Gold traded all day below 1200, at times rising to within fifty cents of the key strike price of 1200 where a large concentration of call options were clustered.
Well, since the call options at 1200 have expired worthless, why bother using the energy to continue to suppress the price?
Blatant and arrogant price fixing is done with the cooperation of the regulators at the CFTC who are willing to turn a blind eye to repeated price manipulation by insiders in the US futures markets in precious metals, stock indices, and several key commodities including oil and foodstuffs.
Here is some commentary from the April expiration in silver. Release the Kraken.
"Where such a shift in power is in favor of the governing elite, Power will achieve its murderous potential. It simply waits for an excuse, an event of some sort, an assassination, a massacre in a neighboring country, an attempted coup, a famine, or a natural disaster, to justify the beginning of murder en masse. Most state sponsored murder occurs under the cover of war, revolution, or guerrilla war, or in their aftermath."
R. J. Rummel