Gold is popping this morning on a number of bullish forecasts, among them a survey of analysts by Bloomberg that sees the yellow metal going to $1,500:

Gold may rise as high as $1,500 next year, 21 percent more than the $1,240 traded at 1:45 p.m. in London, according to the median in a Bloomberg survey of 29 analysts, traders and investors. Dan Brebner, an analyst at Deutsche Bank in London who is the most accurate forecaster so far this year, says the metal may reach $1,550.

With the economy stuck in neutral and Ben Bernanke's money-printing minions firing up another round of Monopoly money, I don't see any reason why gold can't go to $1,500. However, if you are late to the gold party and are afraid of chasing it, here's an idea: Buy some gold mining stocks. They have lagged the gold rally most of the way up.

Some quality gold and silver stocks, including Newmont Minining (NEM), Royal Gold (RGLD), and Pan American Silver (PAAS), are breaking out this morning with bullish action.

As rumors run amok about who's going to buy Palm, I have to point out what I did earlier: I can't see paying a premium for this company. A lot of the reports are missing some basic facts, such as: Palm is losing money and has many liabilities. And it has a negative book value, according to numbers reported by Capital IQ. In a world of rapid-fire news, blog, and opinion reports and itchy trigger-finger day traders, it's fun to watch everybody jump on the Palm story. Bloomberg has reported that the company has engaged bankers to sell the company. People ate it up pretty quickly, buying up the shares on the news that the company is now officially on the block, thinking it would result in some sort of quick, generous return.But always remember there's a key element in doing a deal: The price. It doesn't always work in your favor.

Bloomberg is out with a story saying the that a divergence is emerging between what companies are predicting will happen to their earnings (they will go up) and what Wall Street analysts think will happen to earnings (they will go down). This historically indicates the stock market rally can continue. Ten percent of companies raised their earnings forecasts this quarter, while 4.1 percent lowered them, says Bloomberg, which cites historical data from Bespoke Investment Group indicating that's the widest spread on record. What's interesting is that stock analysts are still so skeptical of corporate profits in 2010, even though companies are telling them they'll earn more. From the Bloomberg story:

The divergence may force Wall Street firms to increase estimates later this year, a bullish signal after the largest monthly drop for equities since February 2009. The last time companies were raising forecasts at a comparable rate while analysts reined them in was the start of 2004, when the S&P 500 gained 9 percent. “Wall Street analysts are still very gun-shy of predicting a real recovery in earnings,” said David Kelly, who helps oversee $480 billion as chief market strategist for JPMorgan Funds in New York. “It tells us the stock market is cheap. The chances of companies beating estimates are extremely high.”

So do Wall Street analysts know something that the companies don't know, or are they just out to lunch? My bet, based on historical experience, is the latter.