RE: Bank portfolio.....Down 22%, it sucks for sure, but the TSX is down around 30%, and so is the TSX gold index, and other gold indices. It's true that gold itself has held up, but who invests in gold by actually buying gold?
Comparatively, the canadian banks have held up pretty well, and the dividends are very good while you wait for recovery. Gold itself will never "recover", and even if things get worse, the price won't go up much because who's got money to buy it? How many people are dumb enough to cut a 30% loss in equities and buy gold bars? (o.k., maybe I'm overestimating the masses!).