Looks to me like the cartel may be getting some help. I imagine if you could look real close to the takedown today, you'd find the fingerprints of the G20 all over it. They can't seem to agree on much of anything, but I bet they can all agree that a rising gold price is not in the best interests of their fiats.
Makes me feel like the dog in the old African proverb… something about "When the lions fight over a carcass, the smart dog waits quietly in the bush content with what's already in his belly."