Recently, a gold trader was quoted in the financial press as saying the first quarter jump in gold prices was one of the most surprising gold rallies in memory, with gold futures vaulting from $1,045 a troy ounce to $1,287.

The “surprise” was because the surge came after about five years of uncertainty in gold pricing. Indeed, 2015 was a particularly tarnished year for gold with prices dropping 10.42 percent versus the U.S. dollar, capping three straight years of negative performance against the buck, reports Sprott Asset Management USA. Gold was also a negative 4.62 percent against a basket of nine global currencies, only the second time since 2001 that has happened. The last time was in 2013, when Sprott reported gold was off 24.39 percent against the same basket of currencies.

“Gold came out of a period from 2011 through 2015, where it did nothing but make lower lows and lower highs,” says Andrew Hecht, chief market strategist for Carden Capital. “Gold cam