[quote=CONCHO]Also, can you please tell me what factors would lead to a decline in the price of precious metals? Since they are dollar-denominated, it would seem to me that a fall in the price of metals would require a corresponding rise in the dollar’s value.

Oil is dollar-denominated yet it fell dramatically last year without a corresponding dramatic rise in the dollar (the dollar rose a bit but not nearly as much as oil fell).[/quote]

Concho, I don’t think you can compare gold and oil when discussing a dollar collapse. In fact, gold and silver have now solidly de-coupled from oil. Gold and silver are recognized media of exchange and are considered money. They therefore move inversely to the dollar. Gold is often spoken of as the anti-dollar. The same is not necessarily true of oil, which fell prey to what we all know now was primarily a sepculator-driven rally last summer. Any 24-mos oil chart will demonstrate this. Gold, on the other hand, has been on a steady rise since the late 80s. Apples and oranges, my friends.