Barry Stuppler

(FORBES) - Gold has divided the analyst community through this volatile 2012, with some, like Goldman Sachs, calling for the end of its decade-long rally, while others expect it to average $2,000 an ounce by the end of next year.  There’s one thesis that has built consensus, though: gold is set to rally in the first half of the year as a result of the Fed’s latest round of quantitative easing, possibly to fresh all-time highs . . . .

China’s role in the global silver market has dramatically changed over the past decade. Once a small player in the global market, China today is the world’s leading market for both physical investment and paper trading of silver futures and other similar products, and is the second largest silver fabricator today. Chinese demand for the white metal is expected to achieve further strong growth in the years ahead, according to a report by Thomson Reuters GFMS released today by the Silver Institute . . . .

* Lawmakers want taxpayer stake in mining boom

* No royalties paid or records kept under current rules

* Reform could mean billions in new revenue

Revising a 19th-century U.S. law that governs the mining of gold and other precious metals could add billions of dollars to federal coffers at a time of tight budgets, according to some Democratic lawmakers . . . .

Gold, copper, silver, platinum and palladium will outperform other commodities next year on easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve and supply constraints, according to Bank of America Corp. . . . .