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A security guard watches a stack of display gold bullion bars at the Australian Bullion Co.'s office in SydneyDavid Gray

Gold continues to move in the same direction as the stock market – though in a slightly more muted way – challenging its reputation as a haven investment meant for dark times. On Wednesday, gold was down 72 cents (U.S.) an ounce to $1,615, trailing the 0.4 per cent decline of the S&P 500. And on Tuesday, gold rose 1.4 per cent, trailing the S&P 500's 3 per cent blast-off.

Strange? You bet. Gold is meant to offset stock market declines, rising when investors get nervous about the global economy or rising inflation. Moving with the stock market isn't what gold investors had in mind.

Bespoke Investment Group pointed out on Tuesday that gold is also struggling with at least one technical issue. It is hovering around its 200-day moving average right now after Tuesday's rebound, a key threshold that stocks and commodities have had a tough time breaking through.

"All too often it seems as though when we see rebounds that stall out just short of a major moving average, the stock or commodity quickly resumes its downward bias," Bespoke said on its blog.

Despite the technical worries and the recent correlation with the stock market, at least gold investors can look back on 2011 with some amount of satisfaction: Even though gold has retreated about $300 an ounce from its record high, it has risen 13.7 per cent overall this year, far outperforming the 0.4 per cent gain for the S&P 500, after factoring in dividends.

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