Is The Sell-off In Gold Nearing An End?

There's so much going on in this market that I only have time to summarize the highlights:

1. Oil plunged to another yearly low today. While relief for this commodity is nowhere in sight, natural gas, however, enjoyed a big rally. Shares of nat gas etvs (exchange-traded vehicles (etns & etfs)) $GAZ and $UNG popped back above major support/resistance levels today--a bullish sign.

2. If today's pop in the gold miners is an indication of an impending reversal in the precious metal itself, then it appears we could be in for a significant move to the upside. Many of the junior miners gained as much as 10% on slightly heavier than normal volume. While I wouldn't be a buyer just yet, now is a good time to start building a watchlist in this area.

3. Real-estate investment trusts (REITs) are killing it! One popular exchange-traded fund in this space is the Vanguard REIT etf (VNQ, $80). It hurdled minor resistance to a new all-time high on Friday and pushed even higher today. Note that the fund pays a dividend currently yielding 3.5%. While the yields on some individual REITs may be higher, the appeal of this fund is that the risk is spread over a basket of issues.

4. Heavy call options were noted today in shares of the CME Group (CME, $85) and CBOE (CBOE, $60.5). Both stocks broke to new highs on slightly heavier than normal volume.

5. Speculative cannabis stocks Medical Marijuana (MJNA, $0.20) and Cannabis Science (CBIS, $0.09) rose on anticipation of favorable marijuana legislation being approved by voters in tomorrow's elections. While these stocks could make big moves, I would strongly recommend playing them with funds you don't mind seeing going up in smoke.