MARKETS: “We know that gold is soaring. And we know the dollar is slumping. But, did you know that year-to-date, while the S&P 500 is up 18 percent — a great showing, no doubt — gold is up even more? The precious metal is up 21 percent. In other words, measured in true, gold-backed purchasing power, stocks have really done nothing this year. Zip. It is most disappointing.” Yes, whether you use gold as a measure or not, if you measure stocks in constant-dollar-value prices, I’m not sure the market has recovered much if at all.