Girding up for an uncertain 2012

摘要

The final week of 2011 was a time to celebrate making it through another year, tally wins and losses and look to the market uncertainty that will most likely be our fate in the year ahead. A vicious bear market for precious metals in December 2011 took a big bite out of the year-end tallies for price performance (gold bugs: add your favourite conspiracy theory here). The spot price for gold in London closed out the year at 1,574.50 US dollars per oz., up 164.25 US dollars, or 11.6%, from year-end 2010, and off 17% from the all-time nominal high hit in early September 2011. As we all know, gold mining stocks performed terribly in 2011 despite the strength of the gold price. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index fell 13% over the year to 498.73, with year-over-year share price retreats of 50% or more being common in the junior gold sector.