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By Alix Steel, TheStreet

Gold prices Monday were rising as investors opted for the safety of the precious metal and sold out of stocks to buy gold.

Gold for June delivery was adding $11.60 to $1,187.30 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold has traded as high as $1,119.10 and as low as $1,176.80. The U.S. dollar index was rising 1.16% to $86.36 while the euro was slumping 1.80% to $1.23 against the dollar. The gold spot price Monday was adding over $6, according to Kitco's gold index.

Gold prices were rallying as European debt fears flared and the euro headed toward its four-year low. Over the weekend, Spain's central bank bailed out the regional savings bank CajaSur, the second bank Spain has bailed out since March 2009.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln is going to lose in her bid to hobble our banks to the benefit of Credit Suisse (CS), Deutsche Bank (DB) and UBS (UBS). Even President Obama favors pulling the amendment.

The amendment would force banks to spin off their derivatives trading operations.

As hated as our banks are in this country, as hated as they are by the politicians, even they seem to realize that if you can't offer corporate clients a slate of swaps and derivatives, they will go elsewhere. Every major client needs that flexibility.

I’m not a real believer in true “penny stocks,” since unknown companies with unknown fundamentals don’t jive with my growth investment strategy.

But I will say that there are a number of cheap stocks out there -- less than $2 or $3 a share -- that have enough Wall Street coverage to be legit, and have shown me enough punch that they would be worth any investor’s cash.

While most of these stock picks tend to be tiny, with a market cap of only a few hundred million dollars, one big penny stock stands out to me right now as a great opportunity: Sirius XM Radio (SIRI). Shares are less than $2 as of this morning’s open and are a great buy at this valuation. Here’s why:

It's been a tough couple of weeks for stocks. From its April high, the S&P 500 lost more than 13.4% as it dropped into Friday's low. The index also sliced through its 200-day moving average -- which is seen as the demarcation line between bull and bear markets.

So, was that it? Will the European debt crisis, financial regulatory reform, and the oil slicked Gulf of Mexico all combine in some king of unholy alliance to detail the global economic recovery and send stocks careening into the abyss?

It's tempting to get caught up in the excitement and emotion of the dramatic stock market selloff we've just witnessed. And it's easy to throw your hands up and declare the end of the bull market that started last March. But has all the recent volatility really marked the birth of a new bear cycle for stocks? I don't think so. And here's why.

The stock investing world is filled with well-known valuation metrics -- the price/earnings ratio, price/book ratio, free cash flow yield, price/sales ratio, and numerous other variables have been used by successful investors to find winning stocks.

A new study shows, however, that a much less popular valuation metric -- the gross profits-to-assets ratio -- may be one of the better predictors of future stock performance.

The study, entitled “The Other Side of Value: Good Growth and the Gross Profitability Premium”, was performed by Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Chicago and National Bureau of Economic Research. (Thanks to The Stingy Investor and CXO Advisory Group for highlighting the research.) In it, Novy-Marx finds that the gross profits/assets ratio is actually a better predictor of future returns than more widely used earnings- and cash flow-based valuation metrics.

I'm selling Statoil (STO) on today's bounce because the euro debt crisis has changed the medium-term fundamentals for this Norwegian oil company. 

As I wrote in my May 21 post, as hard as it is, I think investors should try not to get caught up in panic selling during this market drop.

But that doesn't mean they shouldn't sell anything. The euro debt crisis will depress growth in Europe, lowering global demand for commodities such as oil and local demand for commodities such as natural gas. That means the crisis has changed the fundamentals of Statoil for the worse.

Back in February, gold took a big hit when the Federal Reserve announced it was lifting the discount rate. After pushing briefly above $1,200 an ounce at the beginning of December 2009, the safe-haven metal slumped over 12% in two months to a low of around $1,050.

Here we are about three months removed from that low, and we're right back where we started price-wise -- or at least, we were until gold spiraled downward this week to mark a two-week low.

So everyone is asking the question, "Is gold going lower, or is it going higher?" Well the real question investors should ask isn't about the long-term fate of the commodity but rather how they can play the volatility in the short-term. And the answer to that is bank on a brief correction via the ProShares UltraShort Gold (GLL) ETF. Here's why:

By Lauren Tara LaCapra, TheStreet

Bank investors are freaking out, and with good reason: The companies they own have gotten hammered recently and may see up to 36% in additional losses in the weeks ahead, according to one estimate.

The bad news? Financial reform may slash revenue by at least 25%, profits by as much as 75% and force the industry to raise $200 billion in fresh capital. The good news? Things may not turn out quite as bad as those dire, doomsday predictions. The recovery will offset some of the downside, the capital burden may not be placed on shareholders, and bank stocks have already taken a big hit.

The outcome depends on lawmakers. Let's break it down.

Are we headed for a double-dip recession?

On the "Today Show," Matt Lauer asked me whether it’s going to happen in light of unemployment claims and problems in Europe. Three weeks ago I would have said the odds don't favor it, maybe 25% chance, which is why I thought the Dow ($INDU) could stay north of 10,000.

But now it has to be considered a 35% chance, which is why we could see the Dow at 9,500. As Europe dithers, that odds of a double-dip recession will go up by the week. It’s that important.

Starbucks (SBUX) made a splash recently with news that it would be focusing on its Seattle's Best Coffee brand in the coming months as a way to broaden its appeal to consumers who prefer a milder cup of java -- and a lower price point.

• Related: Starbucks and Burger King partner on coffee

Unfortunately, it appears the coffee giant was too busy crunching numbers and not busy enough working on how to present the Seattle's Best brand. A recently redesigned logo is getting panned by the public, with a whopping 68% of consumers saying Starbucks should try again, a recent survey has found.

Derisive comments from bloggers about the logo include "Seattle's Best Blood Bank,"  among others.