Bobsta

I don't have a problem believing Ker... If you look at the logo on his(?) original post it matches up with GCI Financial - http://www.gcitrading.com/ - and I'd have to agree with cgnao on this one. They appear to be a tin-pot outfit based in Belize. Hmmm, you pays yer money....

Could you let us know who (ie which company) this is please? I'd like to make sure I never used them!

Yep, that's fair enough. SSL is a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut in the case of market data. All that really needs to be encrypted is your Username and Password when you log on. The Java/Flash apps used by the SB companies will take care of that encryption so it never goes across the Internet in clear text. Market data isn't previous and if they did wrap it in SSL your client (and their servers) would take a bit of a pounding doing all that bulk crypto. In IG's case I know they also use Akamai to optimise network flow - and this is easier if you're not locked into the page being HTTPS. You may have noticed with IG that you can disconnect a machine from a network, reconnect it and all the price feeds come through. However, if you go to actually do anything it'll force you to log in again. It's a well designed architecture IMO. It's a huge challenge doing near-real time trading across the Internet - esp when you're as popular as IG. But I also agree on the slack phone security. Cantor Index let you do all sorts of things (like rolling futures) just by quoting your account number! Fortunately one of those things isn't initiating funds withdrawals.

Looks like the second sortie of fighters are incoming...

I think it's simple human nature. You start doing well, so load up a bit more... then a bit more. Then things go against you so you add more in the opposite direction... and then you realise you've blown it. As an example, I took GBP/JPY down from 230ish to 198 (and various other instruments) and lost all I'd made in the move back to 211. I believe it's known as an "inverted triangle/pyramid" in trading terms - you should never add to a position more than you started with. I now view what I went through as an excellent learning process. I'm far more cautious and controlled and am not being greedy. Yes, on occasion I've taken profits and in hindsight it was the wrong thing to do, but being out of the market means you're NOT going to lose and have locked in whatever gains you've made.* ... The trick is then not to think "oh, I shouldn't have done that" and pile back in at a worse position risking more. (* the obvious case where this isn't true is in a hyperinflationary holocaust where you just closed your long gold positions... but I doubt a spreadbetting company would survive such events so this is kinda a moot point)

Good result... IMO your initial complaint was a bit harsh... but clearly it did the job. I think these days it's such big business that none of these guys could afford for anyone to go public with such obvious evidence of manipulation (or a technical error that they refused to resolve). Certainly IG Index in the UK is now a household name .... To be fair, they make no claims to actually enter your trades in the underlying market. I personally like to think I've stung them (IG Index and Cantor Index) for a hell of a lot of cash. I started out trading very well (when they tend not to take out underlying positions) and made some huge paper profits. At this point I believe they would've start taking out positions based on my trades - but my trading took a turn for the worse and I promptly lost the lot! If they *were* hedging my positions in the underlying markets after my initial success, I stiffed them royally.

igindex.co.uk And I've checked the overnight spot silver charts and the price didn't drop below $18.05 until nearly 8am BST this morning when it hit $18.043. I'd have a word with your current provider. They *may* compensate you. I saw issues once with the feed from Cantor Index which they fixed. The price of a currency pair went to something like 100x what it should be ... but they fixed it.

Exactly. They're not just stitching you either... That feed would've dropped for everyone, triggering a load of stops. It *could've* been caused by someone placing a huge sell order that temporarily dropped the price (remember, you're trading on *their* market not the underlying market) but it's most likely to be caused by a technical glitch or deliberate move. I've read somewhere (maybe on here) the feature list from a spreadbetting software supplier for one of their application suites. It includes functions to "inject volatility" to shake out players. I kid you not!

I know we've kinda moved on from this and this is the gold thread... BUT... I recently enquired with BV as to whether they have any plans to provide services for silver. Response below:

Only he didn't! .... D'ya think something's "happened" to Jim?! ... Maybe the PPT have a contract out for him.

I suspect he's in a different time zone as it's pretty much flatlining $18.11 .... if Ker was in the US that would tie up.

That's a clear glitch in their system. The market didn't do that. I think you have every right to take this up with them and demand your positions are re-instated. Although as Cuthbert C has found at his cost, sometimes this is a losing battle.

