Gold Crashes through Chart Support

So much for quiet trading ahead of today's release of the FOMC minutes from their last meeting! Volume had just dried up with the market killing time as the hour of the release drew near when a batch of large sell orders came out of nowhere and caught the market sleeping. The intention was to run the stops sitting down below yesterday's lows - guess what? They got them!

The surge in volume caused a temporary halt in trading. When trading resumed, momentum based selling then entered in large size dropping gold further. It fell through $1258 which was acting as a temporary floor.

Here is another example of how hedge funds can push price by taking advantage of lulls in liquidity. I am sure some in the gold camp will once again credit this "takedown" to the big bullion banks but that is simply not the case. They continue to lift their existing short positions and add to their exposure on the long side of the market. It is hedge funds who continue to reduce long side exposure and add to their growing, and profitable, number of short positions.

We will get to see this as the December contract enters its delivery period soon. I suspect we will see J P Morgan taking delivery of a rather large amount of gold. Either way, we will see.

One bummer is the fact that this move lower through support occurred today, Wednesday, so unfortunately this week's CFTC report ( Commitment of Traders ) will not pick up the positioning of players.

Silver is dangerously flirting with the $20 level. If it loses support there, another 50 cent drop will come rather quickly with potential for further losses down towards $19.

More later today after the release of the FOMC minutes. Let's see what they might say and whether or not it has an impact on the markets or if they have correctly anticipated the contents.

Crude oil is sinking further today having bounced back above $93 yesterday. That seems to be a general pivot region with the market oscillating around this level.