Gold and Silver FLASH SMASHED

This afternoon we wrote to expect a sell-off in gold and silver paper futures prices in the aftermath of the HSBC gold rehypothecation lawsuit, as investors and futures traders run for the physical hills.
If the first 5 hours of futures trading are any indication, we are seeing the beginnings of just such action.  Silver is down 2% to $31.50, and gold is down 1.5% to $1685. 
Of note is a FLASH SMASH that occurred in the gold market, with gold plunging $25 from $1710 to $1685 in nanoseconds! Check out the chart action of the move below:

Silver treated to a traditional escalator decline:




And gold's flash smash at just past 11pm EST: