Summary We continue to have several things working against the gold sector at the moment. I have been selling more over the last week as this rally looked to be petering out somewhat, but I still have positions established in several gold and silver companies. If gold goes under $1,000 per ounce, then it will probably be the last time you will be able to buy it at that price ever again. The bearish hurdles that I talked about a few weeks ago in my last article on the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSEARCA: GLD ) are still in place. In fact, they have become even larger since that time. We continue to have several things working against the sector at the moment. Those include the divergence between GLD and the gold stocks (HUI and XAU), the long-term downtrend that is still in place, tax loss selling into the year-end, and possible interest rate hikes at the December Fed meeting. The gold sector needs to overcome these before you can even start to talk about a new bull market. The latest sell-off in the precious metal sector began in early June, and since that time GLD has almost gotten back to even while the HUI is still showing a sizable loss. There have been many instances in the past when you suddenly get big divergences that occur in terms of where GLD/gold is priced at in relation to where the gold stocks are trading, and they usually don’t last long. At one point this month, the HUI was down about 35% while GLD was only down about 2.5%. That performance gap was extreme and it simply wasn’t going to be able to continue. Since that time, the HUI has outperformed, but it’s still lagging the price of gold by a fairly large margin. One of them is right though, and one of them is wrong. Either GLD reverses hard over the short-term, or the HUI makes some substantial gains during that time. ^HUI data by YCharts Given the price action in the HUI since the Fed meeting, one could argue that it’s the gold stocks that are correct. But it’s too soon to determine if this rally since the August lows is just a bear market bounce. Technically, the gold stocks appear to be breaking down, but I don’t like to rely on events that happen immediately after a Fed meeting, as the initial move isn’t always the correct one. Without question though, the long-term trend is still down. If the HUI can’t make a charge higher over the next several weeks, then investors will most likely start taking some tax losses in these gold stocks (if they haven’t already), as many have dropped substantially since the beginning of 2015. This will further fan the flames and we could get some major declines into the end of the year. I showed the YTD percentage loss for the following stocks in my previous article. Over the last few weeks, they have decreased even more, and the chart below reflects their current losses year to date. GG data by YCharts We also have the Fed and interest rates weighing on the gold market. Last time, I talked about how the Fed has been consistent with its message since 2012, in that the majority of members have been signaling for the last three years that they believe 2015 is when the first rate hike will occur. My argument remains that the Fed is going to lose credibility if it doesn’t raise rates this year. The weak jobs data in September had everybody believing that the Fed was on hold for the rest of 2015 and maybe well into 2016. As I said in my last update: I believe that rate hikes are still on the table, and this should be clear at the conclusion of the next Fed meeting in a few weeks. If this occurs, then gold could come under pressure again. Given the following statement out of the Federal Reserve, a 25 basis point increase at the December meeting is still a high probability event: In determining whether it will be appropriate to raise the target range at its next meeting, the Committee will assess progress–both realized and expected–toward its objectives of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation. This assessment will take into account a wide range of information, including measures of labor market conditions, indicators of inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and readings on financial and international developments. Translation: baring a major decline in the U.S. and global stock markets between now and the end of the year, and assuming economic data doesn’t collapse, the Fed is most likely going to raise rates at the December meeting. GLD and the HUI could remain under pressure over the remainder of 2015, but I continue to believe this will be a “sell the rumor, buy the news” event, and gold will finally bottom soon after the first rate hike. It might not happen right away though, as there could be a slight lag. Contrary to popular belief, gold doesn’t perform poorly when rates increase. The last time the Fed embarked on a rate hike program was in 2004-2006, as the Fed Funds rate went from 1.00% to 5.25%. Gold went from just under $400 to… well, take your pick on which date and price you want to use. Clearly there was a huge bull market in gold occurring at the time. (SOURCE: FRED ) If you go back the the 1970’s, it was the same situation. And notice in both charts how gold increases immediately (or almost immediately) with the Fed Funds rate. In the chart above, gold was up about 20% in the 4-6 months that followed the first rate increase. (SOURCE: FRED ) There is one additional hurdle that the gold sector is facing at the moment, and that is the recent strength in the U.S. stock market. Anybody that has read my previous articles on GLD knows that I’m bearish on the U.S. indices. While I don’t expect a major collapse to occur, I do believe we could see a multi-year bear market with a 25-35% decline, or at best a sideways trading pattern. Stocks need to digest the massive gains that have been racked up since 2011. In other words, it’s time for a breather. But November and December are always strong months for stocks, and it seems like they are trying to have one last hurrah before finally giving way. You can see how GLD and the S&P have been trading inverse to one another over the last few weeks. Should the stock market continue to hold up, then gold wouldn’t have that firm bid underneath it as money would still be chasing these highflyers. Only when we see the