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March
25 - Gold $1092.70 up $4.10 - Silver $16.72 up 10 cents
MIDAS
SPECIAL On GATA’s CFTC Appearance ... Would The Police Stop A Rapist If
They Knew Who It Was??
I did
not expect to be doing a commentary this evening as I expected to be doing a
Bloomberg Asia. It was cancelled. Tomorrow I was supposed to do a Fox
interview. It has been cancelled, as far as I know now. Then this…
Bill,
I do hope + assume it was in fact somehow my own fault that the CFTC video
webcast on my computer ran into a disarray exactly just shortly before your
testimony started so that I missed almost all of it until I switched to the
CFTC audio channel? Since I +really+ don't want to see a new conspiracy
beyond the one in gold we all love so dearly. Neverheless, just checking to
see if any others mail you with the same coincidence...
Oh, and I wholeheartedly trust I should compliment you on a great job!
Walter
Ranting
Andy…
Andy…
Did bill speak yet?
If
so, I and hundreds of others missed it b/c the feed conveniently went out one
minute before his speech, after the webcast running WITHOUT A HITCH for the
previous 3+ hours!…
Someone
just asked Bill a question (first question for Bill), and WHILE IT WAS GOING
ON, the AUDIO CUT OUT!
And
then came on as he was just finishing his answer!
a
Bill,
As you no doubt know, they killed the video feed the moment you came on.
That’s called a backhanded compliment ,the supreme compliment including
that d... they put up before you.
Obviously
they are scared s...less of GATA. It does not speak very well of America.
GS
Bill,
I am watching and listening to the CFTC hearing for a little over 3 hours and
waiting for your testimony. The guy right next to you, John Lothian ?, is
telling us all how there is no manipulation in the gold and silver markets. I
thought you really held your composure while this guy was saying that
everything was fine and dandy in the precious metals market. I am yelling at
my computer screen listening to this guy. Just about the time this guy should
be finishing up, the audio and video goes out. I wonder if any other cafe
members experienced this "coincidence"? I never got to hear your
testimony. I understand that the CFTC will have the entire meeting archived
within 24 hours.
A
short while later, I am able to restore audio and video. For three hours, I
had no problem with the audio and video until your testimony came up.
I did
get to see and hear your response to the question if you had any specifics
regarding manipulation of the gold and silver markets. It was great to hear the
specifics on particular market manipulations.
I
thought that the individual trader, Mark Epstein, also came across very well
and bolstered GATA's arguments. If I heard correctly, I thought that Mark
Epstein indicated that he was trading 1,000 to 2,000 gold and silver
contracts at a time as well as trading other markets. When he gave specifics
that the silver and gold markets plunged in micro-seconds on a particular
day, that was very helpful. The individual investor and GATA supporter,
Harvey Organ, rounded out the testimony that position limits are needed.
As
far as I am aware, Mike Masters with Masters Capital is not a GATA supporter.
It was good to hear that even Mike Masters advocated position limits in gold
and silver to prevent manipulation.
As far
as I am concerned, the meeting could be divided into two group. One group
which consisted of the establishment types such as HSBC, CME Group, CPM
Group, etc. wanted no position limits and felt that everything was fine in
the gold and silver markets. The other group that consisted of GATA,
individual traders, individual investors, etc. justifiably wanted position
limits. It seemed like the CFTC was responsive to the specific claims of
manipulation.
If
you were to read the Kitco news releases or some of the wire services, one
would think that practically everyone in that meeting wanted no position
limits. I guess Kitco and some of the wire services operate under the
principle of hear no evil, see no evil, report no evil, even if the facts are
right in front of you.
It
will be interesting to see how this plays out. Great job.
There
will be more commentary to come, but I thought you might like to see what I
read to the CFTC in addition to our prepared testimony (The Orwellian CFTC
was not ready for this re their cameras)…
ADDITIONAL STATEMENT BY BILL
MURPHY, CHAIRMAN OF THE GOLD ANTI-TRUST ACTION COMMITTEE
HEARINGS ON THE METALS
MARKETS, MARCH 25, 2010
On
March 23, 2010 GATA Director Adrian Douglas was contacted by a whistleblower
by the name of Andrew Maguire. Mr. Maguire, formerly of Goldman Sachs, is a
metals trader in London. He has been told first hand by traders working for
JPMorganChase that JPMorganChase manipulates the precious metals markets and
they bragged how they make money doing so.
