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Trouble is they'll blame the company when it had to be NAR paying that much money for the pump. Sorry to see bitter investors but I'm really glad it didn't work so well for NAR. I remember when their rep came on board saying no selling until 50¢. A good company doesn't need and pump and dump either from themselves or a 3rd party. Let the Q's and K's do the talking. I also watch the day trader boards hoping we stay off their radars. Not against day trading but it does artificially inflate stocks and parabolas do retrace.
.........al
Another agreement with Butler:
Big U.S. banks dominate COMEX gold, silver: Got Gold Report
2/9/2009 12:31:28 PM | Gene Arensberg
Strongly positioned for lower gold prices, not so much for silver
ATLANTA -- The very largest traders for gold and silver are, wouldn’t you know it, big U.S. banks. It looks like a few big banks, some of the same ones whose brilliant management helped spawn a global financial crisis, have the largest positioning in gold and silver futures. As of February 3, their positioning in gold and silver futures was big all right – big and short the market for gold, somewhat less short silver comparatively speaking.
A short position means the trader profits if prices fall.
Bank participation in the COMEX
According to the monthly CFTC Bank Participation in Futures and Options Market report released Friday, February 6, two large reporting U.S. banks held zero long and 27,189 short futures positions in COMEX silver futures as of February 3. All commercial traders as a group held a net short silver position of 33,173 contracts that same day; so just two banks held 81.96% of all the COMEX commercial net short positioning for silver.
It should be obvious that these two very large banks could exert a disproportionate share of influence on the small silver futures market if they were so inclined. When just two traders are allowed by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to accumulate so massive a position that it constitutes an overwhelmingly large percentage of the action; when the authorities allow just two banks to literally dominate a market with the weight of their own trading, traders are left to speculate on what the largest traders are going to do instead of concentrating on the supply/demand fundamentals and legitimate price discovery.
Isn’t that the equivalent of subjects wondering what price the King will decree rather than citizens all haggling in their own self interest to determine a market price? Or, as one trader put it recently, is the COMEX silver market waiting on JP Morgan Chase to show its hand or make a move?
In fairness, it is quite possible that the positions taken by the banks are for the most part legitimate hedges, offsetting corresponding positions in markets outside the COMEX. However, the sheer size of the positions taken by just two banks raise questions as to the legitimacy of the price discovery process on the COMEX, division of NYMEX.
Intuitively, it should be plain to anyone that positions of overly large size could compel defensive, rather than passive, action on the part of the position holders regardless of whether or not they are hedges.
For gold, the bank positioning is similar. Although not quite as dominant as in silver, just three U.S. banks held a collective net short position of 111,190 contracts while all commercial traders as a group reported a net short positioning of 177,589 contracts. So, three U.S. banks represent a shockingly large 60.57% of all the commercial net short positioning on the COMEX for gold.
From January 6 to February 3, the three banks added 27,367 contracts or 34% to their net short positioning as gold rose $37.09 or 4.3% from $864.16 to $901.25. That is about an 8:1 ratio, meaning the banks strongly expect lower gold prices.
Again, the very large commercial net short positioning doesn’t necessarily mean that the commercials are “right.” It just signals clearly what they are positioning for.
Some analysts assume that the banks can actually drive prices lower temporarily if they don’t get what they expect. If true we have to wonder then why they haven’t done so before now? Or if, perhaps, “they” have been doing that all along. We’ll see, but back in October 2005, gold reached an obvious technical resistance zone in the $470s and the big commercial traders took a then staggeringly large net short position of 212,714 contracts, or a huge 57.36% of all open contracts.
Obviously they were even more convinced then, in October 2005, that gold was poised to plunge. As we all know now, gold did indeed pull back $20 or so by November 2005, just before it exploded higher by 55% to $730 the following May.
The point of that anecdote is twofold. First, the commercials are big yes, influential, yes, but infallible they are not. The other point is that although a very high LCNS is usually short-term bearish it can, every so often, be high octane rally fuel if a meaningful and convincing runaway breakout rally gets underway.
I don't get it. Somebody help me out here. Small companies sometimes need ready cash to continue operations, it happens all the time. People complain when they dilute to accomplish this. People complain when they have to borrow to do it. I'm going to send Clint my own special secret on how to plant and grow a money tree. It can be harvested 2X a year so if they can keep their expenses in line with harvesting, then all these small problems will go away and everybody will be happy. Simple as that.
