Gold has dropped 16 percent from last September’s record high, but MarketWatch columnist Peter Brimelow sees several indicators pointing to a rebound for the precious metal.

The Hulbert Gold Newsletter Sentiment Indicator (HGNSI) rose 12.5 percentage points on Friday, though it still stood at negative 2.3 percent.

LeMetropoleCafe.com reports that the HGNSI has stood below 20 percent for 100 days, a record streak. After the previous record was set in 2002, gold soared 10.9 percent in the next two months.

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Standard Bank wrote in a report Friday that traders have large short positions in gold on the Comex. “Since 2004 (when physically backed gold exchange-traded funds were introduced to the market), there have been just five times that the size of the Comex gold non-commercial short positions stood out,” it states.

Three of the prior four instances were followed by gold rallies of 25 percent, 23 percent and 36 percent, according to Brimelow.

HSBC reported Friday that “gold net longs are currently near the 13.1 million ounce lows set earlier this year and leaves room from which gold prices may rally on short covering … .”

To be sure, some gold traders look for a pullback after the metal soared 2.5 percent last week, its best week in the last eight.

“Should we not pass $1,640, should we get Fed disappointment of doing little prior to September, we could have a good setback,” George Gero of RBC Capital Markets, told Reuters.

Gold recently stood at $1,623.

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