As commodity prices continue to plunge, investors watch their favorite charts, tables and graphs in awe and dread.

Tight credit, shrinking consumer buying and the falling real estate prices have commodity investors wondering, when will it turn around?

To find an answer to that question, we look at another indicator to help determine the future of commodity prices. It’s not one most investors think of in trying to predict which way commodities will go.

But if you look at its current moves, you’ll probably draw the same conclusion that we did: commodities will be ugly for a while.

The indicator I’m referring to is Fitch Ratings – the company that provides so-called credit opinions on companies, markets.

Over the past week or so, Fitch Ratings…

After China unveiled plans for a $586-billion stimulus package on Sunday, the media was abuzz that it could re-start the flagging commodities market. But it may be premature to peg all your hope on a single massive infrastructure build-out.

The wild market swings of late are most likely down to hedge funds says Keith Fitz-Gerald. These big money movers are liquidating assets to meet margin calls, causing chaos in the markets. Keith has four tips on how to dodge the worst of the damage.

There are great wealth-creating opportunities in today’s miserable markets, says Andrew Snyder. Take oil, for example. The black goo is on a slippery slope towards $50 a barrel, and no OPEC production cuts are going to stop this in the short term. Andrew says the UltraShort Oil and Gas ProShares ETF (AMEX:DUG) is the best way to profit from the oil industry’s downturn.

Energy guru Dave Gonigam says speculators were wrongly used as a scapegoat for soaring crude oil prices in the first half of the year. But he thinks they are playing a big role in the current slump, as hedge funds liquidate their commodity assets rapidly. Dave says the supply and demand fundamentals of oil are unchanged. That is why he is still bullish crude in the long term.

Commodities across the board are being taken down by the deepening credit crisis. But energy policy is a big issue in the coming presidential elections.

Energy investor T. Boone Pickens says “natural gas is the fuel of the future.” He also says water will become an increasingly scarce commodity with major implications for the agricultural sector.

Chris Mayer agrees with Pickens. He says once the financial crisis ends natural gas and water stocks will attract big bucks.

The boom in commodities in the first half of the year sent demand for potash soaring.

This pushed up the price of Canada’s Potash Corp (NYSE:POT). It hit a peak of $240 in July. Since then, the share price has collapsed by almost two-thirds. It is now trading below $100.

These kinds of corrections are creating great bargain in the stock market today. But Andrew Snyder says Potash Corp’s liquidity problems could see it tumble even further in the short term.

Is nowhere safe? Even physical assets – which are usually considered a safe-haven from stock market turmoil – have fallen sharply in the last month. Only gold and silver have held up against the tide…just. Commodities specialist Lee Lowell says there will be plenty more volatility in the weeks to come. But he says those who do not join the panic selling will win out in the end…

Crude oil and metal prices are in the doldrums as the likelihood of a US recession grows. Mayer’s Special Situations editor Chris Mayer says this has commodities stocks at better values than they have been for years.

Slowing growth and inflation problems means the short-term outlook for commodities is not pretty. But over the long term, scarcity of resources is strongly bullish for commodities prices.

This is a great chance to add commodities stocks to you your portfolio and hold for long-term profits.

Since whispers of a Lehman Bros collapse started to circulate almost two weeks ago the US dollar index has slumped 4.8%. And the $700 billion Paulson bailout plan has done little to shore up dollar strength.

There are “fears that the package may cost too much, drive up inflation, swell the already bloated U.S. deficit and hurt the ailing economy,” reports AP.

Eric Fry says his investment strategy is based on a simple formula: “Sell the dollar, sell the dollar and sell the dollar.” And as the buck gets whacked, so will American stocks and bonds. On the other hand, foreign assets and commodities should soar…