Of late, I have read a number of analysts, Jim Rogers even, who have expressed the view that gold could dip to the mid- to low $600 level.  Could happen, but I think not. Already, buyers of physical gold are finding anything near $700 to be cheap and so are helping to build a floor under the monetary metal.

History tells us that gold is the “ultimate antidote to fiat money” says John Pugsley. He says gold’s dollar price relative to other goods is now higher than the long-term trend. But no one really knows how much the buck has been inflated in recent years. And as price inflation returns “with a vengeance”, the gold bull run should resume.

Even with the arrival of the much-hyped Beijing Olympics, the Chinese stock market remains on a serious downer.

Yesterday, China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 5.2 percent after economic data revealed wholesale price inflation jumped to its highest level in 12 years in July.

However, Taipan Daily editor Justice Litle says China’s long-term outlook remains strong - and some China plays look more favorable than they have in years. Here are Justice’s six reasons why the China bears are wrong…

ECB to change dollar’s direction?… BOE leaves rates unchanged… The worst is not over in US housing… Japan’s government signals expansion is over.. And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Editor’s Note: “Don’t look now… but the BRICs are falling,” says The Sovereign Soceity’s global investment expert Mike Burnick.

It’s not just the credit crisis that has been keeping policymakers awake at night. A food crisis is sweeping the world like “a silent tsunami”, as Josette Sheeran of the World Food programme puts it, leaving widespread riots and rattled governments in its wake.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported another sharp increase in producer prices during March. Finished goods were up 1.1% and intermediate-level goods rose 2.3%, pushing the year-over-year rates to 6.9% and 10.6%, respectively, in the month of March — the biggest yearly increases in this price indicator since 1981.