Our 'not making sense' list ought to have "rigged" right up there at the top. Let's think together. In a market the only way to lower prices is to offer to sell at a lower price. If our "big guys" sell at a lower price then they've lowered the market transaction price. That also means they can't buy.
Why can’t they buy? If metals are sold at an artificially low price, they can buy metals and dump stocks before everyone else does if there’s a crisis. I read somewhere that the per-ounce cost of silver is less than it costs to mine and mint it. Does that make any sense?