Good points and observations here Trades. Also on your post comparing ABX to the sector. I agree that the sector has some work to do and resistance to chew through before a 'turn' can be declared. And yes, that GDXJ has been a very sickly beast, particularly since last summer, as it has hit new 52 week lows in December despite another annual gain for bullion itself in 2011.

I'm also with you in that I don't care where any market goes, up or down, as long as I can isolate a high probability move and ride it for a spell. The bulk of my profits in 2011 were made shorting Silver, and until December I had not had any type of long Gold position, bullion or stocks, for a very long time. But right now, I'm favoring the Gold stocks in particular for a strong probability of moving higher in the short term. A bunch of factors, from extreme bearish sentiment to severe undervaluation versus bullion, to COT levels that usually coincide with interim lows, lead me to take that contrarian view.

Certainly the 'bugs' are now very deflated. They are filled with much fear, anxiety, and hand-wringing, suggesting that a significant wall-of-worry has been re-established in the sector. With their latest dreams of vast riches having been dashed, you can now read on many Gold sites where analysts are now actually entertaining the idea of the end of the great Gold bull run. This kind of sentiment is a healthy and necessary pre-condition to any further advance, but, as you often say/suggest, the proof will be in the price action going forward, so I'm trying to stay alert and nimble to conditions as they evolve here.

Anyway, appreciate the great chartwork and analysis as usual, but especially how you keep a balanced view. Not too many keep it 'real' in the manner you do, including muhself at times, lol. So here we go...another 'interesting' week straight ahead...