Material shares, down 1.4%, led declines in five of the benchmark index's 10 industry sectors as gold entered bear-market territory.
The rumor is that some large bullion banks used the Bernanke non-QE mention as a cover to try to create a gold and silver bear market.
Yet others said now that gold is in a bear market, which is defined as a 20% drop in value, some traders are using any bounces in the yellow metal as a selling opportunity.
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Gold's plunge into bear territory took less than 20 minutes, starting at 10:25 a.m. in New York and breaching the bear threshold at 10:44 a.m.
Earlier in the week Peter Grandich, the well-known goldbug and author of The Grandich Letter, called out Gartman on his assertion earlier this week that gold is now entering a bear market.
He thinks the bull market in equity still has some legs, though not long ones, and thinks the bear market in gold will reverse as the West continues to face debt problems and inflation.
Check out Market Blaster for more on why Dent is a bear on stocks and gold but bullish on the buck.
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According to traditional Fibonacci theory, that shows the mid April to early May rally in gold was simply corrective to the broader bear move.
Chart Analysis : The daily chart of the December 2011 Comex gold contract shows that it has just completed a bear flag formation (lines a and b).
That long-term bull market appears to have ended with a temporary reversal to the downside in 2011, a recovery back up but to a lower peak last October, and a more serious plunge since that has gold down 24% from that peak, officially in a bear market.
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You can be sure that gold will have its own bull market when the dollar resumes its bear market.
"I honestly believe that I am planting the fruits and the plants will bear fruit - I will not be denied, " said the bullish former Olympic gold medallist.
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