on thursday the gold anti-trust action committee will be holding a convention they are calling "anyone seen our gold" in arlington, va. this could have either short- or long-term significance on the price of precious metals. the last time gata held a convention was in mid-2005 when the price of gold was around $430. over the next nine months it rallied $300, topping out around $730 in may, 2006.

one possible reason for the rally was the attendance of one of then russian president putin's financial advisors. he bypassed the mainstream gold conference, presumably to hear what gata had to say, not because he enjoyed the weather in the yukon. two days later the price of gold took off, and continued to rally for nine months. we will never know, but it is possible the russians started buying, based on the gata story starting to become known.

bill murphy will be making the point that the gold market has been suppressed by the treasury department and its allies in the financial industry, by covertly selling or "leasing" most of the world's central banks' stockpiles of gold bullion. had they not done so, interest rates would not have been artificially depressed, and with much higher interest rates we would not have had the housing bubble and subsequent collapse of mortgage-backed securities now threatening the entire banking industry.

of course if murphy is correct, the gold cartel will immediately crush the gold price on the day the convention starts, but that's life. i expect most of the speakers will be recorded, and the event will eventually be available on dvd for those of us who can't attend. only one thing is for sure, and that is we will see more volatility ahead.