One thing to keep in mind is that if you invest in gold, just like investing in any commodities, it's better to invest in gold companies, oil companies instead of the index itself to avoid manipulation by the big boys.
One thing works against Gold is whenever it gets closer to $1000, most foreign investors (China, German, Russian....etc) will see this as a sign of inflation and demand more yields on our T-bond, thats why our govt will keep lying about the inflation and pushing the gold price down until there are clear signs of inflation. So be patient about gold and trade the range.