If bullion prices are about to collapse, then so is the price of crude.  Whatever the outcome, it will tell us whether China is indeed serious about putting a lid on the economy, since the country’s demand for oil at the margin supposedly is what has kept prices so firm. The worst I could see over the next 3-4 weeks would be a plunge to late-November’s lows near $81 — a correction of about 12 percent from the New Year’s high at 92.44.