May 8, 2009
I and many others are, and have been, concerned for a long time about the alledged manipuation of the price of silver, which has it's effects on the Silver ETF market. One or possibly two, major institutions have shorted more silver contracts than can resonably be covered under normal trading conditions and continue to do so by shorting down. I refer you to articles written over the years by Mr. Ted Butler which appear on the Silver-Investor's web site. Here are comments from one of his latest letters, and I quote:
"Thats the problem with the silver manipulation. Its continuance threatens deep long-term damage. In March of 2008, the implosion of Bear Stearns threatened the financial system. It was right for the government to arrange JPMorgan to acquire Bear. If that meant that the silver manipulation had to be continued for a short time, then so be it. But its now more than a year since JPMorgan stepped in, and thats too long for the manipulation to have gone on. Especially when the CFTC is supposed to be investigating this very matter.
Now, the questions are becoming more compelling and troubling. Why did the CFTC allow Bear Stearns to hold such a large concentrated short position in the first place? How long will the CFTC continue to allow JPMorgan to hold such a large concentrated short position? How long can an investigation into such a specific issue take? Heres a simple yes or no question you should ask the CFTC and anyone you ever wrote to, 'Has anyone from the Federal Reserve and/or the Treasury Department ever suggested or directed how allegations of the silver manipulation should be handled?'"
This apparent control of the silver market by a few (maybe one) via an unacceptable short selling scheme has created a historically distorted supply/demand environment for silver relative to all other commodities to the detriment of the average investor.