In a bull market, price action extends to the right (in terms of cycle low to cycle top) allowing more time for price to rise. So-called ‘right-translated’ cycles leave shorter periods of time for price to pullback before the next ascent begins. I’ve tried to show that in the following chart…

Apart from the upcoming 8 year cycle low, this process of higher highs and higher lows should continue for many years to come. Look back at the 2008 cyclical low for an idea of what I mean.

It’s so important to keep your eyes on the prize, and not get completely shaken out of your positions during a PM bull market. With that in mind, let’s take a look at where we currently stand in the grand scheme of things with gold…

What we can conclude from this is that the current move is pretty normal, but that a fairly shallow (in terms of the big picture) pullback/consolidation is likely to come, and may well last a year or so (perhaps a few months trending down, then a few months trending back up, before breaking out again). OK, great, so what about Silver, which has been explosive lately…

The numbers and percentages quoted are approximate, and just calculated roughly using the line chart. We can see that the angle of ascent has been very steep, but in terms of time we may have a little further to go. I see a number of scenarios, all of which resolve bullishly. We can either progress to around $35 then pullback before the move to $50, or we pullback here and then make that move. I do expect a sizeable correction into the 8 year low though, and a drop from $50 to either $35 or $28 would fit the bill. After that it’s on towards some number I haven’t yet started to work out properly.

SIL & SILJ will clearly catapult upwards as all of this unfolds, but their charts don’t go back far enough. I’ve taken a close look at HUI though, and you can expect larger percentage gains for the silver miners as the gold/silver ratio continues to unwind. Here’s the chart…

The cup formation would allow a short pullback to around $300, but a doubling to $600 is what I’m looking for in the next 12-18 months. In terms of time, that would position us with perfection to build out a handle into the 8 year low. After that we switch on the afterburners and break away from the gravity surrounding the cup…