Over the last month, there has been a remarkable turnaround in large investor sentiment about gold.

These investors abandoned gold derivatives like exchange-traded funds (ETFs), short contracts and futures this summer in favor of investing in the stock market. As a result, gold prices had a record fall and plunged to under $1,200. There were also a record number of short contracts (betting the price would go down) on gold in the Commitment of Traders report. And many financial institutions revised their gold price forecasts downward.

Gold prices have steadily climbed this summer. This was due to continued mixed U.S. economic data casting doubt on the possible quantitative easing tapering starting in September or October. The uncertainty about potential military intervention in Syria pushed gold above the $1,400 mark in August.

Something else interesting also happened in August. The sustained uptick in gold prices coupled with the Syria boost had most investors scrambling to cover their short positions. The Commitment of Traders report showed that more large investors have switched from short contracts to long contracts (betting the price will go up).

Several large gold ETFs also had the first increase (buying) instead of a decrease (selling) in their physical gold holdings.

Finally, several major financial institutions have revised their gold price forecasts upward north of $1,400 for the end of the year.

It will be a bumpy ride, but there are important signs that investor sentiment toward gold is changing from negative to positive and that could mean rising prices this year.