Sure they can and we readers with only publicly available data/reports will have to rely on these 'hard' fact to make our decision. How else are you going to base your decision? Suspicious bias?
On the chart, the banks can mislead with opinions and reports but they cannot hide the foot prints of price. This is where an astute chart reader will try to cut through all the noise to try and follow the banks. I am not saying I am an astute chart reader.
The fundamentals are on a slippery slide either direction constantly. Yesterday's economic text book do not apply to today's market fundamentals anymore. If you continue to stick to these market crash scenario is conducive to a gold explosive move then you underestimate the primal human sentiment of fear. If the majority of the investing community is losing hand and fist in a market collapse bearing in mind the inter linked nature of major asset class amplified through leverage, they will sell capital gains to plug capital destruction. Hence the saving grace for gold during GFC was not the actual safe haven defenses of gold but QE 1 & 2.
