Money printing and inflation as prices have increased

An excellent analysis of gold and gold stocks:

One can purchase shares of gold mining companies at their second-cheapest level in nearly 30 years
Gold prices passed the $1,500 per ounce mark for the first time ever in mid-April of this year and have set up shop around $1,525-$1,550 an ounce aside from a couple of short pullbacks in early May. So far in 2011, it’s been relatively status quo for those investors who’ve embraced gold as a way to protect themselves from currency debasement, excessive money printing and inflation as prices have increased 7.67 percent. BofA-Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) analysts are forecasting gold prices could fall to $1,400 an ounce during seasonal weakness in July before rebounding as high as $1,650 an ounce by early fall.
While the party continues for gold bullion prices, stocks of gold companies have been a no-show. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index (HUI) has fallen more than 13 percent year-to-date and the Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index (XAU) has toppled more than 16 percent. Companies such as High River Gold Mines, Jaguar Mining and NovaGold Resources are off more than 45 percent from 2007-2008 highs.
This underperformance has been exacerbated in recent weeks making it a hot topic of discussion among investors, analysts and portfolio managers. This chart shows gold equities of all market capitalization sizes were holding up quite well until late April. That’s when global sentiment toward equities, not just goldshares, began to waver and prices dropped off a cliff.