The beginning of tapering had 2 effects – brought the general market up and gold down. Once again it shows that gold is much more dependent on QE than the general market is. Gotta be frustrating for the gold bugs (who often live in the gloom and doom camp when it comes to the general markets). It is quite possible that gold goes a lot lower while markets continue to go higher. I think US markets go higher at least until spring.

Gold looks very weak right now, so why am I buying gold stocks? Because IMO late December is the time to buy the worst stocks for the Santa trade. Given the technical backdrop, I wouldn't touch this stuff if it were any other time of year. But for the Santa trade, the crappier the stock, the better. I'm going to keep buying until I run out of cash.

This trade is only on until the end of January, but if the sector happens to look good at that time I might extend it another month or 2. After January, I want to be in strong sectors.