Great question Priggly.

My take: The primary factor propping up the stock markets is the PPT. This is purely political and not due to fundamental value in most cases. The PPT will not prop up the pm stocks due to the need to keep pm excitement limited to the tin hat crowd (me). Big money (banks, hedge funds and investment houses) are too big to play in the pm stocks which are a VERY small segment. All the pm stocks together don't add up to the market cap of Google.

The pm stocks are really a few small sub-sectors; gold majors, silver and gold mid caps, silver and gold jrs, and micro cap explorers. Mutual funds and retirement funds for the most part can't even invest in stocks below $5 price or some significant market cap. That leaves a few gold stock oriented mutual funds like Toquerville or Gabelli and us peons to fight against the shorts (and the new junior miner etf). We know that hedge funds short pm stocks and buy the metal paper and now some even are buying physical. So currently physical is king.

When J6P and the sheeple wake up and smell the rotting fiat, inflation, manipulation etc, then we may see a more significant participation in the mid cap and jr pm stocks. Right now it is a few forward looking investors fighting huge financiial interests. Guess who's winning right now?!