Yellow metal isn't the best protection against inflation

Economic chaos? The dollar crumbling? Central banks printing money like crazy? Probably the only real surprise about the surge in gold prices over the last few months is that it took so long to arrive.

Last week gold touched an all-time high of $1,227.50. Back in September it was still less than $1,000. Chalk that up as a victory for the gold bugs.

This week, the price is heading down, dropping below $1,200. Chalk that up as a victory for the gold skeptics, who regularly point out that the metal's value is just a sentimental memory from a long-buried era.