Hobbers, it certainly looked like some short covering yesterday. I'm of the view that the bullion banks will never visibly go long and talk of this is waste of breath even as other central banks go long or European central banks (ECB) significantly stop selling. I also believe they have covered off some of their short side CRIMEX risk in the OTC markets and with derivative contracts, maybe some with the Chinese which may now be a problem given the view they may default. The bullion banks will cover or retreat but only when forced and how else to do this without a large increase in short contracts and open interest. All the major moves in gold over the years have been preceded by just such an event and many market timers, letter writers and technical funds or COT traders technicians have missed these moves time and again.