S. seems only a few years away from reversing the flow. Will century-old legislation be the biggest roadblock from exporting excess oil?

In emerging markets, supportive government policies, rising wealth and access to innovative technology may be an influential source for future Black Friday purchases in the U.S.

China celebrated another achievement last week, as Mo Yan became the first Chinese citizen to win a Nobel Prize for literature. The selection of Mo was praised by a Chinese nationalist tabloid as a sign that mainstream China could “no longer be refused by the West for long.”

Proponents say a transaction tax would discourage short-term trading, with little effect on long-term investors. Opposition says the extra cost would undermine liquidity, adversely affect market quality and distort the value of a security.

After Mario Draghi announced the European Central Bank’s new bond buying program, I was the first guest on CNBC Asia’s Squawk Box to weigh in on this decision.

This week, gold bugs were rewarded with the long-awaited positive momentum in the yellow metal, and on Friday, bullion rose to about $1,670. After falling below the 200-day moving average, gold had been stuck in quicksand for several months. With the jumps in the price this week, bullion swiftly rose above this critically important long-term moving average.

In the spirit of the events this summer, BTN Research compared gold’s advancement from the beginning of the games in Beijing to the London Olympics.

A surprising wealth of information about the world’s most prosperous people can be discovered in two new reports. The Chinese Millionaire Wealth Report 2012, put together by GroupM and the Hurun Report, found that there are now a million millionaires in China. On average, a Chinese millionaire is 39 years old, has an average of four luxury watches, vacations in France, and owns a business.

The signs the market is sending out make it an especially attractive time to “mine” for investment opportunity.

Despite the S&P’s wild ride over the past few years, the market is significantly higher than when President Obama took the oath. Does this ensure a victory for the 2012 election?

One of the few things that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney can agree on is that our economy is still struggling to regain its strength. Stubborn unemployment and sluggish growth at home combined with a slowing China and a dysfunctional eurozone have cast a dark shadow on America’s eternal optimism.

Among investors these days, a fellow commodity bull is about as rare as finding a positive story in the media, especially when you look at the results of metals and natural resources during the first half of 2012.

Did you know that one of the industries that has seen the best job growth in the U.S. is mining? From the end of December 2007 through May 2012, U.S. employment in the mining sector has increased 16 percent.

While Europe, China and the U.S. were primarily responsible for a lower Global PMI reading, we believe the trend is your friend. In April, global PMI crossed above the three-month moving average, and historically, when a “cross-above” has happened, it’s signaled higher prices for many commodities.

Chinese operas have been keeping audiences enthralled for hundreds of years with mythical characters, enchanting stories and elaborate masks that add drama and mystery.

A few months ago, we created two visuals we felt captured the emotions of how people respond to gasoline prices around the U.S. With an increased dependency on our cars these days to get to work, school and grocery stores, the price of gas is a constant reminder of how “rich” we feel.

Over the past several months, the markets have tested investors’ conviction to gold. Since February, the price of the yellow metal has steadily stepped lower, rallying somewhat in May before falling again when Ben Bernanke disappointed by not providing the U.S. with more stimulus.

Did you know that at the beginning of the 19th century, China made up the largest share of the world’s GDP? This makes the term “Rising China” a misnomer, as the country has been simply returning to, instead of rising to, super power, says former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.