Monday's Gartman Letter offered the stunning news that its editor, Dennis Gartman, was bailing from his long-held bullishness on gold. Gartman then telegraphed his trading intentions, saying he'd use the rebound from Friday's sell-off to exit his entire long position.

This is the first time in three years that Gartman, whose widely followed newsletter is directed mostly to hedge funds and brokerages, hasn't held a positive outlook on the yellow metal.

Gartman cited a waning in the gold market's relative strength this year, noting it was "a circumstance that has bothered us but which we were willing to overlook so long as new highs were being made." The market's failure to reach higher price plateaus, says Gartman, indicates the bullish trend has been broken.

Friday's market was, indeed, scary, featuring a nearly $24 gap-lower opening in the COMEX June delivery at $919 an ounce, followed by selling down to $907.50. The contract struggled to a mid-range close at $915.20. Monday's market opened $8 higher and reached for the $931 level before settling near session lows at $917.60. This morning's market carried over short covering from the overnight trade. Technical signals are tipping over to the bearish side, putting June's support at $907 in trader's sights. If that's taken out, the next stopping point looks to be $876.

June COMEX Gold