Sideways Precious Metals Prices Mean 'It's Not Too Late': Opinion

The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage.

NEW YORK (Bullion Bulls Canada) -- Throughout the history of our industrialized economies, gold and silver have typically represented between 5% and 10% of the average investor portfolio, or roughly 5% to 10% of his or her wealth. Note that historically, this ratio has typically risen in times of financial turmoil, crisis, or simply any time of high inflation.

Despite the price of gold having surged in price by well over 500% from its absolute low, despite the price of silver having surged more than 800% off of its absolute low, gold and silver still represent little more than 1% of the wealth of the average individual. The gross under-ownership of this historic "safe haven" is taking place at a time when western markets, financial systems and their entire economies have never been in a greater state of crisis.

Already these debt-saturated dominoes have begun effectively declaring national bankruptcy. This is the only way to describe the 75% default on Greek government debt and the wholesale liquidation of government-owned assets. This only increases the leverage (and the strain) on the bankers' $1+ quadrillion derivatives market.

The derivatives market is a totally unregulated casino, operated by western banking Oligarchs. It is nothing but a collection of bets on the world's markets and economies. Indeed, one of the largest categories of derivatives is credit default swaps -- which had been banned for decades based upon U.S. anti-gambling statutes.

With this insanely leveraged casino having swollen to a size equal to more than 20 times total global GDP, it is only a question of "when," not if, this paper Ponzi-scheme will implode. The amounts are so huge that a bailout isn't even theoretically possible. When this implosion occurs, the western financial system is 100% certain to be vaporized (and most likely all western paper currencies).