I have a US TD Ameritrade account and a UK one. Back when I opened them (about 8 years ago) they were the same company and you could do one-off currency transfers and then leave the USDs in the account as you bought and sold stocks. IIRC it was DLJ Direct at that time, then through various takeovers and mergers they became TD Waterhouse, then the US side changed to TD Ameritrade. As an end-user it's been horrible and now I wouldn't even try to transfer funds between the two accounts. I'd be interested to know how international traders operate... but I suspect they hold USD-based trading accounts.

Indeed. I wonder what Trader Dan will make of today's action. Gold firmly pushed through the resistance levels he had defined.

Very sensible words Gatesy. I truly hope they turn out to be wise, as this is the approach I intend to follow. It's all too easy to see the price going to the moon today and thinking you need to jump in. I've done it in the past and, I have to admit, was half contemplating it today. I like the analogy used by some of "dry powder" ... although we know fiat is doomed to failure eventually, it's always good to have a little around to take advantage of dips in the market. (although I suspect GF might disagree ) Playing devil's advocate though... didn't quite a few of us think houses were overvalued 4yrs ago so hold off from buying? ... Then look what happened - we got left behind.

I plan to buy a reasonable amount around $930. If we get a drop to around $925 I'll tuck in quite heavily. But having been burned before I'll be keeping an eye on anything that looks like it'll lead to a revisit below $900 ... I wouldn't ever claim to be as famous as Silver Sammy but I do tend to have a knack of being on-line when gold rises and then choosing to take some profits... only for it to shoot to the moon. I sold quite a lot of my holding at an average of $936 and I want it back!!

<Lee McQueen mode> Now that's what I'm talking about! </Lee McQueen mode> (although anyone who hasn't seen the UK TV show The Apprentice will have no clue what I'm talking about) Great start to NY trading.

.. Nice... I can't wait for that to be put up on the EuroPac site ... it's not there yet. Gold's had a couple of nice bounces from $922.50 in the past 18hrs... It'll be interesting to see if that level is tested again during NY trading today.

It's always difficult to understand market sentiment but I suspect it's not just the manipulators but everyday small-time traders who are likely to dump around 900. From my perspective, as someone who wants to hold a core position in gold but is also (badly) trading it a little, gold has been a complete nightmare since March. I consistently think "OK, things are looking good now... let's add a little more to the positions" only for it to reverse, drop down to where my stops are and sting me badly. Yesterday I got a load of S&G positions stopped out and as I'm now in very negative territory I felt I shouldn't/couldn't buy back in. Now look at what's happening. Our Lord Jim (and many folks on here) are right that physical is the way to go, and trading gold can end in tears.... but if it's traders who drive the market then getting up into safe territory past $950 is going to be difficult IMHO. Far too many people are either enjoying the ride and making money long and short, or are too scared to hold much above $905 and wish to take profits. I'm NOT going to buy more this time 'cos my short-term faith is seriously shaken. Time not to be so greedy. If things go to plan, there will be plenty of time and movement above $1000 to make/protect wealth.

$16.58 ATM ... let's see if it holds....

This article was posted Monday. Any likelihood that with Vietnam as "the #1 importer of gold due to rampant inflation" that it was this news that caused the sharp downturn? Seems a little unlikely to me as you would expect some in the market to know about this before it was made public... but still a potential option IMHO. Nothing further seems to have been disclosed about sudden margin requirement increases or forced hedge-fund position closures.

So I suspect you're also a little disappointed in Silver's lackluster performance since yesterday's drop. Gold is making a reasonable recovery but Silver's performance is less than inspiring.

So do you not buy the "hedge fund receives margin call and has to dump gold longs" story Marceau? It'd be great to understand if any brokers have disclosed that they've raised margin requirements for commodities. If the rumours are true gold could effectively be being "credit crunched" (at least as far as some large trading houses are concerned)

Excellent find - thanks Matt. To me this is hugely bullish.... it means the sell-off wasn't driven by fundamentals/technicals or anything the should, by rights, affect the PoG. Whether the rest of the market will see it that way remains to be seen.

I've got Bloomberg TV on in the background... some interesting comments this morning... Some (stock) trader: "I was looking for a big upmove in stocks following last week's battering. Gold & Silver sold off heavily a short time ago so I'm even more confident now that we'll see a big move, hopefully in financials." Reporter: Fed meeting this week. Concensus serveys show 90% opting for a HOLD from the Fed. Me: WTF is the dollar rallying when everyone's expecting a hold. Guys - you have NEGATIVE real interest rates!!