by Alasdair MacLeod
Gold Money
Gold and silver continued to rally this week, with gold challenging the $1900 level and silver $28. From last Friday’s close, gold rose a net $12 to trade at $1892 in European trading this morning, and silver by 16 cents at $27.67. Gold hit a high of $1912.70 on Wednesday on very heavy volume, and silver $28.23.
Comex trading in gold was remarkable, with open interest plunged 20,718 contracts on a rising price on Tuesday. Admittedly, by the close of business the price had come back under control, closing down $3 on the day. It is worth making two points. The first is that the squeeze was on some of the Swaps (bullion bank trading desks – more on this below) and the second is tonight’s Commitment of Traders’ report is for the close of play on Tuesday. Could there be an element of window dressing involved?