The gold world knows a bell was rung last week by mining group Barrick Gold’s announcement that it will unwind the rest of its hedge book (ie gold sold for future delivery, which partially offsets any price declines). The question is whether the bell signified the beginning of the end for the bull market, or its breakthrough to higher levels.

For its part, Barrick, in its press release announcing the massive de-hedging, made all the right bullish noises about “an increasingly positive outlook on the gold price”, which suggests that hedging would be a waste of money, and “continuing robust gold supply/demand fundamentals”.