THIS WEEK I'VE

been scratching my head, looking at price action that I haven't seen in a long time. Gold stocks are at multimonth, and in many cases multiyear, lows. Same goes for silver.

It got me thinking about how much the attitude toward precious-metals investing has changed. When I first began writing about gold back in 2001, exchange-traded funds like StreetTracks Gold and PowerShares DB Precious Metals hadn't even been invented yet. Investors in gold, and commodities in general, were chided as fringe survivalist types clinging to Krugerrands in anticipation of a nuclear meltdown.

Tarnished Stocks

Year-to-date: Kincross Gold (KGC), Goldcorp (GG), Silver Standard (SSRI), Newmont Mining (NEM)

Stoked by a multiyear bull market, that attitude has now completely reversed. Millions of investors have bought gold, gold stocks or precious-metals ETFs. Books like "Crash Proof," which I heartedly endorsed, and "The Coming Economic Collapse" have sold briskly, and commodities conferences with Jim Rogers and other gurus have attracted thousands of attendees.

Hardly fringe, gold has now become downright mainstream. And while surely gold will have value over the long term, this one-time leader's price action in the here and now is anything but encouraging.

Socialist Creep

"I do want a gas tax holiday, but to pay for it by putting a windfall profits tax on the oil companies...the oil companies have made out like bandits...and there is no basis for them to have these huge profits. They're not inventing anything new."

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D., N.Y.), in a Fox News interview with Bill O'Reilly

Also See:

• Gap's Stock Comes Back in Fashion

• Mexican Peso Quietly Gains on Dollar

• Selling Losers as They Rally Is Big Mistake

Jonathan Hoenig is managing member at Capitalistpig Hedge Fund LLC.