........al
NH- absolutely correct. eom
Just got back in to see more controversy, LOL. Will it ever end? Anyone following the macro and micro economics of the current financial system of the US and the world for that matter should be aware of the money situation and lending especially the lack thereof. Many people and even large corporations with outstanding credit cannot get loans right now. Money is so tight it squeeks louder than a rusty wheel. If a lender has money to lend he knows he holds the better cards. It's a lender's market. I'm not trying to justify this transaction as I'm sure Tony's phone is lit up like a Christmas tree with investors looking for answers. What I'm looking for now is reasonable justification for the need of this loan. NFL? HD? NHL? Retooling for another line? Being invested here for so long has taught me to have a lot of patience. It seems that MOST of what we initially deem catastophic turns out to be friendly after all. I await some posts from responses from Tony.
..........al
GM all, enjoying the banter here. A great board is only as good as the posters make it. Controversy and differing opinions do help the learning curve. For all you veteran penny players just ignore the rest of this post. For those that are new to this arena try to remember that you will lose on 8 out of 10 trades in pennyland. The trick is to cut losses early and let the winners ride. Best of luck to all here.
........al
Just got to post this slam at people who brought us into this mess.-
As a side note, dairy farmers are experiencing a horrendous time right now and many are not expected to see their businesses survive the winter. Milk prices have plunged below the cost of the production for many of them with reports that some are losing as much as $200/head. That is terrible news and my heart goes out to these hard-working folks who rise early each morning and endure the ins and out of this very difficult industry in which to survive. They have no choice but to begin culling their herds if they hope to weather this horrific storm. A pox on the damn bankers and monetary authorities along with the politicians who created this disaster for the rest of us. Where’s the bailout money for these family owned businesses who are the backbone of this nation? Oh yeah, I forgot – that is reserved for the pond scum who got us into this mess in the first place.
To add insult to injury-
At a contentious Financial Services Committee hearing today about the failure of the Securities and Exchange Commission to prevent the Bernie Madoff scandal, the SEC's General Counsel cited executive privilege as reason that he and the SEC's enforcement branch were refusing to answer congressional inquiries. You can watch the video here - the executive privilege issue comes at about 5 minutes and 15 seconds into the clip.
As you'll see, SEC officials refuse to answer the committee's basic questions about the Madoff scandal, and the agency's acting general counsel, Andy Vollmer (a Bush holdover and maxed-out donor to John McCain's presidential campaign) explicitly cites executive privilege as his legal rationale for refusing to provide basic information to federal lawmakers.
Congress has a constitutional obligation to engage in basic fact finding, both in order to legislate reforms at the SEC and to publicly expose how our economy was destroyed by sharks like Madoff. Now, Bush holdovers at the SEC are using executive powers - powers that are now President Obama's - to prevent Democratic lawmakers from doing their job.
LOL, you don't have to tell an old cynic like me that market makers and hedge funds will bend and break the rules to make money. Just about everyone will do that if they think they can get away with it. Our own government manipulates markets. My simple message is to trust no one until they have met your own standards of culpability. There are too many agendas out there and most of them are trying to separate you from your cash.
......al
Thanks and GL2U, also. Haven't changed my tune. It is almost always dilution. Just tried to explain how the shorting is done. It still ends up as dilution. When market makers short to keep making a market, a very large majority of the time they are covered within 3 trading days. Just be careful of posters screaming "naked shorting" and "moass" and like themed posts. Not all but some have a different agenda. Here's a post I made up and send once in a while to help out. Remember if you can't verify you go from investing to gambling. Best of luck to you
......al
If you hear it, especially on an internet posting, have serious doubts until you can verify it. If you can't verify it continue to doubt the posting. If it can only be verified through the company IR people or paid 3rd parties, still have doubts about what you have read. The only true verifications are SEC filings and independant disinterested 3rd party verifications of any info you deem suspect- and that should be all info unless you can verify it. I've been called a lot of things over the years pointing out suspicions and unverified "facts" by other posters looking to hype the stock. Funny thing is those people disappear when the stock price tanks as they have sold out to the ones believing their hype. And they usually don't work alone. They gang up on and label negative postings as bashing and accuse the poster of shorting(virtually impossible on penny stocks) or being a "paid basher". They even refer you to web sites that list the itinerary of the "paid bashers". Truth be told I've heard a lot of hype about the paid basher but have yet to meet one anywhere. I hear a lot of references but have never seen any hard evidence that they exist nor has anyone that "knows" they exist been able to verify the "fact." If you stay in this penny stock arena long enough you realize that the handle "thief" is not restricted to robbers and muggers breaking criminal laws. Anyone reading this post feel free to copy and paste it into one of your own personal files. Before you buy a penny stock based on an internet posting, go back and reread it. It could save you a heck of a lot of money.
