THEODORE BUTLER INTERVIEW
Cook: The gold/silver ratio is now at 80 to one. Did you expect that?
Butler: It’s happened several times in the past and when it hit that level previously, it rapidly fell back, sometimes dramatically.
Cook: Because gold fell or silver went up?
Butler: Silver went up.
Cook: In the past you’ve suggested that people switch from gold to silver. Are you still saying that?
Butler: Yes, at eighty to one it makes sense. However, the big reason is that silver is so ridiculously cheap.
Cook: The people that switched from gold to silver on your advice aren’t too happy, are they?
Butler: Probably not, but in time they are going to be glad they did.
Cook: Silver will outpace gold?
Butler: By a long distance.
Cook: What makes you so sure?
Butler: Silver is scarcer than gold. There’s $15 to $20 billion of visible silver and $7 trillion of gold. There could never be a shortage of gold.
Cook: But there could be with silver?
Butler: Absolutely. In fact, I’m almost certain that we will have a shortage in silver. Any surge in investment buying or industrial use and we are off to the races.
Cook: What happens then?
Butler: A mad scramble for silver ensues. The investors will chase it as the price rises and industrial users will panic and suddenly decide to stockpile it. That won’t work and the tighter it gets, the higher will be the price.
Cook: How high?
Butler: I don’t think $100 to $200 is out of the question. Maybe higher before it burns itself out.
Cook: Why isn’t there enough silver to go around?
Butler: The big banks have suppressed the price. That throws a monkey wrench into the free market. A low price increases industrial use and reduces the mining supply.
Cook: Why would the banks do that?
Butler: In the case of JPMorgan they sit on the price in the paper futures market while accumulating a vast hoard of physical silver.
Cook: How much?
Butler: I think it’s over 400 million ounces. They’ve been adding almost ten million ounces per month. Now they own the equivalent of half the silver mined in the world each year.
Cook: What’s the reason behind this huge accumulation?
Butler: It can only be to make a vast fortune. A $10 rise in silver equals a $4 billion gain.
Cook: They must be reading your stuff.
Butler: Maybe, but they saw how tight silver got in 2011. Let’s face it, the U.S. government owned a huge surplus of 6 billion ounces of silver at the end of World War Two. Now they don’t have any of that silver left. It’s used up and gone forever. JPMorgan can see that only a billion and a quarter ounces are around today. Silver is truly scarce and JPMorgan has the patience to exploit that fact.
Cook: Isn’t it cheating to keep the price down with one hand while buying it with the other?
Butler: Of course, it’s called manipulation.
Cook: Where are the regulators?
Butler: Good question. JPMorgan has managed to keep them all quiet, even the U.S. Mint.
Cook: How’s that?
Butler: The Mint used to disclose who was getting the Silver Eagles, but no more.
Cook: Why not?
Butler: Somebody big has been buying at least half the Mint’s monthly production and it isn’t coin dealers. JPMorgan has an enormous yen for silver and I’d bet it’s them. They are probably melting them into 1,000 ounce bars.
Cook: You are recognized as the world’s premier silver analyst, so I believe you. You paint the most bullish story for silver imaginable, but when?
Butler: It’s going to go up, no question about that. I can’t pinpoint exactly when, but I think soon. The physical market is churning. Somebody’s taking down a lot of silver and they are trying to keep it hidden. Also, the physical turnover on the COMEX is enormous suggesting an extremely tight supply.
Cook: What’s your final take for our readers?
Butler: I’ll tell you what I believe. This is the chance for silver owners to make a fortune. You will likely never get another opportunity to make this much money. If you own enough silver, you will be set for life.
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