Both gold and silver did virtually nothing on Thursday until shortly after London opened. Then (just like Wednesday) a sell-off began in both metals which lasted until shortly after the Comex opened in New York.

Then both metals (and a lot of other commodities) got smacked simultaneously. But the boys weren’t through yet! The moment that the London traders closed their doors for the day, another wave of heavy selling showed up on the Comex…triggering more tech fund sell stops in both gold and silver. It was a bloodbath everywhere.

Open interest changes in gold and silver trading for Wednesday are as follows. Gold o.i. fell another 7,783 contracts and silver o.i. was down 74 whole contracts. Today’s COT will show none of this.

In three trading days since the Memorial Day long weekend, gold has been taken to the cleaners for about $55…and silver for about $1.75. In his Tuesday commentary, Ted Butler summarized what happened during the last three days…”While I did not expect this sharp sell-off, its explanation should be clear in hindsight. The dealers (bullion banks – Ed) wanted to reduce their short exposure and rigged prices lower during a thin trading time to get the tech funds selling below the key 50-day moving averages in gold and silver. The commercials (bullion banks – Ed), early this morning, sold a few contracts to get the ball rolling downhill and then pulled their bids until the tech funds starting selling in earnest as the moving averages were broken. Then the commercials bought back all the contracts the tech funds were coughing up. This should be obvious to everyone (save the regulators, who are averting their eyes.).”

I see in an American Press story yesterday that “the CFTC has disclosed that it is six months into a wide-ranging investigation of U.S. oil markets, with a focus on possible price manipulation.” Really??? I’m sure they’ll let us know if ‘8 or less’ traders are long 81.4% of the oil futures market…just like the ‘8 or less’ traders are short in gold at the moment. The CFTC is all over any suspected long manipulation but ignores short-side corners on the market.

My first story today is from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, the International Business Editor of The Telegraph in London. Just when Wall Street and the Fed are telling us “the worst is over”, Mr. Evans-Pritchard files this story entitled “U.S. and European debt markets flash new warning signals.” The story is linked here.

The second…and very short…story is from over at miningmx.com and is entitled “Gold de-hedging could reach 10 million ounces in 2008″. The link is here.

The only thing really feared by the rest of the world is that the economic collapse of the US, now sliding into deepening recession, will have drastic effects on their own economies. This is the driving power behind these recent world summits (none of which included the U.S. – Ed). Only closer economic relations between these other nations can lessen the effects of the world-wide effects of the coming US economic depression and financial collapse. – Bill Buckler, the-privateer.com, 24 May 2008

Today is first notice day in gold for the June contract. Once that’s behind us, it’s my opinion that this cartel-orchestrated sell-off in the precious metals will be behind us. Don’t forget that the cartel did exactly the same thing to us in April…and in March too! Do you see a pattern??? If you doubt me, check the chart here. The silver chart is identical.

Today is also Friday, so expect anything…and we at Casey’s Daily Resource Plus will see you here on Saturday to discuss it with you. Have a great weekend.

Source: And then there’s this… Friday, May 30, 2008