It could be that we saw round one of this in the move to $1225 recently. So then you give a little back and go into round two. This is a war not a battle and not much can be deduced from action over the last week as it is a very illiquid time for markets b ut it certainly seems that the cartel boys have kept some people at the trading desk even if their adversaries are not.

It will be very interesting to once again watch gold and gold shares in the first 10 days of January when all hands will be on deck. It may well be this consolidation for gold will be a great x-mas or new years gift for the players who took gold up to $1225 recently and they are just waiting to collect.