Where Have All The Gold Stocks Gone? Will They Return?

Gold miners getting hammered while metal sits near record highs tells you everything about paper versus physical. These stocks carry operational risk, dilution risk, and management risk that bars in your safe don't have. Mining costs keep climbing while ore grades decline. The disconnect between gold price and mining stocks isn't a bug, it's a feature. Smart money knows the difference between owning gold and owning a company that digs it up. COMEX registered inventories keep dropping while central banks stack physical. The miners will have their day when sentiment shifts, but stackers sleep better knowing their metal doesn't depend on quarterly earnings or board decisions.