First, you can't short penny stocks in the US. No broker will allow it. Second, if you want to check offshore shorting, you would find the margin requirements to be outrageous. I know as I have checked. Please feel free to check on it yourself. Offshore shorting does go on. It's mainly done by large hedgefunds that loan money, usually toxic financing in exchange for shares, to small companies in need of cash. They then short large quantities of shares as they dump their own holdings into the float. Illegal here, but real profitable in loosely regulated Carribean islands. Either way the small investor gets screwed. Whether it's the company diluting shares or the financier playing the shorting game from offshore, it all adds up to dilution. Hope this helps.
....al
I hear you. LOL, eom.
Nice try, but the true believers will never believe you. Been doing it a long time too. All the supposedly naked shorting that goes on is almost always dilution. Keep up the good fight.
........al
Might be a little clautrophobic, LOL
We should send the chart in this post to Moody. I do believe they may rethink that position.
.......al
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=35346599
Thanks kd, just another step in the right direction. Basser, unfortunately during trading time I have so many apps running on the computer that I can't access email w/o crashing the browser. Hence most of my news updates come in the evening. Glad someone can get things to us on time.
........al
I think U just filled. eom
Keep a good eye on it. Mine got too full and I had to find hiding places for more recent additions. It's not a small safe. It is an old classified documents safe from the military.Great thing about it is fireproof.
.......al
That graph should be a good indicator of when the possibility of ending this mess should start. Only a possibilty, tho.
........al
In one word- AMEN. eom
We're still getting press in Europe-
(Pressemitteilung) - Wien,Austria
http://www.pr-inside.com/eternal-image-announces-launch-of-youth-r1040728.htm
It's the same PR on the youth caskets. Just wanted to point out the European voice.
.......al
Sinclair reprinted this today. Thought it would provoke some thoughts on paper vs. physical gold.
.........al
AUDIT AFTER GOLD DEALER'S SUICIDE SUGGESTS CUSTOMERS LOST MILLIONS
By ROBERT J. COLE
Published: October 5, 1983
Some $60 million worth of gold, silver and platinum sold to thousands of individuals and then supposedly stored in Rocky Mountain vaults may never have existed, an investigation suggested yesterday.
The possibility emerged in an audit conducted by the accounting firm of Touche Ross & Company in connection with the suicide last Wednesday of Alan David Saxon, 39-year-old chairman of Bullion Reserve of North America, a gold dealer with offices in Los Angeles, Dallas and Hong Kong.
Bullion Reserve has 30,000 to 35,000 customers. If the missing assets cannot be found, most of their investments may be lost.
Vaults Near Salt Lake City
Lawyers for the company said the audit showed that a depository, owned by Perpetual Storage Inc. of Salt Lake City and buried 200 feet in a nearby mountain range, contained only about $900,000 in bullion and coins. Another $140,000 to $150,000 worth of coins were found at Brinks Inc. of Los Angeles, another Bullion Reserve storage center.
The discovery, made over the weekend, prompted Bullion Reserve to file a bankruptcy petition Monday in Los Angeles, seeking court protection from its creditors.
Patrick Lynch, president of the Salt Lake City company, said that in the three years he had stored bullion for Mr. Saxon, the most he had ever seen in the vaults was about $3 million. He said it was standard practice for his company to register the bars by their serial numbers.
A Brinks executive in Los Angeles said he had been advised by his lawyers not to comment.
Where the millions of dollars in customers' money went is unclear.
Robert Abrams, Attorney General of New York, said his office had been flooded with calls about the company. His office has been investigating Bullion Reserve, which advertised heavily in the New York area, for several weeks, and the investigation is continuing.
