Who knows when it will stop, there are many theories and reasons...

Who knows when it will stop, there are many theories and reasons why the prices are manipulated and controlled, but, there is no point speculating.

The bullion banks can continue doing this for awhile, however, as long as the physical demand remains strong and we continue to see strong delivery months, gold available for delivery from both the comex & london will be squeezed and then you'll likely see a short squeeze in the bulllion banks closing out their short positions.

Many board members of the LBMA are currently working or have worked for the bullion banks so i'm sure there would be some collusion happening in the background.

But purely based on data from the COMEX, the bullion banks are still massively net short. Managed funds don't hold a large number of long contracts and the physical demand is still strong and increasing. Until physical demand massively increases of managed funds start pumping alot of money the futures contracts in 'full bull mode' and cannot be shaken out of a trade when the bullion banks try to short the futures market and ultimately be forced into a short squeeze. Hence, why i believe we will range trade around these price levels, because there is nothing left to gain from the bullion banks increasing their net short positions, they'll likely look to slowly reduce their exposure, which is what they did in the last reporting period, reduced by -5K contracts.

All this is good for producers as it's the actual strong physical demand + global shrinking reserves that underpins sustained strong prices.

At some point later on in the year, I'm personally going to be allocating 35% of my liquid cash into physical gold. It's money i don't envisage I'll ever need to touch, say for 20 years. When you consider that the global reserves are dwindling, the lack of new discoveries, increasing cost to mine + other inflation related adjustments, the POG will naturally do better in longer term. I think many people with holding onto substantial amounts of cash fail to see this. There is really no where else to invest. Property prices are over inflated. You basically earn no interest storing cash in the bank. Broadly, the stock market is way overvalued, there are some undervalued prospects, but, requires constant review and management, hence, why, i can never be all in on stocks.

Can definitely see why there would be an increase in interest for holding the physical metal amongst the retail crowd.

Regardless, exploration and discovery of new deposits should be valued the quality & size and should have little influence based on the POG.

Money from managed funds can temporarily move markets higher, but once they take profits and exit their trades can fall just as hard.