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By: Theodore
Butler and Jim Cook
Here’s an interview with Jim Cook
of Investment Rarities, Inc. on April 8, 2010.
Years ago, Jimmy Stewart played the lead in a movie
titled, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
In this case, it was Mr. Butler goes to Washington. Who did you meet with?
A: I met with the senior staff responsible for
regulatory matters for about an hour and a half.
Q: Was the Chairman of the CFTC, Gary Gensler there?
A: He stopped by to introduce himself and chat
briefly.
Q: What, in a nutshell was discussed?
A: Basically my long-held premise of a manipulation
in COMEX silver via the documented concentrated short position. They asked an awful lot of
on-the-money questions, to which I replied directly.
Q: Did you have reason to believe they agreed with
your arguments?
A: Since they didn’t offer any challenges to
what I said, and their follow up questions didn’t seem argumentative in
the least, I sensed they were in basic agreement.
Q: What stands out about the meeting?
A: The seriousness with which they approached the
issue.
Q: The following day, the public hearing took
place. What did you think of
that?
A: I thought it was great. Here we had a public meeting that
revolved around the very issues I have petitioned the CFTC on for 20
years. Much to the
Commission’s credit, the fact that they had rejected my contentions in
the past didn’t deter them from addressing the issues openly.
Q: What issues were raised?
A: Whether we should have position limits in silver
and gold.
Q: What else?
A: Why there is such a big concentrated short
position in silver.
Q: What about whether the price is manipulated?
A: Yes, all of that.
Q: Who
was on the other side?
A: The
big banks, the exchange and all others from the silver “establishment”
were opposed to hard position limits.
Q: What was their argument?
A: That is would drive liquidity and business from
the COMEX to markets overseas.
Q: What were they angling for?
A: To preserve the status quo of allowing the
biggest traders to continue to control the market. The big banks and the exchange are
certainly not interested in having a level playing field.
Q: What about their argument that position limits
would reduce liquidity?
A: It clearly was a bogus case, because causing a
few large short traders to reduce their positions would actually increase
liquidity, not decrease it.
Legitimate hard position limits in silver, for example, even if those
limits were reduced to the 1500 contract level I recommend would only affect
less than 1% of all traders on the COMEX.
Q: Did that point come out?
A: Not at the meeting. But I will be sure to make
that point in the future, in the public comment period.
Q: What exactly is the public comment period?
A: The time when the Commission seeks written input
from the public on specific issues that goes on the official record.
Q: Should people comment?
A: Absolutely.
The hundreds of public comments last year on silver and gold are what
led to this recent CFTC hearing.
It’s very important to email or write to the Commission on this
issue. All comments must be received by April 26, 2010.
Q: Was JPMorgan at the hearing?
A: No.
Q: Why wouldn’t they attend?
A: My guess is that they didn’t want to answer
specific questions and incriminate themselves.
Q: The whole thing sounds like a review of all the
issues you have raised. Do you
agree?
A: Absolutely.
That’s what made it so great.
Q: Would it be safe to say that this meeting
wouldn’t have taken place if it were not for you?
A: All modesty aside, I don’t see how.
Q: What happens next?
A: There has been tremendous attention placed upon
the meeting and the important issues are being openly discussed and
considered.
Q: I’m more interested in what happens next to
the price.
A: The price of silver is going a lot higher.
Q: I’ve already had some complaints that
nothing happened after the hearing.
What do we tell these people?
A: Tell them the same thing you told them at $4, $5,
$7, and every other price over the past ten years. Look, silver’s the best
investment to come along in most people’s lifetimes. Have some patience. Besides, the price did go higher in
the days following the meeting.
Q: Do you think position limits will be changed
downward?
A: Yes, in silver. At a minimum, the position limits in
COMEX silver will be adjusted downward relative to gold.
Q: When might this happen?
A: My feeling is after the price has moved up a lot.
And I think that will be soon.
Q: What about exemptions to position limits?
A: Everyone knows that is the key. If they don’t crack down on
JPMorgan and the other big shorts, the CFTC will be discredited.
Q: Do you think the big short sellers expect these
changes?
A: I think JPMorgan does. I think the others may be missing
what’s coming.
Q: They must be taking actions to protect themselves,
don’t you think?
A: I think JPMorgan is taking action, not the
others.
Q: What can they do?
A: Close out their shorts by buying them back or
delivering against them, and most importantly, not selling short on the next
price rally.
Q: Do you see any signs of this?
A: Yes, as regards JPMorgan. And they are the key.
Q: What happens if JPMorgan does sell short on the
next rally?
