Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC), Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE:HMY), Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY), Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) Hammered Again on Down Gold Day

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC), Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE:HMY), Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) and Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) took another hit Wednesday as gold prices ended in the negative, although much better than the last couple of days.

The good news is some gold miners like Novagold (AMEX:NG), Ivanhoe (NYSE:IVN) and Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) all closed in the positive, and Ivanhoe has been positive even on some of the large drops in gold price recently.

Some of the weakness has been attributed to better jobs data, but that was in December, and anyone knows that was Christmas hiring for the most part, and we'll see the reverse in numbers soon as businesses let the temporary help go. It's not all that, but a lot of it is.

The optimism being thrown around since the turn of the year is turning almost manic, as if the year before and the weakness of the economy in the U.S. and the world have suddenly disappeared.

For gold companies, they will suffer in general until the mania wears off, and will begin their steady climb up in value as the reality of the economy hits people and investors again.

Kinross Gold closed Wednesday at $17.80, down $0.39, or 2.14 percent. Harmony Gold Mining closed at $11.97, down $0.15, or 1.24 percent. Yamana Gold closed down at $12.05, falling $0.17, or 1.39 percent. Eldorado Gold ended the session at $17.64, losing $0.21, or 1.18 percent.