Hi Lee,
The turn down could come hard and fast, with little or no warning. You're right about Gold recovering interday. That, however, makes the negative performance of the gold stocks stick out even more so today. That is something that should never occur in a true bull market, especially when the underlying commodity that miners produce has continually hit new records over recent weeks. This divergence has grown more pronounced by the day! Bad enough for the miners/stocks to exhibit NO (zero, nada!) leverage to the price of Gold, but a negative correlation is truly frightening for those in tune with this sector!
Two things have become clear to me: 1) when a correction arrives it will be VERY violent and coincide with similar action across a spectrum of markets, and 2) some "pretty serious players" have already been exiting in big numbers from Gold/Silver equities on every sign of strength in the physical market for quite awhile now...that's a sign of a market that has been getting very hollowed out and is now in search of a bagholder..ususally it's the traditional late-to-the-party, buy-the-hype, retail spec players...makes me think it will get very UGLY for those who get caught on the wrong side.
Food for thought in any event...