A Gold Mine?

Gold mining index is massively under-performing actual gold, the XAU index is down 50% while the price of gold is down about 15% -- while oil is down massively, indicating the potential for more profitable production due to lower fuel costs(?)

Add to that the potential for the massive multi-nation coordinated liquidity push to impact gold relative to various currencies?

How does everyone feel about gold mining stocks? The risk of course would be if the economy slows down enough to cause a flat-out crash in gold prices.

I have never done well with gold mining shares. In a down market they seem to drop as fast or faster then the PoG. In an up market they always seem to lag the gain. Same thing has been true for oil and energy in general lately. For whatever reasons gold and energy seem to be despised by Wall Street - maybe it's because they reflect tangible value? To me, Wall Street seems to be more into "concepts".