You are here
Your options for TV viewing tonight
By Theodore Butler
www.InvestmentRarities.com
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
There were an usually large number of news reports and articles that
followed the release of my last article, "A Surprise Silver
Endorsement," which dealt with the opposition of the Silver Users
Association to the proposed exchange-traded fund in silver. Most of
these reports concurred with my take that this confirmed how little
silver was available for investment. For this I am gratified.
I'm less pleased that none of the many reports indicated that my
article was what caused these reports to be written, although there
was a reference cited in one article.
I'd like to get something off my chest. I've never understood why
widespread plagiarism is tolerated in the investment-writing world.
It is certainly not tolerated in any other venue. Let a student at
any level, from high school to graduate school, turn in a research
paper without citing source information and a failing grade is the
least that will result. Let a journalist use another's work without
acknowledgement and he will be dismissed. I just learned from
today's newspaper that it is considered a cardinal sin for one
comedian to steal another's joke. So what is it about investment
writing that permits the theft of intellectual property?
I'm not complaining about someone learning what I am attempting to
teach. I want people to learn -- that's why I write. And that's why
I've written for free on the Internet. But I don't want anyone to
steal my work and then pass it off as his own original research.
In the case of the article about the SUA and the silver ETF, it's
easy to prove my point, although this is hardly a unique case. The
Internet is a giant time-stamping device. None of the articles in
question predate mine; all postdate my article. The SUA didn't
suddenly make the announcement on October 10, the date of my
article. The SUA first made its position clear months before, in its
July newsletter. I explained in my article that I became aware of
the SUA's position only because friends and readers sent me e-mails
about it and I wrote about it in my Tuesday article.
It would strain credulity to think that the articles postdating my
article were just coincidental, especially considering that they all
basically agreed with my conclusion. This is basically an issue of
integrity and morality, of taking something that doesn't belong to
you. I would no sooner plagiarize someone else's work than I would
go on a shoplifting spree or steal from a neighbor's home.
Having said all this, I would like to point out that the SUA has
blundered in its public handling of this ETF issue. Not in two
decades of observing them have I seen them handle an issue so
poorly. In the "old days" they would have put the ETF quietly to
rest, with nary a public utterance. I think the chances are good
that they'll kill the ETF with their backroom dealing and lobbying,
but their public relations effort backfired. Their blunder, of
course, is your gain, as a more compelling endorsement for the true
state of the silver market is hard to imagine.
I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm not so sure it would be all
peaches and cream if the silver ETF were approved. Oh, I think it
would have a bullish effect on the price, all right, but if enough
silver was bought and the price reacted strongly enough, it could
turn out that the authorities who approved it would panic and change
their minds, ordering a forced liquidation. That would not be good,
in my opinion.
I guess you have to be careful what you root for, because you just
may get it. In any event, the silver market will do fine, with or
without the ETF.
For a variety of reasons I have decided to change course on my
weekly Internet articles. I have indicated a desire to do so in the
past and I'd like to explain why. I don't think most people know
this, but there never was any profit motive behind my Internet
articles other than attempting to end the silver price manipulation.
I got paid and expect to continue to get paid for writing articles
for Investment Rarities' customers. Most of those articles were then
made available on the Internet, in addition to many others. The
Internet distribution was basically a public service.
While I take full responsibility for the content of the articles,
IRI should be given full credit for underwriting all costs and
providing all technical assistance associated with maintaining the
Internet service. It never was, nor was intended to be, a revenue
source for them. Basically, Jim Cook posted the articles as a favor
to me.
I do expect new articles to be posted after they have been
distributed to IRI clients but do not foresee that will be on a
weekly basis. I want to get away from running commentary on the
commitment of traders, as that is interfering with my private
efforts with friends and close associates, but I will comment on
special occasions. I have also prepared several articles that are
more controversial in nature and that I feel would be inappropriate
to ask IRI to post. Those will be released on my Internet site at
the appropriate time.
Finally, I apologize for falling hopelessly behind in responding to
e-mails. Hurricane Wilma was the breaking point. I read everything
but have time to respond to only a few. The sad part is that the
more involved and well-thought-out the correspondence I receive, the
less chance I have to answer it because of time constraints. Those
requests that can be answered in a word or sentence stand the best
chance of reply.
