>>if I remeber right, the time of the day for the sharp drop seems to be the same as some previous sharp drops. It is about 8 to 8:30 NY time which is around 1:30-2:30 in Europe. What opens at 8 am in the US?<<

tau,

Your question may be rhetorical, but I'll answer just in case. Check out the Kitco site for current gold prices <http://www.kitco.com/charts/livegold... (You'll have to copy and paste- my link function doesn't seem to be active...) The bottom of the chart shows open times for the major gold exchanges. NYMEX opens at 8, and you'll often see sharp movements right about then, as well as around 11 when London closes. Many people tie this to suspicions and theories about manipulation (Google GATA, e.g.). I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but the price of gold does seem to behave strangely sometimes...

spiny