A: I think there will be a public outcry and both
JPMorgan and the CFTC will come under severe criticism. I know I won’t hold back.
Q: You have been very complimentary and supportive
of the new Chairman of the CFTC, Gary Gensler, in
spite of much disagreement. Why
so?
A: Look, I judge people by what they say or do, not
on some preconceived notions.
He’s said and done the right things.
Q: I see many are jumping on the bandwagon about
position limits. How does that
make you feel?
A: Good.
After 20 years, it’s about time.
Q: You are the sole person who raised the issue of
position limits on silver. Do you
think the CFTC is finally on board?
A: I think the leadership is.
Q: Exactly what impact do you see these rule changes
having in silver?
A: The silver manipulation will be terminated.
Q: What will that do to the price?
A: It should go much higher.
Q: You’ve expressed to me privately and to our
broker staff why you think people should buy silver now. Would you state the case here?
A: A number of factors have converged, in addition
to the regulatory matters. The
most important of these factors involve strong signs of an emerging wholesale
shortage of silver.
Q: What signs?
A: Over the past 5 or 6 weeks, there have been
unusual movements in COMEX warehouse silver stocks and deliveries by
JPMorgan, as well as the withdrawal of a significant amount of silver from
the
big silver ETF, SLV. Taken together, these unusual
movements suggest the big dealers are scraping the bottom of the barrel to
come up with the timely delivery of silver to their wholesale customers. It appears to me that the big dealers
are borrowing silver from Peter in order to pay Paul. This is a juggling act
in which one misstep will unravel the whole silver scam.
Q: How much silver has been taken out of the SLV?
A: 9.5 million ounces in five weeks. Frankly,
it’s beginning to look like there isn’t enough silver to go
around.
Q: I know you think silver is better than gold. Why?
A: I don’t sense the same juggling act taking
place in gold. The critical
difference between gold and silver is that gold is not consumed industrially,
while silver is. As a result of
this critical difference, there is less silver bullion in the world than
gold. Silver’s industrial
consumption sets up the likelihood of a shortage, a condition not present in
gold. Silver has investment
demand on top of industrial demand.
Gold has mostly investment demand.
Q: What does this mean to buyers of silver?
A: You can make a lot more money with silver than
you can with gold. Silver can
rise much more percentage wise.
Q: Can you be more specific?
A: I can see gold rising in price 20% or so, under
the right circumstances, say up to $1,300. I can see silver easily rising 100% to
200%, to $35 or $70. In almost
any scenario, I can see silver outperforming gold by five or ten times. With silver you are going to get the
biggest bang for your investment dollar.
Q: But gold and silver performance has been roughly
equivalent over the past ten years, haven’t they?
A: I realize that, and both have performed better
than stocks or bonds or real estate.
But I am convinced that the facts point to silver vastly outperforming
gold. May I speak in blunt terms?
Q: I think my ears could handle it.
A: I think that gold investors who don’t hold
a significant silver exposure have been lucky to date that gold has kept pace
with silver. And I think these
gold investors are being given a tremendous opportunity now to convert some
or all of their gold holdings to silver.
Q: That’s not likely to happen in a big way,
is it?
A: If all the gold investors were to make the switch
there is not enough silver. But
some can. I hope they do because
silver is going to beat the stuffing out of gold price-wise, and there are
going to be a lot of gold-only investors who will regret not making the
switch.
Q: What can happen with investor demand if prices rise?
A: Initially, it will increase. It’s human nature for investment
demand to grow as prices increase.
Later on, at much higher prices, investors may begin to sell. When we get to those much higher
prices, we’ll monitor investor behavior.
Q: Are the industrial users still oblivious to the
events unfolding in silver?
A: Absolutely.
The example I like to use is that they are like a giant herd of
wildebeests on an African plain, feeding but sniffing the air for the scent
of lions. When they do get the
scent, they are all off and running.
When the users get the first silver shipment delay notices, they will
all panic and rush to build silver inventories. I don’t see what can stop it.
Q: What about these pool accounts and silver storage
where there is paper silver but not real silver?
A: That is a very big problem still, even though so
much as been written about it over the years. If you don’t have the serial
numbers and exact weights of the 1000 oz. bars being held for you, with the ability
to take delivery immediately of those exact same bars, you don’t own
silver. Period. How anyone could continue to hold
unallocated and not specifically earmarked silver is beyond me.
Q: As far as mainstream financial news is concerned,
you are still a voice in the wilderness.
How come so few people see what you see?
A: Because they don’t take the time to study
the facts. It’s much easier
to just assume you already know everything you need to know about silver and
skip time-consuming tasks of actually studying it.
