A recent GFMS/Thomson Reuters Silver Institute World Silver Survey shows that while the price of silver dropped 23.6% in the last year, there was actually an increase in demand, particularly from China and India.

We typically see this correlation return when we have big moves in the dollar relative to other currencies. Once the U.S. dollar stabilizes, gold returns to the underlying fundamentals, which are more driven by macroeconomics.

Trillions of dollars of debt, a bond bubble on the verge of bursting, and economic distortions that make it difficult for investors to know what is going on behind the curtain have created what author Doug Casey calls a crisis economy.

Sprott shares his criteria for selecting profitable investments in volatile resource markets, plus near- and long-term plays that look poised to deliver returns.