Market situation: Losing cred...

Short term, it has been bad.  But valuation of gold stocks has been illogical.  Many years ago, I read an article lamenting the 'demise' of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.  The POG had been rising yet the capitalization of gold stocks had been plunging. When profitability finally sank into the mentality of the fund managers, they all rushed in like lemmings to buy into profitable gold stocks.  Once the money was parked there, the gold stocks remained high for a while.  That was also a lemming approach as everyone waited for a leading lemming to jump out of the sector and that took a while.

I can't sell out of gold stocks now as they are near the trough (I believe).  Neither can I buy as PIROA options have to be exercised.  It has risen a lot and if I don't convert into ordinary shares, there goes one of my most successful investments.  PIR has a long history with me but the salient point was after selling out completely with a very nice profit, I bought back in again... because directors were buying a lot more shares in the market after a series of bad news.  It meant for me, an omen that things have reversed but the market is not aware why.  Directors don't re-accumulate their shares in bulk without a reason.  So I was the lone lemming... that followed the board.