Gold Manipulation: Theory & Opinion

The theory of gold-market manipulation put to the test…

WRITING ARTICLES on gold and precious metals can be an unending job, says Brad Zigler at Hard Assets Investor.

The time spent researching and composing the piece often seems short compared with the investment required to field questions and defend one’s reasoning.

Gold, for example, seems to excite everyone’s passions. Everybody’s got an opinion about why the metal’s where it is today or why it ought to be higher, or lower, in the future. And why not? After all, if it weren’t for differences in opinions, there’d be no trading.

But let’s be clear: An opinion is just a personal view; it’s not a fact. When it comes to the responses to gold articles published by Hard Assets Investor there seems to be plenty more opinions than facts offered.

One of the most common beliefs held by responders is that the Gold Price is being artificially suppressed. Gold, according to subscribers of the manipulation theory, would be higher-priced today if not for the efforts of a banking cabal that cuts short rallies. 

But what are the facts, if any, that support this contention? Articles written by Ted Butler are most often cited as the backup for the manipulation argument. Butler, a newsletter publisher and one-time commodity broker, posits a criminal conspiracy among large commercial interests in the silver – and by extension, in the gold – market.

The smoking gun Butler offers is the short interest held by a handful of banks. And according to data compiled by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), banks are indeed on the short side of the metals futures markets and have been for quite some time.

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