The real takedown effort will come after 2pm today in the Access Market. By then it will be easier for the Cartel to swamp the thin bids and drive the spot price down. The majority of the options in the money will be settled for cash if the spot price continues to dive and the real objective for the Cartel at this point is to prevent a run on physical gold. They are happy to handout cash payments if necessary and keep the gold story on the backburner for as long as they can.

cheers!

mike