Mark Hulbert on gold market sentiment:

ANNANDALE, Va. (MarketWatch) — If bull markets like to climb a wall of worry, then get ready for higher gold prices in the days and weeks ahead.

That’s because gold timers in recent weeks have become increasingly skeptical about gold’s near-term prospects.

Consider the average recommended gold market exposure that exists among gold timing newsletters tracked by the Hulbert Financial Digest. As of Monday night, this average stood at just 3.8% — which means that the typical gold timing newsletter right now has virtually no exposure to the gold market whatsoever.

To put that in context, consider the sentiment picture from three months ago, in late May, when bullion was trading at more or less the same price as it is today. At that time, the average recommended gold market exposure was 50.2% — or more than 46 percentage points higher than where it is currently.

Gold is currently trading in a wedge and a breakout one way or the other will happen soon. Typically, wedge patterns are resolved by big moves:

Based on the sentiment, I would expect this pattern to be resolved to the upside. We’ll find out soon.