In
November 2009 he contacted the CFTC enforcement division to report this
criminal activity. He described in detail the way in which JPM signals to the
market its intention to take down the precious metals. Traders recognize
these signals and make money shorting the metals along side JPM. He explained
how there are routine market manipulations at the time of option expiry,
Non-farm payroll data releases, and Comex contract rollover as well as other
adhoc events. On February 3 he gave two days advance warning by email to Mr
Eliud Ramirez, a senior investigator of the Enforcement Division, that the
precious metals would be attacked upon the release of the non-farm payroll
data on February 5. Then on February 5 as it played out exactly as predicted
further emails were sent to Mr. Ramirez in real time while the manipulation
was in progress.
It
would not be possible to predict such a market move in advance unless the
market was manipulated.
In an
email on that day Mr. Maguire said "It is 'common knowledge' here in
London amongst the metals traders it is JPM's intent to flush out and cover
as many shorts as possible prior to any discussion in March about position
limits. I feel sorry for all those not in this loop. A serious amount of
money was made and lost today and in my opinion as a result of the CFTC
allowing by your own definition an illegal concentrated and manipulative
position to continue"
Expiry
of the COMEX APRIL call options is today. There was large open interest in
strikes from $1100 to $1150 in gold. As always happens month after month HSBC
and JPM sell short in large quantities to overwhelm all bids and make
unsuspecting option holders lose their money. As predicted in advance by GATA
the manipulation started on March 19th when gold was trading at
$1126. By last night it traded at $1085.
This
is how much the gold cartel fears the enforcement division. They thumb their
noses at you because in over a decade of complaints and 18 months of a silver
market manipulation investigation nothing has been done to stop them. And
this is why JPM’s cocky and arrogant traders in London are able to brag
that they manipulate the market.
It is
an outrage and we are making available the emails from our whistleblower,
Andrew Maguire available to the Press wherein he warns in advance of a
manipulative event.
Additionally
Mr. Maguire informed us that he has taped recordings of his telephone
communications with the CFTC for which we are taking the appropriate legal
steps to acquire.
-END-
Andrew
Maquire confided in Adrian because the CFTC refused to let him appear at the
hearing. I mean how bad is that, especially with how we saw The Gold Cartel
brutalize gold this past week? Can you imagine the police getting information
about a rapist, who then should be under surveillance, and not doing anything
about it when an informer confirms who the rapist is ... saying exactly how
the rapist will commit a rape in advance .. the rape then occurs, and STILL
the police do nothing? Then there is an investigation into the multi-rapes
and the police do whatever they can do to squash the inquiries. You have to
be kidding me!
Here
are the copies of the emails between Andrew Maquire and Eliud Ramirez of the
CFTC:
I
sent you a slide of a couple of past examples of just how this will play
out...
1. The
news is bad (employment is worse) ,This will have a bullish effect on gold
and silver as the USD weakens and the Precious metals draw bids spiking them
higher.This will be sold into within a very short period of time (1-5 mins)
with thousands of new short contracts being added overcoming any new bids and
spiking the Precious Metals down hard targeting key technical support levels.
Scenario
2. The news is good ,(employment is better than expected), this will result
in a massive short position being instigated almost immediately with no move
up. This will not initially be liquidation of long positions but will result
in stops being triggered again targeting key support levels.
Both
scenarios will spell an attempt by the 2 main short holders to illegally drive
the market down and reap very large profits. Locals such as myself will be
'invited' on board which will further add downward pressure.
The
question I would expect you might ask is, who is behind the sudden selling
and is it the entity/entities holding a concentrated position?
How
is it possible for me to know what will occur days before it will happen?
Only if a market is manipulated could this possibly occur.
I
would ask you watch the 'market depth' live as this event occurs and tag who
instigates the move. This would surly help you to pose questions to the
parties involved.
This
kind of 'not for profit selling' will end badly and risks the integrity of
the comex and OTC markets.
I am
aware that physical buyers in large size are awaiting this event to scoop up
as much 'discounted' gold and silver as possible. These are sophisticated
entities mainly foreign who know how to play the short sellers and turn this
paper gold into real delivered physical.
Given
that the OTC market (where a lot of the selling occurs) runs on a fractional
reserve basis and is not backed up by 1/1 physical gold, this leveraged short
selling where ownership of each ounce of gold has multi claims poses a very
large risk.
I
leave this with you, but if you need anything from me that might help you in
your investigation I would be pleased to help.
