Underperformance by gold stocks creates great buying opportunity

Gold prices passed the $1,500 per ounce mark for the first time ever in mid-April of this year and have set up shop around $1,525-$1,550 an ounce aside from a couple of short pullbacks in early May.

So far in 2011, it’s been relatively status quo for those investors who’ve embraced gold as a way to protect themselves from currency debasement, excessive money printing and inflation as prices have increased 7.67 percent. BofA-Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) analysts are forecasting gold prices could fall to $1,400 an ounce during seasonal weakness in July before rebounding as high as $1,650 an ounce by early fall.