Back in the saddle for precious metals?

On Dec 23rd, Mercenary Live Feed members received the following pre-open comment:

Elsewhere in the markets, gold and silver are at a critical juncture. Silver’s range has tightened significantly as volume has diminished, suggesting a breakout in either direction will come next.

Then on Dec 28th, prior to market open, we added this:

Back in the saddle for precious metals?

Gold and silver are surging this morning as the $USD gets sold off. In other positive news, our main China position (FXI) is down hard once again, further confirming the ‘E.M. Hiking Cycle’ is in full effect.

The early strength for precious metals may represent the market’s mental adjustment to China / Brazil rate hike patterns. If perceived that emerging market monetary policy is becoming ‘firm,’ even as U.S. monetary policy remains ‘soft’, that could accelerate capital flows out of the $USD — good for gold and silver.

At any rate, we are happy to ride the bucking bronco. We already had pending positions for long silver (via AGQ) and a pyramid on Silver Wheaton (SLW). We’ll add to those today with a full position in GDX, the Market Vectors Gold Miner’s ETF, which held up much better in the recent downdraft than the speculative junior GDXJ…

A lot of tension had built up in the PM miners as of late, with some wondering if the run was “over” for now.

As the latest chart breakouts argue, that is clearly not the case…