Kind
regards
Andrew T. Maguire
----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew Maguire
To: Ramirez, Eliud
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 2:11 PM
Subject: Fw: Silver today
If
you get this in a timely manner,with silver at 15.330 post Data I would
suggest you look at who is adding short contracts in the Silver contract
while gold still rises after NFP data. It is undoubtedly the concentrated
short who has 'walked silver down ' since Wednesday. Putting large blocks in
the way of bids. This is clear manipulation as the long holders who have been
liquidated are matched by new short selling as Open Interest is rising during
the decline.
There
should be no reason for this to be occurring other than controlling silvers
rise. There is an intent to drive silver through the 15 level stops before
buying them back after flushing out the long holders.
Regards
Andrew
----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew Maguire
To: Ramirez, Eliud
Cc: BChilton@cftc.gov ; GGensler@cftc.gov
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 3:37 PM
Subject: Fw: Silver today
A
final e-mail to confirm the silver manipulation was a great success and
played out EXACTLY to plan as predicted yesterday.How would this be possible
if the silver market was not in the full control of the parties we discussed
in our phone interview.I have honored my commitment not to publicize our
discussions.
I
hope you took note of how and who added the short sales ( I certainly have a
copy) and I am certain you will find it is the same concentrated shorts who
have been in full control since JPM took over the Bear Stearns position.
It is
'common knowledge' here in London amongst the metals traders it is JPM's
intent to flush out and cover as many shorts as possible prior to any
discussion in March about position limits.I feel sorry for all those not in
this loop.A serious amount of money was made and lost today and in my opinion
as a result of the CFTC allowing by your own definition an illegal
concentrated and manipulative position to continue.
Bart,
for your part you made reference to it at the energy meeting. Even if the
level is in dispute what is not disputed is that it exists. Surly some
discussions should have taken place between the parties by now?. Obviously
they feel they can act with impunity.
If I
can compile the data then the CFTC should be able to too.
I
would think this is an embarrassment to you as regulators.
Hoping
to get your acknowledgement.
Kind
regards
Andrew T. Maguire
----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew Maguire
To: Ramirez, Eliud
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 7:47 PM
Subject: Fw: Silver today
Just
logging off here in London. Final note.
Now
that Gold is undergoing short covering please look at market depth right now in
silver and evidence the large selling blocks in a thin market being put in
the way of silver regaining the technical 15 level which would cause a short
covering rally and new longs being instigated. This is resulting in the gold
silver ratio being stretched to ridiculous levels.
I
hope this day has given you an example of how silver is 'managed' and gives
you something more to work with.
If
this was long manipulation in say the energy market the shoe would be on the
other foot I suspect.
Have
a good weekend
Andrew
From: Andrew Maguire [mailto:atmaguire@sky.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 8:24 AM
To: Ramirez, Eliud
Cc: Gensler, Gary; Chilton, Bart
Subject: Fw: Silver today
Dear
Mr. Ramirez,
I
hadn't received any acknowledgement from you regarding the series of e-mail's
sent by me last week warning you of the planned upcoming market manipulation
that would occur in silver and gold a full 2 days prior to the Non Farm
Payrolls data release.
My
objective was to give you something in advance to watch,log and follow up in
your market manipulation investigation.
You
will note the huge 'footprints' left by the 2 concentrated large shorts were
obvious and easily identifiable. You have the data.
The
signals I identified ahead of the intended short selling event were clear.
The
'live' action I sent you 41 minutes after the trigger event predicting the
next imminent move also played out within minutes and exactly as I outlined
it would.
Surely
you must at least be somewhat mystified that a market move could be forecast
with such accuracy if it was free trading?
All
you have to do is identify the large seller and IF it is the concentrated
short shown in the bank participation report bring them to task for market
manipulation.
I
have honored my commitment to assist you and keep any information we discuss
private, however if you are going to ignore my information I will deem that
commitment to have expired.
All I
ask is that you acknowledge receipt of my information, the rest I leave in
your good hands.
Respectfully
yours
Andrew T. Maguire
----- Original Message -----
From: Ramirez, Eliud
To: Andrew Maguire
Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 1:29 PM
Subject: RE: Silver today
Good afternoon Mr. Maguire,
I have received and reviewed your email
communications.
Thank you so very much for your observations.
-END-
As
additional proof of how JP Morgan Chase and The Gold Cartel is ripping off
the public we handed the press the following, which was sent to Commissioner
Bart Chilton last Friday:
AN EXAMPLE OF GOLD PRICE MANIPULATION
PREDICTED BEFORE THE FACT
On March 18th, 2010 the following
appeared in the Midas Column:
"This
week so far is right out of the cartel playbook. I went back to the week of
February 1st when gold recently followed its 2%, 1%, steady, down pattern.
