Gold gained yet another powerful ally yesterday — hedge fund icon Paul Tudor Jones. The man who famously called Black Monday in 1987 and the Nikkei crash a few years later now thinks “gold appears to be cheap.” In a note to his investors, Tudor said, “I have never been a gold bug. It is just an asset that, like everything else in life, has its time and place. And now is that time… gold’s value should increase as its scarcity relative to printed currencies increases.”

Our own bearish beliefs remain unchanged. From day one, we’ve said the current rally is one for suckers. But we admit suffering certain twinges of regret; stocks have proved more resilient than we expected. Here’s a quick bullet list of why we remain bearish on stocks’ near-term prospects:

World stocks took yet more losses Tuesday, with Europe shares hitting a record low, a day after most equity markets suffered a thorough battering at the hands of investors fearful for the global financial system.

BNP Paribas weighs on the euro…  China and Treasuries…  Euro forming a base?  Gold continues its rally… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Euro gains, then loses, then gains…  Inflation and Commodities…  The euro turns 10!  Risk Aversion remains but is waning… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

SO the SPOT GOLD PRICE sank in October, dropping right back to 13-month lows at $683 an ounce. After failing to breach $930, this collapse marked the third step lower from March’s all-time high of $1,032. And from a technical perspective, the Gold Chart looks horrible – recording lower lows and lower highs for the last six months and more.

It’s not only the clouds outside that seem to be lifting. Optimism broke out in various quarters, reflected in global equities. The Dow closed above 13,000 on Thursday. The Nikkei closed above 14,000. The FTSE 100 was over 6,100 by mid-day Friday.

Another batch of earnings announcements sent shares lower, as weak results from non-financial firms fueled investor concerns that economic weakness is spreading to other industries.

A fresh round of earnings reports dragged on U.S. stocks today (Thursday).

Stocks surged today (Wednesday), on a round of earnings releases that met or exceeded Wall Street expectations.