This is a direct quote from the WSJ on Thursday August 28, 2003, p. B9...
"...Trading got off to a brisk start as a number of bullion banks sought to bulldoze prices through the $368-$370 area...In recent days, speculative and bullion bank buying has persisted in keeping the metal within striking distance of that region--despite a bullish performance of late by the US dollar...The early bullion bank buying was designed to poke prices through the nearby resistance and activate preplaced buy orders lurking just beyond that would spark a flurry of automatic buying.The ploy worked within the first 15 minutes of trading, with December futures bursting from the $368.50 level to $373 within 2 minutes just after 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on a frenzy of fresh buying and short-covering--the buying of positions previously sold..."
Dan, I do not pretend to be an expert in who's buying and who's selling and why, but I would think if the WSJ is going to print such a story, they would have to be 95% sure that the information was true. Personally, I have never understood why any bank would want to be continuously short gold. Surely they have technical analysts who can sense that a bull market in the metal is materializing and covering any shorts would be a logical step toward that state of grace we call "solvency."
But then again, WTFDIK.
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schloss,
That is exactly why I don't read the WSJ.
They are, imo, for want of a better word, just plain full of shit w/r to the above subject matter.
WSJ 95% sure? Puhleeze!!! Tell me you're kidding me!
To me, 'they' are as much a part of the spin team as the parade of bullish analysts and economists of sorts that soil the airwaves via the CNBC transmissions.
And as to "why any bank would want to be continuously short gold", and why do I get the feeling that you're pulling my leg here, the answer, believe it or not, is to make mucho lots plenty of money and as long as 'they' were able to control the PoG at lower levels (btw, it worked for about 15 years) 'they' were solidly in the driver's seat.
I'm sure 'their' analysts knew some kind of bull market was brewing. I choose to think that 'they' thought 'they' could keep the bull in the corral, and so far, thanks to COMEX 'helping out' by raising the gold futures margin rates causing the large # of bullish small specs to "head for the hills" just when the cartel members were on the ropes and looking like they were going down for the count, they have so far managed to avoid the killshot.
I won't be at all surprised to see some form of 'official' intervention or, at the very least, some rumored or factual large CB sales of their gold reserves just about the time the PoG is threatening to make new yearly highs.
Enjoy the long weekend, country boy. <VBG>
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