This week is practically a carbon copy. As you can see in the first chart the
blue line is the 2% cap, the red line is the 1% cap, and the green line is
steady to down. In the second chart you see the 4th day- down hard.
The inflow of spec longs is first capped at 2%, then managed for a few days
until the cartel can attack frustrated longs and get them to bail. Since the
script has held true so far I would not be optimistic about tomorrow."
(contributed
by James McShirley)
On
March 19th, 2010, as predicted the previous day gold was taken
down in seconds by purportedly the dumping of 6000 contracts by a single
trader.
Such
predictable sell-offs are seen time and time again close to option expiry on
the Comex each month and the release of Non-Farm Payroll data. The price is
capped at no more than 2% gain, then capped the following day at 1% gain,
then held steady and finally hit hard for a waterfall take down.
Bill
Murphy
Chairman
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
7
Villa Louisa Road,
Manchester,
Conn. 06043-7541 USA
cpowell@gata.org
Some
of the latest press on the meeting:
FACTBOX-What they said at
CFTC hearing on metals limits
(Adds
Dunn, O'Malia, LaSala, Callahan, Christian)
WASHINGTON,
March 25 (Reuters) - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission held a hearing
on Thursday to examine whether position limits are needed to curb speculation
in metals futures markets.
Here
are comments from participants' testimony, and from
interviews done by Reuters:
GARY
GENSLER, Chairman, CFTC
"Based
upon what we learn, we will further review CFTC rules to determine what, if
any, course of action is most appropriate."
MICHAEL
DUNN, Democrat commissioner, CFTC
"With
potential position limits in the energy markets, I am concerned that position
limits in regulated futures markets without corresponding limits in the
over-the-counter markets may result in less transparency in our markets, if
those presently trading on exchanges move to over-the-counter and other
opaque markets to circumvent CFTC regulations."
BART
CHILTON, Democrat commissioner, CFTC
"The
sensible, reasonable approach to position limits that guards against
manipulation and stops excessive speculation is what we need to protect
consumers."
"I
hope this hearing helps put us on a fast-track to getting a proposal out
there."
SCOTT
O'MALIA, Republican commissioner, CFTC
"The
exchanges registered with the commission are not the market's epicenter.
Significant price discovery in these markets takes place abroad in
London."
"We
must ensure that any rules or regulations do not offer any opportunities for
regulatory arbitrage or decreased transparency of U.S. markets."
TOM
LASALA, chief regulatory officer, CME Group
"The
only impact that CFTC-imposed limits will have in the metals market will be
to shift business away from U.S. exchanges to less-regulated or even wholly
unregulated markets
that are beyond the commission's jurisdictional reach."
TOM
CALLAHAN, CEO of NYSE Liffe
"It
is not clear that federally designed position limits for metals would have
the desired effect of limiting unreasonable and abrupt price movements for
these contracts
just as federally set position limits for certain agricultural products did not
appear to protect those products from price volatility during the recent
commodity price bull run in
2008."
"For
start-up exchanges like NYSE Liffe U.S., it would be difficult -- if not
impossible -- to gain market share against an existing exchange if position
limits were administered in a
manner that capped our growth potential."
JEFFREY
CHRISTIAN, CPM Group
"My
position is that the proposal is a mistake. Federally managed position limits
seem both inappropriate and unnecessary. The proposals at hand most likely
would do nothing
to improve the efficiency, honesty, integrity, and fairness of metals
commodities markets."
"Instead,
I believe they would drive liquidity into less regulated and less transparent
overseas and over-the-counter markets, reducing the efficacy of U.S.
regulated derivatives
exchanges, skewing the price relationship between U.S. regulated markets and
global commodities markets, and costing the United States economy jobs,
revenues, and tax receipts."
STEVE
SHERROD, acting director of surveillance, CFTC Citing an internal study of
disaggregated commitment of traders data for COMEX, NYSE Liffe:
"In
gold for all months combined and for a trader's net futures and
delta-adjusted options combined position, 56 traders exceeded the position
accountability levels on one or
more days during the two-and-one-quarter-year sample period.
"The
maximum number of traders holding positions in gold at or above the position
accountability level on any one day was 26."
"Seventeen
traders on average exceeded accountability levels for an average of 34
Tuesdays of the 115 Tuesdays in the sample period. The average position while
over accountability levels was 20,233 contracts."
(Reporting by Christopher Doering, Frank Tank, Tom Doggett;
Editing by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
CFTC's
Chilton hopes for position curbs by year-end
WASHINGTON,
March 25 (Reuters) - A proponent for position limits at the top U.S. futures
regulator told Reuters Insider on Thursday he hopes to see
curbs for speculative limits on energy and metals in place by the end of the
year.
