Burnt!!

Got burnt in the jump in Gold. Up 1%, as soon as Iran announced the release of the prisoners. That's because it reacted to weaker US data instead.

As it turns out my stops were too wide, but they were still triggered - resulting in me losing 20% of my "playing" money.

I think a fundamental shift is afoot in the Gold market. Despite numerous columnists exhorting the cause for Gold, its prices and that of its miners languished in Q1 of this year - probably since the focus was on previous quarter earnings of other corporates. Now that the earnings season is over, the focus has shifted to the next quarter, and that probably doesn't look too good.

I was caught on the wrong foot due to hubris ("Gold will revert to $655")- the smart thing for me, in future Gold trades, is to remain on the long side. However, am wary at this point about the future moves in Gold - currently @ 673 lvls, and at the top end of the range for the last 2 months. However, have decided to go long on NCM, and have a buy order on LHG @ 329 to keep my battered hat in the ring (my OXR position is also booming along - up 8.68% in 2 days).