Blockbuster in Gold

Theodore Butler — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:11:09 +0000

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This has been one of the worst stretches for gold and silver pricewise in quite some time, no secret there. I have to go back to when silver was in single digits to find a comparable period. The question on precious metals investors’ minds is whether this bad stretch is going to continue much longer. Are the past few months setting the stage for a pronounced rebound in prices or has the tide changed for the worse for an extended period of time? I think the answer can be found in analyzing the following facts.

Tuesday, May 21st

The Worst Regulator Possible

Theodore Butler — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:24:33 +0000

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Sticking with the theme of milestones, we’ve just crossed a few important anniversary dates that relate to silver that taken in proper perspective point to a disturbing conclusion. That conclusion is that the US commodities regulator, the CFTC, has done more public harm than good over the past few years. Simply put, the public and our markets would have been better off had the agency not been run by the commissioners in place, specifically including Chairman Gensler and Commissioner Chilton. In fact, rarely has so much promise for genuine regulatory reform been squandered as badly as has been the case over the past few years.

Thursday, May 9th

The Price Smash – Who, What, How and Why?

Theodore Butler — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:19:54 +0000

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There is no doubt that we are at a critical juncture in gold and silver and the first order of business is to drill down to how and why prices plunged so much Friday and Monday. Certainly, more commentary (mostly on gold) is being written about the precious metals currently in regards to the price weakness than I can remember. Unfortunately, much of the analyses and commentary is wide of the mark, in my opinion. But the great thing is that everyone interested in what just took place with gold and silver prices can decide for themselves from the multitude of opinions offered as to what makes the most sense.

Tuesday, April 16th

The Good, Bad and Ugly

Theodore Butler — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:28:37 +0000

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Therefore, I can’t rule out further silver price stabs to the downside before a dramatic and final resolution to the upside because both stem from the same cause – the manipulation. What I can say is that while those stabs at new price lows may occur, it is mandatory that silver prices will explode at some unknown point.

Monday, March 25th

This is excerpted from the Weekly Review of March 23 -

A Moment of Clarity

Theodore Butler — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:38:35 +0000

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Every once in a while, someone utters a statement that suddenly galvanizes the issue at hand. In the fable “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” Hans Christian Andersen tells of two weavers who convince the emperor that their special clothing for him is invisible only to those unworthy. When the emperor parades in front of his subjects wearing the special clothing, a child cries out the obvious, “he isn’t wearing any clothes at all.” That’s the first thing that came to my mind when I read of the US Attorney General’s words before a Senate hearing this week.

Monday, March 11th

This is excerpted from the weekly review of March 9, 2013 -

My Worst Fear

Theodore Butler — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:11:33 +0000

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In simple terms, Commissioner Chilton’s response to the reader confirms my worst fear – the reason the CFTC hasn’t moved against the silver manipulation is that they don’t understand it. Even though the agency publishes remarkably detailed and accurate data on concentration in their weekly COT reports, they apparently don’t comprehend what it is they are publishing. As a big believer in the premise that recognition of a problem is 50% of the ultimate solution; I also believe that if a problem is not recognized, it is unlikely to be remedied. I’ve always considered Chilton to be one of the “good guys” at the Commission, so it is quite disheartening to see him so misinterpret his own agency’s data.

Monday, December 17th

Recently, I have received a good number of emails containing conversations between readers and CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton about the allegations of a silver price manipulation because of the large concentrated COMEX short position held by JPMorgan. Chilton had previously led the move to begin the current silver investigation in September 2008 and has always been quick to respond to those writing to him, a rarity for high officials.

A Manipulation Timeline

Theodore Butler — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:28:38 +0000

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A friend and long-time subscriber who intends to write a book about the silver manipulation asked if I could provide him with a bit of history. To my mind, the silver manipulation dates back to early 1983, when the commercial traders grew confident that they could sell any quantity of paper short contracts to the technical fund buyers on the COMEX. By that time the commercials learned that technical fund buyers would never take physical delivery and could be counted on to buy or sell based upon price signals that the commercials could easily influence and control. In essence, the game has remained remarkably similar ever since.

Monday, November 26th

The Arguments Against a Silver Manipulation

Theodore Butler — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:35:24 +0000

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No matter how convinced I may be that silver has been manipulated downward in price by JPMorgan’s concentrated and rapidly increasing short position in COMEX futures contracts; it is vital to explore why that may be wrong. Particularly with a conviction held for a long period of time, it is important to make sure I am not missing anything basic. The best way to do that is to listen closely to those who may disagree with the silver manipulation allegations. However, uncovering the arguments against a silver manipulation is not as easy as you might think.

Monday, October 1st

Transparency

Theodore Butler — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:09:09 +0000

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I’ve gotten more mail than usual from subscribers recently, most with a common theme – I should publicize the real goings on in silver to a wider audience. Many suggested taking out advertisements in popular media sources, like the Wall Street Journal, accompanied with genuine offers of contribution. Others suggested I approach the big hedge funds to interest them in investing in silver. Not only do I agree with the suggestions, but I have been trying to extend the reach of the real silver story for quite some time. It’s kind of what I do.

