In the first consolidation, an 8-week pattern started at week 60 which turned out to be the direct lead-in to the hyper-growth phase that started in week 69 and never looked back.

So an equivalent move now would see gold work its way up to the $990 zone in a similar sort of up-and-down pattern over the next 8 weeks, setting the stage for a huge and important breakout over the high from week 50 -- around $990 - at the of June, or the first week of July.

Of course we never want to put too much faith in these templates, but they are a very useful way of gauging whether a market is doing what you expect, especially now as we're anticipating gold to move into position for the next hyper-growth phase.

This continues to shape up to be a very exciting year for gold bulls. You literally have nothing to lose -- and possibly huge gains to make -- by signing up for the free trial offer to the Fractal Gold Report, which gives you immediate access to the recent Special Report on parabolic growth patterns, as well as a full month of daily updates on gold and equity markets. By David Nichols PB