The most common complaint I now hear as to why many are fearful of investing in precious metals is that they feel they have been “manipulated to go down.” While many investors have been scared into believing this perspective by many market pundits as the metals have dropped, I am hoping that investors would maintain an open mind about the true nature of “manipulation” in this market and what really is being manipulated.
Back in March of 2014, a commenter on Kitco posted this regarding the accuracy of my metals market analysis:
It appears that AVI GILBURT receives insider information that accurately predicts metals prices. It also appears that he then uses this knowledge to fabricate an aura of “Truth” around his fundamental analysis, as to why metals are trending the way they are.
His analysis always arrives at the conclusion that central banker coordinated price manipulation is impossible, despite that the central banks are the world’s largest holders of metals and that they coordinate their activities via the BIS. It appears that GILBURT is a paid-for change agent. Use him to predict metals prices, but ignore his analysis, which exists to brainwash you.
Effectively, what this commenter is saying, which has been reiterated by so many, is that there is no way that I could have been as accurate as I have been in my metals analysis other than by having received inside information from the “manipulators” of the market. Effectively, this type of comment and perspective is pervasive through the metals world.
But, one has to question the underlying theory behind this perspective. First, I am going to start by saying that there may be “some” degree of manipulation that we see in all markets, but by no means does it affect a market to the extent that so many claim. In fact, a long-time colleague, James Kostohryz, wrote an excellent article [5] last year on the extent of price manipulation by Barclays (and others in the industry), so I really do not have to reinvent the wheel from that perspective. Ultimately, he showed that if there is any manipulation at all, it has no effect on the larger price direction of the metals trend.
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