Gold didn’t do much on Friday until Sydney closed for the weekend. Then it began a gentle rise through the balance of Hong Kong and most of London trading.

Maybe it had something to do with the 40 basis point fall in the US$ and Israel’s war games. But, in the end, nothing mattered. It nearly goes without saying that the party ended (regardless of the negative news) the moment that New York trading began…and although there was a smallish rally, it too got sold down. However, gold did close above $900…so I guess we should be thankful for small mercies.

Silver was similar, except its high of the day was at the New York open. And I see from the Kitco chart that the boyz got the silver price to close within pennies of the same price for three days in a row. I wonder if they had a contest to see how close they could get at the end of Globex trading each day? If they did, I hope the prize was worth it.

The open interest numbers from Thursday’s crushed breakout are no surprise. Gold open interest skyrocketed 12,714 contracts as the tech funds covered shorts and went long…while the bullion banks went short against them. As one well known NY gold commentator said yesterday…”There is clearly an aversion in certain quarters to a gold price rise.” And, for the same reason as gold, silver o.i. was up a more than substantial 3,497 contracts. The Commitment of Traders report was a yawner. Next Friday’s should be more educational.

Yesterday I mentioned the PPT…or Plunge Protection Team. I had an enquiry from a reader as to what PPT means. I keep forgetting that CDR+ is getting more readers all the time, and the newbies may not know what everything means. The Plunge Protection Team…or its real name, President’s Working Group on Financial Markets…has been in existence since President Ronald Reagan signed it into law the year after the crash of ‘87. Earlier this year, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said he was going to “re-invigorate the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets.” What he really meant is that instead of years of covert operations in the financial markets, they were going to become more active…and thus more obvious. And they are! You can read more about it here.

And, as GATA’s (Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee) secretary treasurer, Chris Powell said…”there are no markets anymore…only interventions.” I sit on the board of directors of this organization.

However, all the interventions in the world aren’t going to help the average American citizen as their individual net worths continue to plunge. Here’s a graph courtesy of the organization that got them into this predicament in the first place….the Fed. The graph goes back 48 years. Without doubt, this graph will show much worse before it’s all said and done…and I won’t live to see happy days return again…and I’m only 59. Doug Casey doesn’t call it the “Greater Depression” without good reason.

Today’s first story is from The Washington Post…and it’s a goody! The article is entitled “Wall Street Lobbies to Protect Speculative Oil Trades”. Is it just me or does this reek of complete and utter hypocrisy to you? Just asking. The link is here.

It’s (very) late Friday evening as I write this, and one of the ‘must reads’ before I start my Friday rant is David Galland’s weekly commentary at Casey Research…entitled “The Room”. This week David was commenting on the possibility that Al Gore may be Obama’s running mate because “he (Obama) immediately seals his bonds with those who pray at the altar of global warming.” That may be the case, but Obama/Gore ticket will be hoping this story about Al’s latest house renovations don’t get into the popular press. The scuttlebutt is linked here.

This week’s fun youtube.com video is a blast from the late 1960s. Mama Cass Elliott (of Mamas and Papas fame) does a cute skit with Tom Smothers on the Smothers Brothers Show. Turn up your speakers and enjoy. The link is here.

And enjoy the rest of your weekend…then gird your loins for battle next week…as all of Hank’s horses and all of Hank’s men couldn’t keep the Dow above 12,000 on Friday. My crash helmet is all polished up. See you Tuesday.

Casey Research correspondent-at-large Ed Steer is a keen observer of the financial scene and a board member of GATA.org.

Source: And Then There’s This…Saturday, June 21st, 2008