Silver Default Looms?!(It's about time!)Silver Stock Reportby Jason Hommel, Feb 20th, 2011
What's going on? As I read on the blogs, about 53,000 silver contracts for 5000 oz. each are nearing the first delivery day on Feb. 28th. At that time, each contract must be fully funded to await delivery in the following 30 days, or sold before then. By the way, 53k x 5k = 265 million oz. http://tfmetalsreport.blogspot.com/2011/02/wow.html The crazy thing is that the four COMEX approved warehouses have only about 100 million oz. of silver in them. So, in essence, a default looms. Will this be it? If so, what will happen? Usually, all but a very few contracts roll over to the next months. The futures contract holders rarely stand for delivery, as in their view it is too difficult, and too costly; they are in this game for the leverage. They usually only put down 10% of the money, so that if silver gains another 10% in price, they double their investment quickly. And if silver moves down 10%, they lose everything! But here's the kicker. COMEX just raised margin requirements 50% on Friday, meaning that the longs had to put up something probably like 15% instead of the usual 10%. (I have no idea of the real figures, as I have never traded futures, I have never had a futures broker, and don't know where to go for that data.) This means that the longs were not scared out of their positions, as the silver price went up, not down, as the manipulators had intended. What I do know is that usually, the majority of futures contracts stand about 3 months away from delivery. But not now. Tonight, 53,000 contracts are looming for either close out, or they will stand for delivery. Out of about 150,000 to 200,000 contracts! Harvey says 150,000 contracts in open interest. 321gold.com says 200,000 contracts in open interest. Either way, this situation presents several problems. Clearly, if the longs stand for delivery of 265 million oz., when there are only 100 million oz. in the warehouses, there will be a short squeeze, and the price can go ballistic to the upside, perhaps prices could go up by 5 times higher in a few days. However the longs don't seem to realize that the shorts can cap the price by several other manipulative methods. They can deliver paper cash, or SLV shares as well. The shorts and COMEX can also limit total physical silver deliveries to as little as 1.5 million ounces to any individual, or 7.5 million ounces total, if my memory of the rules serves. If they do that, the shorts can delay a short squeeze at the COMEX. But this would create another problem. A cash settlement, or settlement in SLV shares, or a limit on physical silver deliveries, would be recognized as a default, or a "failure to deliver". If any such kind of default would take place, it could cause a run on any remaining silver at any other location, such as directly at the refineries, or bullion wholesalers, or bullion dealers like myself. I hope no such default takes place, as I don't want to go out of business for a few days, or a few weeks, or a few months, while I wait for my suppliers to get re-stocked. In any event, I think it's important to realize several fundamentals. 1. The dollar itself -- is fraud. If that happens, I might close up the JH MINT for anywhere from an hour to a day or so, until I can guarantee a source of silver from my suppliers. I will likely be able to remain in business though, because if there is a price quote, it means silver is available at such prices. The most likely course is that the paper traders continue their game of "chicken". Both sides will swerve at the last moment and avoid a collision. Prices will likely go up to about $35 to maybe as high as $40 next month. We will likely have another record sales of silver bars and coins. The US mint will likely have another record of sales of 1 oz. American Eagle silver coins. They might run out for a week at a time, again. We will likely have plenty of silver available at about 6% over spot, while all the physical silver ETF's trade at about a 8-12% premium over "spot" prices. But then again, you never know. I can predict that the busses
will likely run on time, and I will likely be right, until they
don't. Better order silver now, while you still can. Further links for further study: The Silver Institute -- for silver statistics Eric Sprott (a billionaire) is very well informed. The 3 men he
listed, Ted Butler, Dave Morgan and Jason Hommel are among the smartest
guys in the room when it comes to silver. ECB emergency lending jump persists CPM Validates Imminent Comprehensive Silver Shortage Predictions $500 Silver, Max Keiser Explains His Price Target -- 19 February
2011 Bill Murphy: "Silver can double in a week, the price is held down with
derivatives!" Why no talk of $32,567/oz ? by Jason Hommel, Jan 2, 2003 Disclaimer: I am a bullion dealer. I sell silver and gold for a living. I'm not trying to cause any sort of panic buying. I believe it is rational and logical to purchase silver, and I have advocated buying silver since 2003. I have predicted a default in gold and silver metals futures contracts since 2002, after the palladium default of 2001, and it has not yet happened. I believe in God, honest weights and measures, and honest money. I believe men will prosper far more when they follow God's laws to use honest money in commerce, and avoid all kinds of futures contracts. I'm proud to say that my teachings from the Bible on avoiding futures
contracts have inspired a world-class programmer to create a new computer
programming language that avoids the mistake of making futures contracts,
which avoids creating problems in the programming world. Further, http://www.oneoverspot.com/
continues to thrive as a place to buy and sell silver and
gold. Jason Hommel |