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NOTE:
Originally published for Metal Augmentor subscribers on February 10, 2010 at 6:09 PM EST.
PROMOTIONAL
NOTE: We are now getting really close to officially launching the Metal Augmentor
service. Yeah, I know we’ve said that about a bazzillion times but one
of these days it will eventually turn out to be true. As a heads up,
we’ve had quite a few additions to the mailing/waiting list lately, so
much so that assuming all of our current subscribers and the people on the
waiting list all end up registering, we will have completely filled our
initial Founding Member roster. Once that happens, we would close the
membership again for a while as we decide exactly how many Founding Members
we can have while still being able to answer individual questions. So, my
obviously biased suggestion would be that you sign up for the mailing/waiting
list immediately by going to Metal Augmentor. End
promotion.
With
the recent weakness in silver, it was somewhat gratifying to see that the iShares Silver
Trust ETF, SLV, has just filed a report with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose a recent amendment to
their custodian agreement that provides for an increase in the silver bullion
storage capacity to 400 million ounces. The iShares SLV is already by far the
largest single public owner of silver bullion in the world with just a bit
over 300 million ounces in custody at present, and the increase to 400 million
ounces indicates that the ETF sponsors, BlackRock, feel confident that the
trust’s silver bullion holdings will continue to grow at a rapid pace.
By the way, very few in the bullion community have commented much less seem
to have noticed that the iShares sponsor is no longer Barclays Global
Investors, a division of a troubled bank, but rather a (somewhat) independent
publicly-traded asset management firm*. In our opinion, this change in
sponsorship structure of the iShares silver ETF represents a reduction in
operations risk. Importantly based on some whispers I have heard,
BlackRock may become more aggressive compared to Barclays in protecting its
image and credibility by going after irresponsible slander and libel against
its iShares unit, especially when the lies are being publicly disseminated by
competitors. We’ll have to see if these whispers are true or merely
wishful thinking by market participants with an ax to grind, but in the
meantime I would suggest that those who like to throw around unsubstantiated,
self-serving accusations about their competitors should cool their jets. You
know who you are.
*I
know the merger of BlackRock and Barclays Global Investors is old news, but
the deal did just close this past December.
Tom Szabo
Silveraxis.com
Tom Szabo
introduces The Metal Augmentor,
which will be the detailed coverage of mining
equities from junior explorers to major mining companies.
Subscription
is US$ 87 per year, and you will receive in addition the Mining
Equities Report: Cash is King?" which includes the following :
- Coverage of over 30 exploration and mining
companies trading near or below cash value
- Technical analysis charting on 25 of these
companies
- A robust, interactive Excel file
- Over 60 pages of material
- Free access to future, updated editions
Please click
here to subscribe or for more
information about the Metal Augmentor.
Copyright © SILVERAXIS.COM 2006
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