By Andy Home
Reuters
What’s in a name? It’s unfortunate, to put it mildly, that London’s global benchmarks for precious metals pricing are called “fixes”.
“Fix” is a word with 25 different meanings, according to the Collins on-line dictionary, including, at number ten, “to influence (a person, outcome of a contest, etc) unfairly.”
And, as far as the many conspiracy theorists populating the fringes of the gold and silver markets are concerned, that’s about right.
After all, conspiracy theorists would say, what else would you call a small group of bankers locking themselves in a smoke-filled room a couple of times a day only to emerge a few minutes later and tell the world what the price of gold and silver will be that day? Think top hats, and fat cigars. And little flags, although no-one’s quite sure what the little flag thing is really about. Something masonic probably.