Bart
Chilton, a Democrat commissioner, said he would like to see the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission propose a rule for metals position limits by April
26 -- the end of a comment period on a similar proposal for energy limits.
(Reporting by Christopher Doering; Editing by Roberta Rampton)
Executives:
Metals trade limits would hurt US
........By
MARCY GORDON, AP Business Writer – 57 mins ago
WASHINGTON
– A parade of financial executives warned regulators Thursday that
restricting the volume of speculative trading in metals futures would drive
business overseas. But two traders said metals futures markets can be easily
disrupted by big players like banks.
As
gold prices have surged, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is weighing
possible limits on the amount of trading in gold, silver and copper futures
by market players who are solely financial investors.
At a
public meeting, the CFTC commissioners heard from futures exchanges, banks,
traders and industrial companies that use metals.
Even
taking up the question is a new twist for an agency with a mostly hands-off
approach in recent years toward the financial markets.
The
CFTC in January took a first step aimed at reining in oil speculation,
proposing new limits on trading in energy futures by Wall Street firms and
other market players. Commissioner Bart Chilton wants caps on speculative
trading also extended to the markets for agricultural products and metals —
in a comprehensive effort to prevent market manipulation.
"It
seems to me we have a public responsibility to protect consumers,"
Chilton said. "We have a motive here, and it's not profit."
But
other commissioners voiced concerns about driving business abroad.
There's
a risk of that occurring, industry representatives said, and limits on metals
futures positions likely won't prevent price spikes anyway.
A
shower of warnings from bankers and exchange officials prompted CFTC Chairman
Gary Gensler to respond, "It's not regulation for regulation's
sake."
"It's
not about prices," Gensler said. "It's about making sure that
markets are fair and open and orderly."
Thomas
LaSala, managing director of CME Group Inc., owner of the Comex and the New
York Mercantile Exchange, said excessive speculation in metals futures
"has not occurred and is not a threat to orderly markets."
Position
limits on metals trading imposed by the CFTC "will have one and only one
consequence: a loss of business to U.S. companies," LaSala told the
panel.
"The
potential is that customers will just take their business elsewhere,"
said Jeremy Charles, global head ofprecious metals at the London-based bank
HSBC Group.
But
Mark Epstein, a trader who deals with gold, silver and copper futures, said banks
or other big players in silver "can massively disrupt the market very,
very quickly" by trading in blocks of contracts worth $5 million or $10
million at a clip.
Another
trader, Harvey Organ, said he was concerned about "having one or two
gorillas dictate the price."
The
price of gold leapt 24 percent last year, trading above $1,000 an ounce and
making experts wonder if it might become the next bubble in the wake of the
mortgage and credit crises. Some forecasters see it going to $1,200, $1,500 or
beyond, unless the buying frenzy halts.
Gold
first reached $1,000 in March 2008, soon after the collapse of investment
bank Bear Stearns and mounting anxiety over the stability of the financial
system. Last year investors snapped up gold to protect themselves against the
falling dollar. Currencies have been weak investments around the world
because of record-low interest rates stemming from the financial crisis.
Gold
for April delivery finished at $1,088.80 an ounce on Wednesday. That was
actually its lowest price in more than a month, a $14.90 decline from the day
before. Gold prices came under pressure after the dollar surged because of
the latest debt problems in Europe.
Experts
and economists are divided on whether speculative trading in the futures
markets in general fans price volatility.
-END-
I am
going to reserve more commentary until later, except to say the control over
the press and government appears to be far worse than even I imagined.
Congrats to Harvey Organ and Adrian Douglas (in support of Harvey) who
were SUPERB in their presentations to the CFTC.
BILL
MURPHY
CHAIRMAN
GOLD ANTI-TRUST ACTION COMMITTEE
Much more for subscribers…
Bill Murphy
Editor
LeMetropoleCafe.com
Chairman
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee
Le Metropole Café is a Membership
site. Visit and Experience a 2 week Free Trial !
Bill Murphy is chairman
of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee. and proprietor of www.LeMetropoleCafe.com, an Internet site devoted to financial commentary with emphasis on
the precious metals. You can
become a trial member for free for two weeks by clicking here.
He has also chaired three international gold
conferences…
*The GATA
African Gold Summit in Durban, South Africa on May 10, 2001.
*Gold Rush 21 in the Yukon’s Dawson City on August 8-10, 2005.
*GATA Goes To Washington in Arlington, Virginia on April 17-19, 2008.
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