Gold prices reached a two-year low this week and many gold mining companies are feeling a severe squeeze on profits.
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Gold settled above $1,200 on Tuesday as bargain hunters appeared after prices fell to six-month lows of around $1,200 an ounce.

"People are trying to avoid paying higher taxes than necessary for positions that will be marked-to-market at the end of Dec. 31, so there's quite a bit of portfolio evening out that's going on, so to speak,'' said George Gero, a gold market analyst and vice president at RBC Capital Markets Global Futures in New York.