Conversely, Gero said, declining open interest at a time of declining prices is a clue that much of the selling is in the form of liquidation by longs who no longer want to own gold.

FORBES: Rising Gold Prices, Open Interest Reflects New Buying In July

This was due to a mixture of long liquidation (total longs fell by 3, 256) and fresh selling (total shorts rose by 1, 951).

FORBES: CFTC Data: Fund Managers Slash Net Length In Precious Metals

In this report, the decline was a combination of liquidation (total longs fell by 4, 119) and fresh selling (total shorts rose by 4, 687).

FORBES: FOCUS: CFTC: Large Specs Slash Gold Net-Long Position Again; Short-Covering Potential Seen