I think the fear of being left naked and the herd mentality is causing some flight from ETF's, but the video got me thinking...here are mining chiefs saying inflationary costs are impacting profitable operations. This is stunning. Think about it, people usually cannot dig gold out fast enough when prices are rising, but inflationary pressures from oil and its at tendent products, labor etc is driving up costs. I don't know at what level they hit breakeven, but if production starts to slow dramatically, then supply will contract and how can that not cause additional upward price movement, assuming demand is steady? It's the same cycle OPEC plays with, improving profit margins by scaling back production and causing prices to rise. But OPEC often lacks the cohesion to manage incremental releases of additional inventory by its members to keep prices supported for very long, a greedy few will always trade more, or nonmembers will benefit from the situation.
Frankly, I see no fundamental reason to believe precious metals are in danger of dropping, far too many inflationary demons out there to slay. And too many fragile economies one strong jolt away from disaster. We may see some swings as speculators move in and out or whenever a new hoard is brought to market, but I think the general trend in prices is still more toward up than down. I think we're pretty close to the new re-set point, so I'm going to partake of some bargain hunting.