Educational for sure. Pain is mother nature's way of telling you that you did something wrong - and we've had lot's of pain to go along with the euphoria over the past year. Hopefully I've learned something along the way..

Methinks that volatility is back - and with the euro zone joining the chorus and complaining hard about the greenback I think that it's due for a bounce, via manipulation or otherwise. Also, with all the negative press in the US, and quantitative easing coming to an end, they need someone to buy bonds. There is a record issuance next week (over $100B) and Ben only has $2B left in his wallet. Could be explosive if nobody shows up to the party. It will be interesting to see the relationship between interest rates, the dollar, the market and gold in this next phase. Maybe the fed will engineer another crisis to justify the continuance of the QE program..

As of today I'm fully hedged - and flush with cash. Looking for bargains when they present themselves. I'm keeping my core position in SGR because it has the goods, and they are the right team to pull it off, but timing is very important.

GLTA.