Bill,
It's getting monotonous, and just incredible how iron-fisted the cartel has become. The 90% probabilities just keep on going. Virtually every manipulation I follow is in the 90%+ category. An amazing 33 out of the past 36 PM fixes have been lower, or no higher than $5 from the AM fixes. Selling commences in almost every Comex trading session, with plans A, B, and C daily fare. Watching these patterns set up like clockwork makes you wonder who could possibly take the opposite (wrong) side of the trade 90% of the time.
Are hedge funds THAT oblivious to the cartel's ways? It defies all trading logic to watch what has become the cartel version of the basketball Harlem Globetrotters mowing down the Washington Generals. I used to say it was analogous to the WWE. Hell, even a WWE match has at least in theory has a chance of NOT being a predetermined outcome. There not only isn't a single day that goes by that's not manipulated, with high speed algos there now isn't a millisecond that goes by.
With NFP looming on Friday and April gold op. ex. coming in 3 weeks on the 25th you'd have to believe they're highly motivated to keep this clamp on, at least short term.
Many investment advisors have proclaimed that, "they don't care if gold is manipulated, because even if it is it allows us to accumulate gold at lower prices". The "us" they refer to unfortunately no longer includes such bright minds as Ferdinand Lips, Adrian Douglas, and
now Peter George, who never got to see a free gold market, and the full rewards of their skill and knowledge. People that don't care whether markets are free are spineless tools, and a disgrace to this industry. Lips, Douglas, George, and the other GATA warriors who have passed away will be remembered for fighting the good fight, and in doing so helping rid future generations of financial tyranny.
That's a worth that isn't measured in bank accounts reflective of being paid shills who don't care about financial crime.
James McShirley