I think that to undersand the global movement of markets, you've got to go up to 10,000 feet and get into subjects that are extremely controversial (which is why I have stayed way from these discussions, except to urge people to get out of the system to the extent possible). At this point I don't care to spend more time understanding the aglo-american empire and it's historical origins or what it's up to today and what forces are fighting and arrayed against it. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The boys at the big banks gaming the system are just the tip of the iceberg, I think that it is safe to say whatever needs to be done will be done to protect the power and wealth of a fairly small group of people. I am not conspiratorial, but I think at that rarified level, it is a smaller world than we think. With the rise of the nation state, the corporate power structure and concentrated energy sources, there is sort of a balance of terror between a relatively small number of forces that has evolved organically over time.
What has been done, is being done, and will be done would raise the hairs on the backs of all our necks I am sure. Nation states that have tried to get out of the dollar system have been bombed into the stone age, all in an effort to keep the dollar system afloat (although very different reasons have been given to those activities). That has more to do with the strenght of the dollar and the price of gold than we would all like to admit. IMHO, when you are gambling on the price of gold, you are gambling on the lives of millions of hapless people accross the globe, becuase gold has become a financial weapon in an epic global battle at the end of an age.
I know that precious metals have taken on the banner of righteous indignation for those who feel cheated by a system that has become perverted and out of control. I would lke to humbly suggest that those true and good emotions be kept safe from the projection on any single idea or thing, but be made flexible in the way they express themselves in this rapidly evolving and changing world. As an aside (Two things can be true about something at the same time, light is both a particle and a wave, it's behavior is dependent on our observation of it. I would like to suggest that gold behaves in the same fashion, both as money and as a commodity, depending on relative circumstances.)
Perhaps PM's has a role to play, and maybe purchasing it will expose the fraud and bring the corruption to an end by exposing the paper counter fitters, but in that sense it is more of a political act than an economic one. If that is the case, than we should be willing to ride the waves that come with such activity. There is certainly also a economc gold ownership argument based on the logic regarding money (currency) printing and the value of true money (or asset). True money should hold the value of our rightfully earned wealth, but in a system so devoid the rule of law, what assurance do we have that economic or physical controls will not continue to be put into play to constrain the expression of its true nature indefinately? Especially, as so many have pointed out, if it's ture value is such a threat to the "system" (as long as the system is around). Doesn't that drive round to a plolitical act again?
I wish those well who want to own PM,s but there is a lot more to this story than technical charts and bottom supports, its a lot to think about (as I have said before, I may in the end purchase some). Sorry for perhaps a little more gas on the fire of an already heated discussion, a little more detail than perhaps I should have given about how I feel about gold.