1999 gold short squeeze

We looked into the abyss if the gold price rose further . A further rise would have taken down one or several trading houses, which might have taken down all the rest in their wake. Therefore at any price, at any cost, the central banks had to quell the gold price, manage it. It was very difficult to get the gold price under control but we have now succeeded. The U.S. Fed was very active in getting the gold price down. So was the U.K.

- Edward A. J. George, Governor of the Bank of England and a director of the Bank of International Settlements, 1999

The price of gold was $253 at the time. It is now $1160/oz. today. Yet the strain on physical inventory is more acute than ever, as resources are depleted.

Disclosure: long physical gold and silver, and long mining shares.