Gold Is Shaken by a Mysterious 2 Million-Ounce Trade

  • Comex volume spiked to 21,256 lots in a minute at 9:41 a.m.
  • ‘These are crazy markets,’ says trader at Societe Generale
Photographer: Dario Pignatelli/Bloomberg
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So much for a quiet Friday in late August.

After weeks of relative slumber, gold traders were rudely awoken to a surge in volume and volatility. In a span of one minute, gold futures contracts equaling more than 2 million ounces traded -- about 20 minutes before Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was to address a gathering of policy makers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.