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The economy has had more than its share of trouble lately: Japan's earthquake comes on top of rising oil and food prices, political turmoil in the Middle East and a crop of government austerity measures. But investing opportunities lie hidden behind the bad news.

Some are convinced the precious metal will keep rising, others that it's tracing out a classic speculative bubble that's ready to burst. Nobody has a crystal ball, but an "agnostic" technical analysis of the charts provides some good clues about gold's future.

The Dow surged nearly 200 points, while inflation fears propelled gold to another record close. The Institute for Supply Management said its services index rose to 53.2 last month from 51.5 in August. Economists had expected the measure to rise to 52.

With gold prices setting new highs recently, debate rages over whether it's a bubble likely to burst soon or if further gains lie ahead. Here are some charts on the metal's price movements that may help shed some light on the discussion.

With the markets off their recent highs and volatility picking up, investors have to ask: Is this just a brief dip in the uptrend, or a more ominous change of trend? Many analysts are emphasizing the bullish case, based on the gathering global economic recovery. But some of the key indicators suggest a different story.

As gold catapulted to another record high last week on its run to who knows how high, some investors may be wondering if buying in now will leave them enough room to make a profit on their investment. While analysts and traders are telling anyone who will listen that gold is heading higher still,...

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Gold is the financial world's answer to Prozac: it's economic medication that relieves anxiety about the future. As the precious metal approaches $1,000 an ounce, some investors may wonder if the economy is off its meds. Markets have tested the $1,000 level for several days and may finally cross...

Earlier in the summer, DailyFinance noted that a weakening dollar was the main contributor to rising energy prices, as the underlying supply/demand fundamentals were poor. However, the dollar's impact extends far beyond energy, and its fall has coincided with a rally in the broader market. The...