The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that we have all marvelled at the resilience of Canadian stocks this year. The Globe's Tim Shufelt writes that as the country's economic future crumbles before our eyes, the Toronto Stock Exchange is on pace for its best showing in 15 years. At the heart of this disconnect is gold. Gold's monster run this year has electrified the TSX and helped erase a huge discount on Canadian stocks. Without gold, the S&P/TSX Composite Index would be trailing the S&P 500 on the year. But with great gains comes great vulnerability. At any moment, gold mania could vanish. Yes, you could say that about any hot asset, but it is more true of gold, which is notoriously difficult to put a value on. You do not need to be a gold bug to be exposed. Since so much of investor sentiment toward Canadian stocks seems to be tied up in gold, a free fall in the commodity would weigh heavily on the TSX in general. "Because the gains have been so aggressive, you would imagine that the flip side would be pretty aggressive too," said Craig Basinger at Purpose Investments. This past Tuesday, gold bullion had its worst day in more than 12 years, and the benchmark index dropped by 1.7 per cent.