I was highly in favour of the merger and although I haven't been happy with the share price action, I have been a buyer on weakness all the way down to this $5.50 level. I now hold a position 40% greater than before the merger and by far the largest position in ECU/AUM I have ever owned.

Gold/silver will find a bottom soon from this year end selling by funds/investors as books are squared and cash raised for 2012 investing which will likely start as usual in early January. There were so many things that conspired against gold/silver in this last 4-5 weeks that they are too numerous to list and it's impossible to pick any one issue as the primary reason. But I am sure about one thing this market is going to break strongly higher or lower very soon. I think the odds favour higher given the banksters are now buyers of gold/silver and even huge buyers of Euros. I also note that volume in gold/silver futures have been very low this week so from my perspective few if any conclusions can be drawn until the volume returns in the new year. The direction of least resistance in low volume gold markets almost always seems to be down.

The HUI is at the bottom of it's range once again and sentiment completely sucks, for me this indicates a rally higher is close.