Ted Butler: Only one silver seller left?

1:50p ET Monday, February 16, 2009

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold (and Silver):

Silver market analyst Ted Butler reviews the latest data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and concludes that all the short selling of silver for the last seven weeks probably has been undertaken by a single trading house, bringing the silver market to an unprecedented level of concentration and thus an unprecedented level of manipulation.

While some analysts speculate that the short positions in silver that are attributed by the CFTC to the several largest traders are actually aggregations of the positions of many smaller traders and that the market is much less concentrated and manipulated than it seems, if this is indeed the case, the CFTC would be committing a huge disservice by publishing data in such a misleading format. Further, if the huge short positions attributed to the largest traders are really aggregations of the positions of many smaller traders, the CFTC would seem obliged to explain how the aggregation still does not accrue excessive market power to the aggregator.

The CFTC says it is investigating the silver market once again, so we await answers to these questions.

In the meantime, Butler's new commentary is headlined "Only One Seller Left?" and you can find it at GoldSeek's companion site, SilverSeek, here:

http://news.silverseek.com/TedButler/1234807880.php

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

* * *

GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at http://www.gata.org/.