I started out thinking it'd be down this year, now I'm not so sure. There's a definite Chinese slowdown, and that's hurting all kinds of small, commodity dependent countries. It's part of what's causing this hiccup with the EM markets now.
So, if things are slowing down, and the Chinese CB has to pump money in to get their economy moving faster, well, could be good for gold.
Bought 100 GDX last week, added 100 yesterday. Not sure yet if I'll keep it or add to it or what. If this EM crisis passes with this Turkish rate hike, I'll probably dump it. Will have to watch how the reaction to that plays out.
You have to understand that gold is volatile. As stocks go higher, gold is going to go lower, but it won't be in a straight line. Gold bottomed at 1181 in december then it bounced back to 1270 this month. As we get stronger data, gold is going to go lower. Gold will get spikes that propel it upward, and you have to sell into these spikes. It's inevitable for gold to go lower. It has had 12 straight years of gains (16.74% average gain since 2001.)