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Friday, June 15, 2012

Ted Butler: The Silver Price Avenger

A Few Questions; One Answer

June 15, 2012 - 9:09am
Please read this article carefully because I’m disclosing for the first time that the U.S. government has given JPMorgan the green light to manipulate the silver market. This fact explains the shenanigans in the silver market. It answers all the questions and exposes this tawdry affair for all to see.


The scandal recently became more outrageous. The June Bank Participation Report, as of Tuesday, June 5, along with the COT confirmed that JPMorgan’s silver short position has increased by at least 5,000 contracts in the past two reporting weeks. That is the equivalent of 25 million ounces of silver, truly an enormous amount in a two week period and about equal to all the silver produced and consumed in the world in the same period. I calculate JPMorgan’s net short position in COMEX silver futures to be between 16,000 and 17,000 contracts. JPMorgan has been the sole net commercial silver short seller over the past two weeks. That is the clearest proof yet of manipulation. A market dominated by one buyer or seller is the ultimate definition of manipulation.

Had JPMorgan not sold short 5,000 or more net additional contracts in COMEX silver over the past two weeks, the price of silver would have climbed even higher. Why? Because without JPMorgan selling, someone else would have had to sell in their place. Those sellers would have demanded a higher price. Furthermore, JPM’s short position alone equals the entire 16,500 contract total net commercial short position in COMEX silver. In other words, if JPMorgan did not hold a 16,000 to 17,000 contact net short position, there would be no commercial net short position at all. The additional proof of silver manipulation includes the two massive price takedowns of last year, when the silver price fell more than 30% in a matter of days, benefitting JPMorgan more than any other trader.

How can I continue to get away with accusing JPMorgan, arguably the most powerful bank in the US, of the most serious market crime possible and get no reaction from them? An objective reading of the past four years, since the time I first publicly identified JPMorgan as the big silver short, has resulted in the bank being universally recognized on the Internet as the big silver crook. The reputation of a systemically important financial institution is always of prime concern from the board of director and senior management level on down. Why have I never been threatened by them?

The same question comes to mind when applied to the CME Group, owner and operator of the COMEX, where the silver manipulation is centered. The allegations that the CME is aiding and abetting in the silver manipulation are serious because the CME has been officially designated as a self-regulatory organization (SRO), meaning they have a legal obligation to prevent any attempt at manipulation in their markets. Like JPM, the CME is tough as nails and, presumably, could step on me should they choose to. (Yes, I send everything I write to JPM, the CME and the CFTC). 

Gary Gensler: son of heterosexual hamsters
Unlike JPMorgan and the CME, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has not remained completely silent. The agency has initiated a number of reviews and investigations into allegations of manipulation in silver over the years (at my prodding), including a current Enforcement Division investigation, now approaching the four-year mark. The allegations of a silver manipulation were always credible, since they were based upon data from the agency itself and compared to how the Commission reacted strongly to past instances of concentration. The CFTC had to at least go through the motions of pretending to care. After all, many thousands of silver investors have consistently petitioned the agency on this matter over the years.

It’s been all talk and no action from the Commission when it comes to the silver manipulation. I can’t tell you how many times I have asked myself after I have just explained another undeniable proof of silver manipulation, “why can’t these regulators see this?” Why is the Commission conducting an expensive and formal silver investigation in the first place, when all it has to do is explain why a US bank holding a silver short position equal to 25% to 30% of both the paper and physical total world market wouldn’t be manipulative to the price (in and of itself)? 

To this day, I have been baffled by how CFTC chairman Gary Gensler can preach the Holy Gospel of true regulatory reform of transparency, position limits and no concentration, while ignoring the clear evidence of manipulation in silver. I think what has caused his and the agency’s failure to terminate a highly-visible silver manipulation has nothing to do with a lack of understanding of the silver manipulation. It took me a while to figure it out, but better late than never....Finish reading @Source Silver Seek