GWR, the HUI is an index, check out the charts of NEM, USG, DROOY, the latter has given up almost all of the gains of the 08/09 run up. They might be suffering from options trading and speculative money streaming into the juniors for a better return, also there's the possibility of dilution while they look to take over juniors.
The Venture index last I looked had reached a low comparative to many others short term, also the Canadian dollar seems to be strong again.