CHART OF THE DAY: It's Tough Times In The Rough Diamond Business

A 59.6 carat-cut diamond - the world's largest - will go up for auction in Switzerland today, and it's expected to sell for an eye-popping $60 million.

Diamond prices don't get the same amount of coverage as gold, silver, and other metals and minerals that are used in jewelry.

For those who are interested, diamond demand in general has been disappointing this year.

The pricing for rough, unpolished diamonds have been getting hit further by supply-side problems.

It's "tough times for now in rough diamonds," writes RBC Capital Markets analyst Des Kilalea. "Lower prices in some categories of rough will, we believe, be driven, in part, by tight liquidity in cutting centres and thin margins on some goods in polishing. Our view is that rough will not show any meaningful recovery until liquidity returns to the cutting centres and bank debt comes under control."

On the demand side, people are still buying, but not as much as expected.

"On retail demand, the picture is not particularly worrying as polished is moving, albeit not as quickly as hoped due to slower demand in India and some competition in the jewellery market from gold in China and India, though Diwali gold jewellery sales are somewhat disappointing, retailers say. The result is that polished prices are relatively volatile but prices have remained steady. According to PolishedPrices.com (PP), the PP polished index is up 3.7% year to date with October up 0.7% on September."