Crash and burn? or manipulation?

This year has been quite a roller coaster in the precious metals, especially in silver market. With Silver peaking close to $50 just two weeks ago, we saw 1/3 of it's value wiped out in a week. Now many would suggest that even if gold was not in a bubble, silver certainly was. Pundits have argued that silver was undervalued all along, but to see a 50% increase in just 3 months seems to suggest it became somewhat of a bubble.

During this time of the silver rush, gold seemed to hold it's own. No rally, but steady increases at least until yesterday. Among others, Warren Buffet dumped much of his gold holdings, which makes me wonder if it's time to abandon the yellow metal?

To put things into perspective, yes there has been a sell off, but gold's been holding at little more than 3-5% off it's peak while silver took a wallop of 30% last week. Even with stronger economic indicators, falling energy prices and a rallying dollar, gold is still holding it's own. Even if Buffet's selling, is it still a good time to position yourself for another bull run on metals... ?

Investing in commodities is risky at any level, yet gold has held it's value though thick and thin. Silver by nature is more volatile, but positioning yourself for a buy on silver at the right price may give another nice rally before the year's out. But what's the right price?

Looking at technical charts it seems that price may be a bit below $30, but who can say what other factors may play into all this. It's been bobbing in the $33-35 range for the last few days. Silver can be manipulated easily, and the big boys probably have more insight on when to buy.

So what was Buffet's strategy was with selling gold yesterday? Perhaps he's repositioning himself for the next rally. Will it be silver or perhaps another commodity? Only time will tell. But even with the sell offs, gold still seems to be the safest haven as it's been holding it's own.