Wall Street takes a hit; Gold and Silver plunge

After a powerful first quarter stocks have started the month of May on the downside.  As of this writing the S&P 500 is deep into its third day of negative trading with commodities taking the biggest hit.  Oil is now trading at just over $108 a barrel.  Precious metals have been hammered since posting records all through April, with Gold and especially Silver (which rose more than 20% in April alone) in headlong retreat so far this week.  The sell off in metals was however predicted by more than a few traders who warned that a month of record gains was going to cause some major investors to take profits.  Many analysts also cautioned that silver's near parabolic move to the upside had outpaced market fundamentals and it was due for a correction.

The general pattern for metals, especially gold, for the last decade has been two steps forward - one step back - pause - repeat.  Many believe this is a continuation of that pattern.