I believe that the commodities markets will be money-makers for investors in 2012. It's very simple, with the Federal Reserve sticking to its easy dollar policy, the price of oil will continue to rise. This is bad for economic growth, but good for commodities investors in the U.S. Consumers will also be hurt by these oil prices and the translation will result in increasing inflationary pressures.
The inflationary pressures should bring back the lore of precious metals. However, the crisis in Europe does seem to be threatening that trade. Agriculture will likely see price increases for the same reason as oil.
We have oil going as high as $140 for the year (likely late summer) and the low range being around $90. Agriculture overall should produce a 10 to 15% increase in prices. Finally, we are not going to make predictions on precious metals as their prices are a direct result of economic conditions and not the other way around.
