Gold futures trimmed losses but still ended lower on Monday, as risk-averse investor sentiment and a tumbling Chinese equities market prompted selling in bullion and other commodities.

The positive link between gold and equities market has been on the rise, as the metal is used as a hedge against inflation and erosion of portfolio values.

“The markets today are focusing on China and the sharp break of the Shanghai equities index,” said Bill O’Neill, managing partner of New Jersey-based LOGIC Advisors.

“In recent weeks, we noted the weakness in the equities, of course, has had a positive relationship with commodities, and that continued to be a factor,” he said.

Global stocks fell on Monday, dragged by a six percent tumble in China, which sent nervous investors into the yen for safe haven. Wall Street was off about 1 percent in afternoon trade.

U.S. December gold futures settled down $5.30 at $953.50 an ounce on the COMEX

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Currencies sold overnight…  But rebound in early morning trading…  China throws cold water on stock values… German exports rival the Big Kahuna! And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day… And a Terrific Tuesday to you! I returned home from San Francisco last night, and am back in the saddle today! Not the way I like to travel, where I get a day when returning home to recharge the batteries, but it is what it is… I did an interview with MarketWatch yesterday morning, talking about… Well, what else? The deficits, and diversification! My presentations in S.F. were well attended… On Saturday, my power point froze up, but I carried on in spite of the technical difficulties!

You know… I really, heard a lot of people talking about the rumor / conspiracy story that there will be a bank holiday at the end of the month (this weekend) and the Gov’t will announce major changes to

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Time’s a-wastin’ for the new president if he has a prayer of staving off the appearance of a financial Black Swan during February.

Yesterday we saw how an Internet rumor now nearly a year old has proven remarkably accurate, at least in its early stages.  The U.S. economy might not have “collapsed” last September, but for most folks, what did happen was too close for comfort.

The next part of the “prophecy” is “the collapse of U.S. government finances” this month.  Again yesterday, we saw there’s no shortage of candidates to trigger such an event.  And it sure doesn’t help that today the jobless numbers are worse than forecast.

It wasn’t supposed to be like that for the new president and his team.  Wasn’t he supposed to be the second coming of FDR?

Yet the contrast is significant.  FDR’s “first hundred days” brought one bold move after another, including a bank

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This Tuesday, November 11, is Veteran's Day. Banks will be closed but the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ will be open with normal hours of operation. Because it is a bank holiday, if you buy on margin that day, there may be an issue with margin maintenance. Please contact your broker for more details.

Keith Fitz-Gerald says the US could face a currency crisis in the next few years. The dollar is being propped up by massive Fed and Treasury intervention. But the long-term damage has already been done. Keith says speculation that markets could be shut down while the global financial rulebook is rewritten might not be too far off the mark…

More from Money Morning:

As for the U.S. dollar, after years of benign neglect, the U.S. Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department will do everything they can to prop up the credit markets, In the short term, most investors will misconstrue this as a legitimate rise, all that’s really happening is that longstanding risks are being overcome by governmental guarantees.

Longer term, the damage has been done. No nation I am aware of in recorded history has done more than temporarily dodge the inevitable by debasing its currency as the United States

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The US consumer is on life support. Retail sales cratered in September, and consumer confidence indexes are at rock bottom. Uncle Sam is gearing up for a new New Deal to resuscitate the patient, says Justice Litle. It will focus on alternative energy projects… and could create the next big bubble.

This from Taipain Daily:

For the last 25 years, Soros observes, the “motor of the world economy” has been the American consumer. And not only has the American consumer been aggressively consuming, he “has been spending more than he has been saving.”

“So that motor is now switched off,” says Soros. “It’s finished. It’s run out of — can’t continue. You need a new motor.”

The declines of that truly awful week when the Dow lost 18% were tied to the credit crisis. Before governments across the globe stepped up, there was a fear that nothing would

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Bernanke gets help opening the spigot... Euro and Pound rally... Yen to continue to benefit from carry reversals... Aussie $ rallies... And Now... Today's Pfennig!