One of the great gold bears reverses course

High-profile Goldman Sachs broker Richard Coppleson is recommending the purchase of gold stocks after four years of staunch bearishness, Michael Bennet reported for the Australian Wednesday.

One of the great gold critics, Coppleson mentioned to clients yesterday that “gold may be finally, after two years of misery, in for a good quarter.”

“As I’ve always said, I would invest in gold when I felt the froth was out. Now looks like that time.”

“If gold bounces $100 from here – which is not that hard to see – then gold stocks will have a big run.”

So far, Coppleson has identified OceanaGold, Regis Resources and Medusa Mining as three miners that would gain momentum if the gold price were to rally.

Coppleson’s contrarian call arrives in the face of numerous factors that seem to be pressuring gold downwards, including the return of risk appetite, the ETF exodus, and wavering physical demand – particularly in India as a result of government policy.

The price of gold moved slightly higher Wednesday before falling back  $17/oz to fresh one-month lows at $1,350 in after-hours trading after the US Fed struck an upbeat tone about prospects for the US economy.