Monday, September 24th

The CFTC Silver Investigation

Theodore Butler — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:30:27 +0000

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There has been an explosion of interest and commentary these past few days as a result of a front page story in Monday’s edition of the influential Financial Times (of London). The story stated that the CFTC was set to drop its four year investigation into alleged silver price manipulation due to insufficient evidence to bring charges, according to three unnamed sources. I went to sleep Sunday evening when the story first appeared prepared to wake up to similar and confirming stories in other publications. Instead, there were no other stories confirming the case was set to be dropped; only strong statements that the FT was story was “premature” and “inaccurate in many respects” by a named source, Commissioner Bart Chilton of the agency.

Thursday, August 9th

The War on Silver

Theodore Butler — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 14:32:24 +0000

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It has taken more than 25 years for me to fully comprehend a conclusion that I never wanted to reach, namely, that there is an organized war against the price of silver that has come to include the US Government. I think the US Government involvement came into being almost accidently, but even if it was an accident of sorts, that does not diminish the serious nature of what must be described as illegal activity at the highest levels. I am conflicted between feelings of sadness and outrage.

Monday, July 23rd

A Few Questions; One Answer

Theodore Butler — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 13:09:58 +0000

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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.

Friday, June 15th

Please read this article carefully because I’m disclosing for the first time that the U.S.

Illegalities

Theodore Butler — Fri, 25 May 2012 20:22:25 +0000

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has been negligent in failing to terminate the obvious manipulation ongoing in silver. Furthermore, the agency may be complicit in this manipulation. Worse, it has lied to the public and elected officials. This all goes back to the time when Bear Stearns was taken over by JPMorgan in March of 2008.

Friday, May 25th

Knowing the Game

Theodore Butler — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:01:41 +0000

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Especially at times of price pressure like now, it can be reassuring to know how the game is being played. I’m not speaking of the day to day price movements, but of the dominant forces that generally cause both short term and long term price movements. The price of world silver and gold is mostly set on the COMEX. Over the longer term, of course, other things will influence the price, such as production and consumption and investment demand. But these longer term influences don’t change radically from day to day and it is usually unproductive to link those influences to short term prices. And sometimes, like now, world events would strongly favor a rush towards precious metals were it not for price-setting on the COMEX.

Wednesday, May 9th

JPM’s TV Appearance

Theodore Butler — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:35:04 +0000

Wednesday, April 11th

There was a very interesting and potentially significant development dropped into the silver equation this week. I’m speaking of the appearance of the head of commodities for JPMorgan, Blythe Masters, in a short interview Thursday on CNBC. There has already been widespread reaction to the clip and I must admit that it touched off a whirlwind of different thoughts in my mind. Quite frankly, I’m glad I’ve had a bit of time to sort them out before commenting.

Fair is Fair

Theodore Butler — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:05:08 +0000

Thursday, February 16th

In December, I made public an article discussing the short position in the big silver ETF, SLV. At that time, the short position in SLV shares was in excess of 25 million shares and would run up to 26.6 million shares by mid-January.

Enough is Enough

Theodore Butler — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:49:02 +0000

Thursday, February 9th

The journey to justice and truth is often long and arduous, but must never be abandoned. The alternative is to live a life lacking substance. But neither should the journey be unnecessarily prolonged. These things tend to creep up on you day by day, but we have passed the point of the CFTC taking too long for deciding if the silver market has been manipulated in price. Enough time has passed.

Three Elements of Manipulation

Theodore Butler — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:25:23 +0000

Monday, January 9th

This is an excerpt from the Weekly Review for subscribers of January 7 -

SLV Short Position Update

Theodore Butler — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:02:05 +0000

Friday, December 23rd

The latest short position report for stocks was released earlier in the week for positions held as of Nov 30. This was the report that I had speculated would show a decline in the short position of SLV, the big silver Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). Contrary to my expectations, the short position for SLV increased by more than 2.2 million shares to 25.2 million shares. This represents almost 25 million ounces of silver.

An Unmitigated Disaster

Theodore Butler — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:13:02 +0000

Tuesday, December 13th

Oftentimes, the significance of truly historic events is not fully appreciated at the time they occur. I think we are at one of those times with the bankruptcy of MF Global. There’s no question that the news and overall circumstances of the demise of the large commodities brokerage is widely known, but the significance of the event is not yet fully understood.

US Commodity Regulation - A Failed Mission?

Theodore Butler — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:41:10 +0000

Tuesday, December 13th

(This was sent to subscribers on May 25)

First Fear, Then Anger

Theodore Butler — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:36:45 +0000

Tuesday, December 13th

This is an excerpt from the Weekly Review of May 7, 2011