A new low for the gold cartel! SMF069

GLITCH OR FLASH CRASH IN GOLD?

While it was likely a data glitch rather than a trading fat finger flash smash, tonight’s gold futures appeared to have been dropped vertically down the mine-shaft dropping $30 in a single tick, and stuffed under $1700 to $1699.

Whether flash smash or data glitch, the move has been subsequently wiped from the charts.

The smash had all the appearances of a massive cartel raid as gold dropped vertically just under $1700:

And then subsequently retraced nearly the entire move, popping immediately back into the mid $1720′s:

The move was either a data error, or was a complete algo-show and literally nano-seconds in duration, as the move has subsequently been wiped from the chart:

We would dismiss this entirely as a data glitch if it weren’t for the coincidences that Bernanke spoke earlier in the day, the apparent plunge occurred in the thinly traded electronic market, as well as the fact that the vertical drop stopped abruptly just under the critical and massive support of $1700.