After a torrid year, the commodities markets showed some weakness is January. For example, gold fell by about 6%.

So is this a correction or finally a bear market?

Well, legendary investor, Jim Rogers, still thinks that commodities are the best place for your investment dollars (according to an interview on CNBC). No doubt, he has lots of credibility. When others snickered, Rogers started to invest in commodities in the late 1990s. He even wrote a book on the topic.

Sometimes trouble and dissatisfaction propel us to move out of the box, to create something new and different. Such was the case of the World Gold Council. Founded in 1987 by a group of mining companies, its primary goal is to promote the use of gold.

For nearly 20 years the organization plodded along with little success. Then Chris Thompson, the group's chairman came up with the idea of creating a gold fund that would allow ordinary investors to buy into the gold market without either buying physical gold or gold futures. So in 2004, the Council created the SPDR Gold Shares Fund, as reported in the Financial Times.

"Gold surged to a record high; and it's not just gold; silver, the other precious metals, and the resource currencies have all been swept up in the bubbling rise," note resource sector specialists Mary Anne and Pamela Aden.

The sisters and co-editors of The Aden Forecast explains, "The gold price is now very strong in a renewed leg up in the bull market by staying above $1240.

"Gold's next target is the $1300-$1350 level. Silver is impressive; its jump up in the last three weeks may be the start of a super rise.

SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) is recently up $1.26 to $108.60. Gold is also up 11% to $1,108.60 according to Bloomberg. GLD January and February option implied volatility of 24 is near its 26-week average of 25, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Clearwire (CLWR) a provider of 4G service called Clear, closed at $6.79. CLWR January option implied volatility is at 73, March at 68; near its 26-week average of 67 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index-VIX at 22.51; 10-day moving average is 21.93.

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

Despite the U.S. stock market's recent run up, the decline in the U.S. dollar and inflation fears have investors searching for safety in these uncertain times. A popular strategy that has emerged is to hedge market and currency risk with commodities, namely gold, oil, and uranium. What specific stocks and investments in these sectors are likely to outperform?

ETFs like the US Oil Fund (NYSE: USO) and the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) will obviously track any rise or fall in these commodities to a T, but perhaps individual companies in these sectors are a better fit for you. Below are some industry giants, as well as speculative plays that are also drawing attention from investors.

Even if prices appear to be clawing their way through the overhead supply at around Dow 8,000 and S&P 500 825 to 875, the going is getting tougher.

The highest that the S&P has achieved so far was the high of Thursday, April 2, at 846, before it was turned aside on a minor reversal this Tuesday. Volume has been on the low side on both advances and declines, but this week that was no doubt due to the impending holiday weekend.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 closed above the 20-day moving average at 745.10 for the first time since Feb. 9. And it closed above the resistance line drawn from the November low at 741.02 for the first time since Feb. 13.

Volume for each of the days of higher prices increased to more than 1.8 billion shares on the NYSE, and that is a higher-than-average volume for any month this year (1.6 billion average). But volume has been picking up since the breakdown on Feb. 27, at S&P 500 740, when more than 2 billion shares traded.

With a reflex rally now under way, the question is: How far can it go?