[eyedigress]

Three unidentified U.S. banks held 86,398 short positions, or bets that gold prices will fall, in the COMEX gold market as of Aug. 5 -- 10 times more short positions than a month earlier, a government report showed.

Sounds like a free market to me.

Did Gold drop faster than it was Supposed to?

[TigerLikesRooster]

Or kept from rising.

So the size of short positions may be the key. If it is too big and grew too fast, it could certainly reverse the trend. Some say it is too big even for some major player. Maybe some central banks?

[GregoryFul]

It is not a “free market” when banks can borrow from the Fed at 2%, and further be assured by the treasury that if their “bet” looses, the taxpayer will wind up holding the bag. Clearly, the treasury has an interest in demonizing gold and cheering on paper money, no matter what the ultimate consequences will be to the people. Do you know what happened to your dollar over the last 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years? It is a shadow of its former self. Guess what it will be 10 years hence...