Back in the late 1970s, the Hunt brothers from Texas tried to corner the silver market. That drove prices to $48 an ounce. Now, 31 years later, silver is shooting higher again. The March silver futures contract closed at $32.296 per ounce, up 72 cents.

Since gold is expensive, investors are turning to silver to hedge against inflation. Many fear that the Federal Reserve will not be able to control the spike in commodity prices. The Fed is buying $600 billion of treasuries and keeping interest rates near zero.

Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), which is the world's largest gold producer, continues to pump out strong profits. According to the latest quarterly report, net income came to 90 cents a share, up from 21 cents in the same period a year ago. Revenues were up 25% to $2.95 billion.

On an adjusted basis -- such as by excluding one-time items -- earnings were 95 cents. The Street consensus was for 87 cents.

"The Canadian economy performed much better than the U.S. economy during the past two and a half years," says J. Royden Ward.

The editor of Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter explains, "We believe many outstanding buying opportunities still exist and investors should continue to buy undervalued Canadian stocks."

Here, he looks at a trio of Canadian-based resource plays: Barrick Resources (ABX), Pan American Silver (PAAS), and Teck Resources 'B' (TCK).

"In my view, the best value in gold miners is the senior producers, and the best investment from that class is Barrick Gold (ABX)," says Ian Wyatt.

The editor of Top Stock Insights explains, "This company will benefit over the next few years from its high quality diversified portfolio of assets which includes around 140 million ounces of gold reserve.

"It's not a particularly fast growing company, but it's got the bull market in gold going for it. Additionally, it has a number of projects it can build and most importantly the capital to begin construction.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Vivus (VVUS) to overweight from neutral.
• Citigroup upgraded Corn Products (CPO) to buy from hold.
• Maxim Integrated (MXIM) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Cardinal Health (CAH) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Citigroup upgraded Monster Worldwide (MWW) and EchoStar (SATS) to buy from hold, as well as Las Vegas Sands (LVS) to buy from sell.
• BMO Capital upgraded Potash (POT) and Barrick Gold (ABX) to outperform from market perform.

Gold continues to climb to record highs on Wednesday, boosted by the Federal Reserve's comments that it would continue to ease monetary policy, if needed, to aid the U.S. economy.

While the announcement sent the dollar lower, investors moved into gold and silver, sending gold prices up to $1,296 at one point. The yellow bullion has been a terrific investment this year, with Gold ETFs up about 16%. That beats stocks and bonds.

But what else can investors do to profit?

Barrick Gold (ABX) closed down $1.72 to $40.03. ABX is expected to report Q2 EPS on July 29. Call option volume of 15,000 contracts compares to put volume of 2,000 contracts. Gold is recently down 2.01% to $1,163.10, according to Bloomberg. ABX weekly July 40 straddle is price at $1.30, October is at $4.82. August and January option implied volatility of 34 is near its 26-week average of 38 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Boeing (BA) reported a 21% drop in second-quarter earnings on Wednesday before the bell . BA August put option implied volatility is at 33, November and January is at 37, versus its 26-week average of 32, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional near-term price movement.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Barrick Gold (ABX) to buy from hold and reiterates a buy rating on Newmont Mining (NEM) after upping its 2011 gold forecast to $1,450 per ounce and 2012 forecast to $1,600 per ounce. The firm upped its target for Barrick shares to $53 from $45, for Newmont shares to $74 from $72, and on hold-rated Goldcorp (GG) and Kinross Gold (KGC) to $40 and $20, respectively.
• Citigroup upgraded General Dynamics (GD) to hold from sell following the recent pullback in shares. The firm keeps a $67 price target for the stock.
• UBS upgraded Public Service (PEG) to buy from neutral and has a $34 price target on the stock. The firm cites the company's solid balance sheet, earnings profile, and valuation for the upgrade.
• News Corp. (NWS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Soleil.
• AK Steel (AKS) was upgraded to neutral from underperform.
• Progress Energy (PGN) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• PNC Financial (PNC) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.

Analyst Upgrades

• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Palm (PALM) to hold from sell after the company was acquired by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).
• Citigroup upgraded Akamai (AKAM) to buy from hold following the company's better-than-expected Q1 results. The firm raised its target for shares to $44 from $32.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Rockwell Automation (ROK) to hold from sell following the company's Q2 results and guidance. The firm raised its target for shares to $60 from $49.
• First Solar (FSLR) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank and to hold from sell at Soleil.
• Beckman Coulter (BEC) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Barrick Gold (ABX) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.

Today was a light economic data and impact day for traders, yet many stocks and sectors were on the move. The strong dollar took a bite out of gold and took a bite out of oil. The notion that the government trimmed its loss expectations from what it expected in the bank and financial firm bailouts was hardly noticed in the financial sector today. We also had Ben Bernanke caution that it was too early to declare a victory in the recovery being a lasting one.... In short, rates won't be raised any time soon yet. Frankly, with how the markets whipped around, a closing bell being up or down was not something known directionally until the final minutes of the morning.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,388.97 +0.07 (0.00%)
S&P 500 1,103.17 -2.81 (-0.25%)
Nasdaq 2,189.22 -5.13 (-0.23%)

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Comcast (CMCSA) agreed to take a majority-ownership of NBC Universal from General Electric (GE). Comcast announced a 40% dividend increase and said its will complete its $3.6 billion stock-buyback effort during the next three years. CMCSA overall option implied volatility of 35 is versus its 26-week average of 39, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Barrick Gold (ABX) closed at $47.93. Gold is recently up 0.24% to $1215.90 according to Bloomberg. Barrick Gold announced on December 1 that it has eliminated all gold hedges and now has full leverage to the gold price on the industry's largest gold production and reserves. December and January option implied volatility of 43 is near its 26-week average of 44 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Late in the evening of November 11, The Daily Telegraph reported that Barrick Gold (ABX) has shut its hedge book because the world gold supply is running out. Barrick Gold's president, Aaron Regent, told the periodical that global output has been shrinking at a pace for nearly 1 million ounces a year since the start of the decade.

At RBC's annual gold conference in London, Regent noted that "There is a strong case to be made that we are already at 'peak gold.'" Regent believes that production peaked around 2000 and has dropped ever since, he adds that Barrick Gold believes the decline will continue because "It is increasingly difficult to find ore."

When gold miners and gun-toters lag the broader economy, it's usually a good sign that conditions are on the mend. Both sectors outperform when times were tough, but this year, their growth has slowed relative to the market has a whole.

The S&P 500 index has gained 57% since March 9, 2009, according to a USA Today report, while Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) and Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) are up 36% and 21%, respectively, for the same period. Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ: SWHC) is up 30%. Again, these are definitely respectable results, but they aren't keeping pace with the index.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) announced that it would begin eliminating its hedges against a collapse in gold prices.

In so doing, the company is raising some $3 billion with the sale of stock that will dilute current shareholders.

While the gold hedges may have acted as a brake on revenues and profits in a rising gold price environment, the strategy was prudent.

Gold at $1,000. Better buy now or you will miss the greatest invention since tulips in the 1800s.

Or so they say. I say, what a bunch of baloney. Why on earth would I want to put hard-earned cash on something that may look pretty but has no real tangible value?

That's right, gold has no tangible value. Well, that's not entirely true since there is a vast cult of worshipers out there that say gold is the only thing with value. As a result of their die-hard belief, gold actually does have value, as we now see with AU trading for $1,000 per ounce.