Only a newbie to BTC so I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong here,

but one problem I find is that there isn't one solid BTC price per currency (ie USD,EUR,GBP etc). The BTC "price" is essentially exclusive to the exchange that lists it. A 50% sway recently due to MTGOX is just ridiculous.

The community would be better nominating a reliable and neutral body to keep tabs on factors and nominate a price. Shit like this just wouldn't happen then.

I'm sure there's a reason why this hasn't happened if I can think of it off the top of my head, hope someone can explain.

Mt Gox resuming will slowly push the price back up. Hope you all got your cheap BTC!

Do think this is a great time to buy.

Even the negative publicity is helping. If you're trading over mining then every drop and raise in price is potential. Media are all "OMG@BTC DERP FUD DERP FUD - Is this the end of BTC?"

And when they eventually come round and go "hey why don't you buy $5 and see what happens?"......

I spent a fair bit of time researching how to go about mining as a complete newbie. I just don't think there are many ways to make it profitable, especially if you're spending less than a couple of hundred dollars.

Some of the larger rigs can be profitable, but even using the calculators doesn't give you (IMO) a realistic degree of earnings.

I looked into buying a BFL Monarch (when they eventually ship.........) and it looks like it could return an investment, but I am lucky in that I have no power costs (don't ask..).

Trading BTC like forex is the most profitable use I've found so far. That's just what works for me, other things work for other people.