gugaplex,
I appreciate your advice and had a look at your site. Thanks. Looks good. Unfortunately the products you show are not within my remit as I trade specifically commodities with a little fx and indices thrown in.
The comment about "The bursting of the commodity bubble" in your last entry is something I do not agree with however and I think you are rather misguided if you think we are entering a protracted bear phase in these markets.
My comments you quote refer not to gold specifically but to commodities as a sector. Check out base metals. This is not a flash in the pan rally it has real and robust underlying support from the rapidly increasing global demand on the back of a gross lack of infrastructure investment.
this year I have done very well out of playing gold from the long side, actually it one of the largest PnL generators for me YTD, so I will continue to do so. It is certainly not dead in my book, you just have to be dynamic about your entires and exits, it is not a buy and hold play anymore. The only thing that would put me off the idea of Gold would be a new bull trend in the dollar...I will not hold my breath on that one.
Totally agree with Andycan re: following the news, the only good information comes from reliable contacts in the commercial business. In commodity markets, unless you are algorithmic, it is essential to understand the products from a physical , commercial perspective.