U.S. Gold And Silver Markets Have Changed Over The Years

It is not common knowledge that there are big changes in US silver and gold markets. Simply put, small speculators are species in danger of extinction.

Let me show these two charts:

source: Simple Digressions

Lines marked in red show the downward trends in the number of positions held by small speculators. Although the outflow of small players is less obvious in silver futures, it is rather distinct as far as gold is concerned.

It looks like small speculators are getting out of gold / silver futures and the question is: "Where are they?". Any ideas?