Q: Is that good for silver buyers?
A: Of course.
It gives those who do take the time to learn the real silver facts the
opportunity to buy before the crowd wakes up. Just ask those who loaded up at single-digit
silver prices. The same will be
said about buyers at today’s prices.
Q: Any new breakthroughs in the uses for silver?
A: Every single day. When you have a material that is the
world’s best conductor of electricity, best heat transfer agent, best
reflector of light, and best biocide, how could there not be new
breakthrough? Silver is the most
versatile metal of all.
Q: Is industrial demand for silver still growing?
A: Sure.
As long as world GDP and population grows, silver industrial demand
will grow. But what’s
really remarkable is the composition of silver demand.
Q: In what way?
A: How many commodities can you name where its main
demand engine was crushed and other new demands emerged to maintain and
increase total demand? None. Yet silver lost its main demand sector
in photography and still overall demand increased. That’s incredible and shows just
how versatile silver is as a vital industrial material.
Q: What impact do you think China has on silver?
A: Huge; both from a production and refining
perspective and as a consumer.
China is currently the largest consumer of all metals and that
doesn’t look to change except accelerate. The long-term future of the price of
silver will be determined by China.
Q: How will they react to a big surge in the silver
price?
A: I’m not exactly sure, but if you stick
around for a while, I guess we’ll all see with our own eyes.
Q: China recently made silver ownership legal. Are the Chinese people known to be
buying silver?
A: There were reports to that effect a while back,
but information from China is sketchy.
I think it’s safe to say, however, that they will play a major
role in the future.
Q: What
about the inflation factor? Is
silver one of the things to own to offset inflation?
A: Sure, but that’s kind of elementary, so I
don’t write about it much.
There’s not much value added in telling folks what they already
know.
Q: Retirees on fixed incomes are getting hurt by low
interest rates. They are afraid
to risk their precious capital in silver. What do you say to them?
A: I understand their dilemma. Sufficient and dependable income from
savings is hard to come by in today’s ultra-low interest rate
environment. I’m not a
magician who can turn silver into an income-producing asset. But I believe it is a safe asset that
can grow to many times its current price. I believe you will be able to sell it
at a profit in the future that will more than beat the current rate of return
of bonds or CDs, just as it has for the past 5 or 10 years. I think people should look at it as an
alternative for some of their current savings type accounts.
Q: I feel like we’ve passed a tremendous
milestone in the silver debate.
The main theme you introduced years ago has had a complete
airing. However, that takes us to
the next part of your equation, which is your prediction of a dramatic price
rise. Ever worry you could have
miscalculated?
A: Sure
I do. But the amazing thing is
that, while I’ve always worried about being wrong, the more I study the
situation, the more I am convinced that the price explosion is still
ahead. It’s kind of weird,
even though the price has moved dramatically higher over the past 10 years;
the bullish case is more compelling than ever.
Q; All along the way you have exhibited great
caution and care about the facts you’ve presented. For me that’s given you great
credibility. It also gives me a
lot of confidence in your forecasting.
I know you don’t like to be put on the spot but where could
silver go eventually?
A: The reason I’m always hesitant to mention
specific prices is because I don’t know and I don’t like to write
things that I’m unsure of.
In the case of extreme future prices for silver, however, considering
the dynamics of what could happen to prices in a shortage and short-covering
panic, my hesitance is in picking too low of a price.
Q: Won’t higher prices cause silver
substitutes to be used?
A: Sure, but that will take time to unfold. In a panic to the upside, there will
be scant relief due to substitution in the short term.
Q: What if the big short has been covering its short
position over the past weeks and months.
Could they get this done without driving up the price?
A: To a certain extent, but please remember the
price has already gone up and they have a lot more covering to do.
Q: Tell us again what happens if they stop shorting
in the future?
A: The biggest price controlling mechanism will have
stopped and we’re in a whole new era.
Q: Would you say we’re off to the races with
silver now?
A: When we’re truly off to the races, you
won’t have to ask me, as it will be obvious. The trick is seeing it just before
they shoot the starting gun. That could be now.
For subscription information, please go to www.butlerresearch.com
Theodore Butler
Butlerresearch.com
March 17, 2010
Theodore Butler is an independent Silver Analyst who has been
publishing unique precious metals commentaries on the internet since 1996. He
offers a subscription
service with once or twice weekly commentaries including detailed analysis of
the Commitment of Traders Report, regulatory developments, supply/demand
considerations, and topics of interest to investors in precious metals, with
an emphasis on silver. Always
outside the box. You can subscribe to his
service by clicking here.
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