Is another cyclical period of deflation dead ahead?
The following chart is a reproduction of a chart developed by Erik Swarts at marketanthology.com
If one measures performance of the SPX vs the Silver:Gold ratio since the start of what many refer to as the beginning of the secular bear market in March 2000, you can see that when the weekly performance of the SPX exceeds the Silver:Gold ratio performance, a period of significant equity weakness ensues. The crossover represents an inflection point in the divergence of these two reflationary measures.
The study has no statistical veracity because of the single occurrence of a crossover in 2007. However, it is helpful in developing an overall perspective on where we are vis a vis the reflation/deflation debate.