S&P roll over we will see gold start to take flight. ^SPX data by YCharts My Updated Plan Of Action On October 16, in the comments section in my previous article on GLD, I told readers that I had started booking some profits in a few precious metal stocks. The reasoning was many of these were hitting their 200 day moving averages, so I thought it might be prudent to lighten up a bit. I have been holding many of these stocks since the August lows, as that is when I jumped back in. Some positions were established on the morning of October 2, as GLD had a huge move to the upside. I thought it might be wise to take some gains and see what happened over the next few weeks. My plan was to buy these positions back only if a breakout was confirmed. (Source: StockCharts.com) I have been selling more over the last week as this rally looked to be petering out somewhat, but I still have positions established in several gold and silver companies. I’m just going to hold these and see what develops. I have no desire to buy anything at the moment given the recent weakness, I would need to see some positive price action in the HUI first. Right now 104 and 130 are the two levels I’m paying attention to. Below 104 and it’s time to get very bearish, above 130 and the rally could go further and possibly develop into a bull market. As long as the HUI remains in the middle of those, then I’m just going take a wait and see approach. My Strategy With Timing This Gold Bottom I want to talk a little more about my strategy when it comes to the gold market and why I was buying in early August, even though I still believed there was more downside over the next several months. To me, this all comes down to the math and probabilities, and buying at that time was a win-win scenario. I had two options: wait for a final capitulation and preserve 100% of my capital, or start to buy in and run the risk of losing some money. This is not about the amount invested, it’s about the percentages invested. The HUI peaked at 630 in 2011, in early August it was just above 100, or an 84% decline from peak to then-current trough. I know that the HUI isn’t going to zero, as no index has ever been wiped out completely. So the question is what could be left on the downside from the roughly 100 level. The Dow declined 90% during the Great Depression, a similar decrease in the HUI would take it to 63. That price target seemed to be a very real possibility. That would most likely result in a 50% haircut in the major gold stocks that make up the index. My thought process was to buy in 20% at the August lows, and see what transpired from that point. If I lost 50% on that capital invested as the HUI went to 63, but still had 80% cash on the sidelines, then I would gladly take that. For two reasons. One, being able to buy 80% in at 63 would be an incredible opportunity for some serious long-term gains. But even if the index declined further after I bought – to say 40 to 50 – didn’t matter so much. I know that the absolute lows during capitulation events don’t hold for long, and those losses that occur at the tail end are made up in just a matter of months. It only took a few months for the Dow to double off of the bottom, and a year later it had tripled from the lows. So if the HUI plummeted to 63 or lower, it would increase back to 100 in short order. I would also quickly gain back that money lost on the initial capital outlay in that scenario. Conversely, using 20% of my allotted capital to purchase gold and silver stocks at the August lows protected me from getting behind the eight-ball, if that turned out to be the absolute bottom. I’m always trying to stay ahead of the curve. And when I get ahead I want to keep pushing that envelope and increase my distance even further. Not taking advantage of this opportunity given would have been risking losing that positioning. Plus, if the bottom was established at that point, it would have meant I would have started to buy at the absolute lows. Worse case it would be a good trade as it was clear that these stocks were turning up in the short-term. So either scenario had a very positive outcome, which is why it was a win-win type of event. Let me be clear, this is only applicable to the current price environment of the gold stock sector or when trying to time the bottom of a sector that has already experienced a massive decline. The Last Time Gold Will Trade Under $1,000? Nothing really bullish has occurred yet in the gold sector. And with all of these hurdles that it faces between now and the end of the year, it opens the door for further downside. My ultimate target since the Fall of 2014 has been 90-100 in GLD, or roughly $950-$1,000 in gold. I still believe that if there is one more decline, that it’s most likely going closer to the 90/$950 target. If that occurs, then it will probably be the last time you will be able to buy gold under $1,000 per ounce ever again. Prices of all assets continually rise over time as the money supply increases. The fair value of gold is around $1,400 an ounce (my estimate given the growth in the money supply and just looking at the current cash cost environment). That’s not going to decrease as time progresses, it’s only going to increase as the consistent trajectory of M2 is higher, not lower. Gold is no different from other goods that are produced. It costs money to extract gold from the ground, and as the money supply increases, then so do those costs. Where those costs are at gives us a good idea of where gold should be trading. But all assets can trade well above or below fair value for a given period of time. Eventually though, the rubber band gets stretched too much (in either direction) and you get a reversion to the mean or an overshoot. Gold below $1,000 would be a stretch already at current money supply levels and growth rates. In 10-20 years, it would be impossible to have gold under $1,000, given the amount of inflation that would be introduced to the system during that time. Just like today it would be impossible to have gold under $300, which is where it was at 15 years ago. So if the price does get to under $1,000, enjoy it will it last, because it will most likely be the final time gold ever trades in the three digits. That just shows you how much upside potential this sector has.