Waiting for the gold stocks to decouple is simply nerveracking:

If you get it right, you can sail away into the 'golden' sunset and thumb your nose at the rest of the markets as they eventually go down the drain.

If you get it wrong (like I did last fall), you can lose half your portfolio value or more in very short order.

One question to be asked now is the following:

What, if anything, is different about the situation now for the majors, mid-tiers and juniors in the pm sector as compared to last July?

First, one might think that many weak hands have been shaken out.

Second, the levels of many juniors (Tyhee for example) have not come back much since the Fall massacre; so, how much would be left to be wiped out if another massacre hit? Thus, the hands holding the stocks now are, in a sense, risking less vis-a-vis a potential gold stock downdraught with the general markets.

Third, are the 'new hands' coming in now seeing gold stocks as a safe haven, and would there be a critical mass that would keep gold stocks at least even if the S & P were to tank to let's say 600?

In short, I do not think we are in the same situation we were in last July; Barbera's suggestion to sell major gold stocks now seems riskier in light of renewed interest in gold, but, I cannot afford to lose half my portfolio again...

Any thoughts?