DOUBLE-COUNTING
In his recent newsletter, silver analyst Ted Butler complained about the lack of response from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to an important question from him which he sent to the regulators through the office of his congressman. He writes, “Still no response at all from the CFTC to my recent inquiry of the possible double-counting of the 103 million ounces of silver in the COMEX warehouse of JPMorgan and indicated as part of the inventory of SLV, the big silver ETF. Once silver inventory depletion reaches maximum extremes, the law of supply and demand dictates that prices must then rise, making the issue of possible double-counting all the more critical. I can’t say that I am reassured in any way by the evasive and still missing official response from the regulator that my fears of double-counting may have been an intentional tool of those seeking to suppress the price of silver.”
In case anybody thinks that this is merely standard operating procedure from the regulators because they have never heard of Mr. Butler, guess again. It’s more likely the reaction is one of consternation and concern that they will have to answer him. That’s because they know Mr. Butler quite well, and they don’t wish to cross swords with him. They know that he is usually right about the issues he raises.
Go back to 2004 and 2008 when they issued 16-page responses to his charges of manipulation in COMEX silver. In 2020, a CFTC commissioner disclosed the fact that the CFTC and the Justice Department had hundreds of meetings to determine charges against certain big banks. All this was a consequence of Ted Butler’s many letters to various government agencies. So, when they take weeks and months to answer a question about double-counting of silver stockpiles, it means they probably are being double-counted, and that’s just another bullish argument for silver.
