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Here's a shocker! India's central bank just bought 200 tons of gold!

Do you know why India bought the gold? India's finance minister said the reason for the purchase was that the economies of Europe and the US had "collapsed."

India swapped $6.7 billion dollars for gold equivalent to 8% of world annual mine production. India's move was a clear signal that Asia is moving away from the the US dollar.

Bloomberg News took a recent poll of its subscribers. Here are some highlights of the survey:

• Only 31% of investors saw investment opportunities in the stock market, down from 35% in the July survey.
• Worldwide, investors see the U.S. as the weakest link in the world economy. Twenty five percent of respondents see an unemployment rate of 11% in the U.S. next year.
• Respondents see China and India as the most promising markets and commodities are the asset of choice.
• Real Estate and bonds are out of favor, with 40% saying that bonds will have the worst returns over the next year.

If on Monday investors were ready to bounce back from Friday's selloff, today stock futures are sharply lower, indicating U.S. stock markets are poised to slump at the open ahead of the Federal Reserve two-day policy meeting that begins today. Another rate hike from Australia, poor results from UBS and weak European markets weigh on sentiment.

Monday was a volatile session. Stocks rallied in the morning following a surprise profit from Ford (NYSE: S) and an upbeat home sales reading, but mostly due to October's manufacturing index that jumped to its highest level in three and a-half years. That didn't hold up, though and the Dow skidded to negative territory only to bounce back later in the afternoon as buyers came back in.

We've had wet weather in the Midwest during the harvest season, resulting in higher grain prices.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a report on wholesale crop prices paid to farmers. Let's look at some prices:

• Corn rose 29 cents per bushel to $3.54
• Wheat jumped 8 cents per bushel to $4.56
• Soybeans dropped 1 cent per bushel to $9.74
• Wholesale milk prices jumped 7.1% in October to $1.19 per gallon. Milk prices, however are down 22% from last year.

"We're adding Brazil's Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE), the world's leading iron ore producer, to our model growth portfolio," says growth stock expert Stephen Leeb.

In his The Complete Investor, he explains, "This outstanding company offers investors simultaneous stakes in two key areas: iron ore-a commodity essential to any and all infrastructure projects-and Brazil's appreciating currency, the real.

"When it comes to understanding the importance of a commodity such as iron ore, the tale starts with China. Even with China's GDP growth again approaching double digits, the Chinese government continues to aggressively promote growth, offering consumers incentives to buy cars and investing in infrastructure, from roads to bridges to sewers to energy plants.

U.S. stock futures were significantly higher Monday morning, with Wall Street ready to start November on a solid note following Friday's sharp selloff. This morning is indicative of the week ahead full of earnings and economic data. In addition, this week also features the Federal Reserve policy meeting.

On Friday, markets skidded some 2.5 percent as the fate of CIT Group (NYSE: CIT) hung in balance and the strength of the economic recovery, and with it the markets' rally, questioned. And after seven months winning streak, which took Wall Street over 50 percent higher from March lows, October finished in a down note.

Now here's a real important story. If you are an oil trader, chances are you traded the New York Mercantile Exchange West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contract. World pricing of oil by the biggest exporters was based on the WTI contract.

Now, suddenly, Saudi Arabia has decided to drop the WTI contract as the benchmark pricing unit for its oil. It is substituting a contract called the Argus Sour Crude Index, which will track the price in the physical market of a basket of U.S. gulf coast crudes, including Mars, Poseidon, and Southern Green Canyon.

To say that it's been a difficult decade for New York City, and the nation at large, would be an understatement. In New York, more than 100,000 lay-offs in the financial community stemming from the bursting of the leveraging bubble and closure of key financial institutions has led to the city's worst recession in more than two decades.

However, the financial and economic crisis that has slowed New York's economy, surprisingly, has not resulted the loss of one city title -- that of financial capital of the world. 29% of respondents to a survey listed the city as the leading global financial center, with the city that never sleeps topping both Singapore, 17%, and London, 16%, according to a Bloomberg Global Poll. The poll of 1,452 Bloomberg subscribers was conducted October 23-27.

"Shanda Interactive, a Chinese purveyor of interactive entertainment and media technology, offered U.S. investors a piece of its video game business, Shanda Games (NASDAQ: GAME)," notes Brandon Clay.

In his Invest with an Edge, he explains, "Shanda Games has its risks but also packs a lot of potential, especially as a speculative China play.

"GAME was one of the most widely-anticipated IPOs of 2009. The buzz surrounding Shanda Games was so intense that the company raised the offering from 63 million to 83.5 million shares just to meet demand.

U.S. stock futures drifted lower Friday morning, indicating a weaker start on Wall Street, a day after a market rally that was fueled by strong economic reports. But as investors catch their breath, they also await cautiously for data on consumer spending and sentiment, as earlier data this week surprised to the down side.

On Thursday, the government reported the economy grew 3.5% in the third quarter. While the growth was mostly due to government stimuli, it was enough to lift stocks some 2% for the day. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday the U.S. economy's return to growth shows some stability but recovery is fragile and needs nurturing.

"Highly leveraged casinos were among the first to be locked out of credit markets last year," says Elliott Gue, noting that one company that suffered greatly from credit conditions was Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS).

Now, however, he see "strong propsects" for a recovery in the casino operator's future; he is particularly optimistic on the firm's Asian projects. Here's his review from Personal Finance.

"The economic downturn meant consumers reined in spending on leisure travel and gambling. Meanwhile, declining real estate prices near Las Vegas hit the local economy hard. Gaming revenues declined, and occupancy at Sin City's massive hotels plummeted.

In Gordon Pape's Internet Wealth Builder, contributing analyst Tom Slee looks at "recession-resistant" global stocks. Here, he reviews Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP).

Slee explains, "Philip Morris continues to benefit from rising tobacco consumption and 'uptrading' as people in the emerging countries switch to more expensive products.

"Almost recession proof, the international tobacco industry is prospering thanks mainly to new markets, strong cash flows, and reduced litigation.

Consumer confidence ticked upward for the first time since 2007. Around the world, consumers are becoming more comfortable with the prospect of shelling out some cash, even if they're still approaching the notion with caution.

According to a survey conducted by The Nielsen Company between September 28 and October 16, 2009, consumer confidence was highest in India, with Indonesia and Norway following. Japan, Latvia, Portugal, and South Korea were at the other end of the spectrum, though South Korea did show a significant quarterly improvement.

U.S. stock futures declined Wednesday morning a day after stocks mostly fell on mixed economic data and some earnings disappointments. Today is another busy day of earnings and economic releases, including durable goods orders and new home sales.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks fell for a third straight session after a surprise drop in consumer confidence. Despite a good housing report, and even as the Dow's oil giants and IBM (NYSE: IBM) saved the Dow from finishing in the red (BP (BYSE: BP) on good earnings, and IBM increased its share repurchase plan), tech staged a selloff and the Nasdaq composite fell 1.2%. The S&P 500 fell 0.3%.

"Brazil has long been our favorite of the BRIC countries," says Carl Delfeld. In his Chartwell Global Wealth Letter, the advisor looks at two favored Brazilian equity ETFs.

"Brazil seems to have confounded its critics, who view it as a boom and bust economy; the country has been upgraded to investment grade status by Moody's.

"The US ratings agency cited the resilience of the Brazilian economy to the financial crisis for the upgrade of its sovereign debt ratings one notch to Baa3, its lowest investment grade rating.

"This elevation of quality is well earned after years of reform in the country that led to lower inflation and a stronger currency as well as lower levels of government debt.