Just to set the record straight, this has nothing to do with my
opinion of the silver market; that has never looked better long-
term. (Short-term I have my concerns, as I hope I have indicated in
my last couple of articles). It has everything to do with
rearranging my priorities according to time constraints. I hope you
understand.
----------------------------------------------------
To subscribe to GATA's dispatches, send an e-mail to:
gata-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to:
gata-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
----------------------------------------------------
RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Free sites:
http://www.cbs.marketwatch.com
http://www.usagold.com/amk/usagoldmarketupdate.html
http://www.capitalupdates.com/
http://www.silver-investor.com
http://www.thebulliondesk.com/
http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html
http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.html
http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.html
http://www.investmentrarities.com
http://www.kereport.com
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htm
(In Spanish)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htm
(In English)
http://www.resourceinvestor.com
http://www.goldpennystocks.com/
Subscription sites:
http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/
http://www.interventionalanalysis.com
http://www.investmentindicators.com/
Eagle Ranch discussion site:
http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm
Ted Butler silver commentary archive:
http://www.investmentrarities.com/
----------------------------------------------------
COIN AND PRECIOUS METALS DEALERS
WHO HAVE SUPPORTED GATA
AND BEEN RECOMMENDED
BY OUR MEMBERS
Blanchard & Co. Inc.
909 Poydras St., Suite 1900
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
888-413-4653
http://www.blanchardonline.com
Centennial Precious Metals
3033 East First Ave., Suite 807
Denver, Colorado 80206
1-800-869-5115
http://www.USAGOLD.com
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
cpm@usagold.com
Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
http://www.ColoradoGold.com
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
Gold@gwe.net
El Dorado Discount Gold
Box 11296
Glendale, Arizona 85316
http://www.eldoradogold.net
Harvey Gordin, President
Office: 623-434-3322
Mobile: 602-228-8203
harvey@eldoradogold.net
Gold & Silver Investments Ltd.
Mespil House
37 Adelaide Rd
Dublin 2
Ireland
+353 1 2315260/6
Fax: +353 1 2315202
http://www.goldinvestments.org
info@gold.ie
Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
http://www.gloomdoom.com
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
gwestgaard@investmentrarities.com
Kitco
178 West Service Road
Champlain, N.Y. 12919
Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1M1
Canada
Toll-free:1-800-363-7053
Fax: 514-875-6484
http://www.kitco.com
Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
http://www.certifiedcoins.com
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
leecoins@aol.com
Lone Star Silver Exchange
1702 S. Highway 121
Suite 607-111
Lewisville, Texas 75067
214-632-8869
http://www.discountsilverclub.com
Miles Franklin Ltd.
3015 Ottawa Ave. South
St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416
1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
http://www.milesfranklin.com
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel
Missouri Coin Co.
11742 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63131-4614
info@mocoin.com
314-965-9797
1-800-280-9797
http://www.mocoin.com
Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
Metalguys@aol.com
http://www.buysilvernow.com
Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
http://www.swissamerica.com
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
FiGoldstein@swissamerica.com
The Moneychanger
Box 178
Westpoint, Tennessee 38486
http://www.the-moneychanger.com
Franklin Sanders
1-888-218-9226, 931-766-6066
----------------------------------------------------
HOW TO HELP GATA
If you benefit from GATA's dispatches, please
consider making a financial contribution to
GATA. We welcome contributions as follows.
By check:
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, CT 06043-7541
USA
By credit card (MasterCard, Visa, and
Discover) over the Internet:
http://www.gata.org/creditcard.html
By GoldMoney:
http://www.GoldMoney.com
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Holding number 50-08-58-L
Donors of $1,000 or more will, upon request,
be sent a print of Alain Despert's colorful
painting symbolizing our cause, titled GATA.
Donors of $200 or more will receive copies
of "The ABCs of Gold Investing" by Michael
Kosares, proprietor of Centennial Precious
Metals in Denver, Colorado, and "The Coming
Collapse of the Dollar" by James Turk and
John Rubino.
GATA is a civil rights and educational
organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue
Code and contributions to it are tax-deductible
in the United States.
