Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Antics Abounding

Comex option expiration next week, and the European and US central banks are widely expected to engage in more printing to save the most reckless banks at the expense of the public.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Chart

Another quad option expiration come and gone.

The markets are looking to the ECB and FOMC next week.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Quad Witching Tomorrow, Comex Next Week

"The thing is right now we are nowhere near bubble territory. If gold were $10,000 we’d be having a conversation about whether that was a bubble, but at the $1,800, $1,900 level that’s absolutely not the case. If you are going to ride this long-term trend at the very high levels that we are talking about, you are just going to have to bear this volatility...."

Jim Rickards

This certainly appears to be a 'risk off' scenario for the metals and the dollar, as statements from Europe rallied stocks and caused some money to flow back into riskier assets and out of safe havens.

But the action in the metals for the past few days has smacked of a determined effort by some large entities, quite possibly central banks, to drive the price down and keep it from breaking out and running higher over $2,000. The timing of a determined gold price action in light trade with the Swiss Bank intervention in the franc.

I suspect we may see additional interventions over the next few weeks, as suggested by the ECB today, and of course in conjunction with the FOMC meeting next week.

The central banks of the West appear increasingly desperate to avert a financial crisis, and the discoveries that proceed from market breaks such as this. And desperate people do desperate things, especially when it involves conflicts of interest and potential charges of malfeasance in office.

I had warned that with the FOMC and a Comex expiration next week we should brace for a rough time in the metals. That comes with the territory.   We are having a correction in a bull market. 
Stay away from leveraged and short term betting, and play the longer term fundamentals if you find this sort of volatility to be unpalatable.

Gold-Backed Dollar Puts Fair Value at $10,000 Per Ounce - Bloomberg

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Quad Witching Tomorrow - Rogue Trader My Ass

As a reminder, tomorrow is a 'quad witching' day for equities in the US.

Next week there is a two day FOMC meeting, and the Comex will have an option expiration.

Volumes were light on the NYSE today with under a billion shares traded.

I found this story on the $2 Billion trading loss at UBS to be interesting. I was going to write something in this vein, but he says it quite well. Rogue Trader My Ass - Matt Taibbi

The Banks must be restrained...