There will be at least two gut-wrenching corrections that will cause many new investors to make an early exit from precious metals markets, but they'll be back.

People will start talking about junior mining stocks at cocktail parties - just like internet stocks in 1997. (I'm going to keep saying this until it's true).Gold hit about $1,030 per ounce and silver reached about $21 per ounce back in March while the number of gut-wrenching corrections stands at one. The year-end guesses seem a little low at the moment and we'll see about the junior mining stocks - they've been all-but-dead for a year now.

7. Economic Growth will Turn Negative, Consumption will Decline

This is the year that the American consumer finally pulls back in a big way and real economic growth will be negative in two quarters. Home equity, the source for much of consumer spending in recent years, will vanish more quickly due to falling home prices than it did when people were spending their home equity like drunken sailors.

Well, the stimulus checks are kind of mucking up the prediction about consumer spending, but word came yesterday that the annual revisions to GDP may push one or more of the recent quarters into negative territory (not that inflation-adjusted GDP growth has any real meaning anymore, what with the accuracy of the inflation adjustment being so questionable).

8. Reported Inflation will Remain Contained

More people will realize that the government's inflation numbers are bogus. They won't be happy about it.

Hey, inflation's only four percent. What's everyone complaining about?

It was 15 percent back in 1980, so we've got a lot more pain coming before peoples' moaning and groaning should be taken seriously. Of course the inflation calculation really can't be taken seriously, so, maybe all the moaning and groaning is justified.

9. Job Growth Will Turn Negative by Year-End

State and local governments will cut back on hiring due to shrinking tax revenue and fewer people will eat out - two important props for the job market will be partially removed. Employment in health care will continue to boom and even fewer people will talk about the looming Medicare crisis.

By the end of 2008, year-over-year job growth will turn negative but it will be impossible to really know for sure until sometime in 2010 when the Bureau of Labor Statistics completes all its revisions for 2008.

Help wanted signs at coffee shops and restaurants will slowly disappear which will be unfortunate for those teenagers who finally have to start looking for low-paying jobs to buy their next iPod or cell phone because their parents have spent all their home equity.

There were no net declines in non-farm payrolls until January of this year, but since that time, payrolls have declined by over 300,000 with the ADP saying earlier today that another 80,000 went bye-bye (the monthly BLS labor report is tomorrow).

On a year-over-year basis, job growth is still positive (+0.2 percent) but that number turning negative by year-end is just about guranteed at this point.

10. Hillary or Barack will Win the Election

It's too bad Ron Paul isn't ten or fifteen years younger - in another eight years the country will be ready for him.

At the time, my gut told me to just say Barack but that felt like it was going too far out on a limb - shoulda just went with the gut.