There were reports from Mr. Abrams's office that Mr. Saxon, his wife and others closely identified with the gold dealer had received $41 million in loans from the company. And the auditors' report said ''millions of dollars'' in loans had been made to Mr. Saxon. But a laywer retained by the company said he had no such informa tion.Lawsuits have been filed seeking to recover $23 million in cash, jewelry and other assets from the company. The largest seeks to seize $16.4 million in assets, including three luxury cars and two condominiums owned by Mr. Saxon's wife and his estate.
One of the lawsuits named Arnold Kopelson and Michael Miller, officers of the now-defunct California Commercial Bank. Mr. Saxon had served briefly on the bank's board last year. The defendants were charged with receiving unauthorized transfers from Bullion Reserve of $1.7 million. The bank, closed by state regulators in May, is the subject of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
As related by Mr. Abrams in an interview, the events leading to Mr. Saxon's suicide and the subsequent bankruptcy of his company began a few weeks ago when the Attorney General heard a radio commercial for Bullion Reserve.
Parallels With Earlier Case
''What they were saying,'' Mr. Abrams said, ''was exactly analagous to International Gold Bullion Exchange in Florida.''
A New York State grand jury last summer indicted International Gold's two top executives, William and James Alderdice, on charges of securities fraud and grand larceny; investors in the now-defunct company lost between $20 million and $40 million.
The gist of the ads, Mr. Abrams said, was that customers could ''come and buy gold and silver bullion, have a safe and secure investment, capitalize on the appreciation of these precious metals and store them safely and securely in our own vaults in Utah.'' Although his office had not received any complaints, he said, he asked his staff to investigate.
By last Wednesday, a company lawyer had met in New York with Mr. Abrams' staff and had agreed to furnish within 24 hours financial data about the company and detailed records of its sales in New York.
Death Ruled a Suicide
That same morning, however, Mr. Saxon's body was discovered in the sauna of his $680,000 beach-front condominium in Venice, Calif. A rubber hose connected to a motorcyle's exhaust had been run inside the small enclosure and a tape had been found nearby. The Los Angeles coroner's office did not disclose the tape's contents but called the death a suicide.
Bullion Reserve named a prominent Beverly Hills law firm, Finley Kumble Wagner Heine Underberg Manley & Casey, to conduct its own investigation. The law firm, in turn, appointed Touche Ross to undertake the audit.
Mr. Abrams said he understood that Mr. Saxon's taped message said he was going to commit suicide because of financial reverses and his inability to cover recent losses.
News of the suicide touched off a brief drop in gold prices last week because traders reasoned that vast amounts of gold might be dumped on the market.
Offices Closed
All offices of Bullion Reserve have been closed since Thursday, but tape recordings promise customers that the office will open today. The firm's lawyers, however, said operations would not be resumed soon.
The events left many questions unanswered. For one, how could companies like Bullion Reserve operate so long without detection?
Attorney General Abrams criticized two Government agencies - the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission - for ''timidity and lack of enforcement'' of such companies.
Responding to Mr. Abrams, a commodities commission spokesman said in Washington that the commission had not received any complaints from Bullion Reserve's customers, that the firm was not registered with the agency and that it did not believe the firm was subject to its regulations.
Response by S.E.C.
An S.E.C. spokesman said that when the securities commission found a fraud within its jurisdiction, it pursued it. But, the spokesman added, ''not every fraud is a securities matter'' and states ''also have an important law enforcement role.''
But the central question is where Bullion Reserve's $60 million in assets went, and what Mr. Saxon's role was in its apparent disappearance.
Interviews with several suppliers and others with whom Mr. Saxon did business suggest that he was bright, charming, reserved and fairly prompt in paying his bills.
An official of Conti Commodities Inc. of Chicago said Mr. Saxon's account with that trading firm was handled ''in a businesslike manner.'' Johnson Matthey & Company of Toronto, a gold bullion supplier, dealt with Mr. Saxon regularly through its Los Angeles office.
Perpetual Storage said it had investigated Mr. Saxon's background before storing his gold and took his business ''because he didn't have anything in his file to show he was ever connected with a fraud.''
Neighbors of Mr. Saxon in Venice said that he drove a Maserati and a Porsche, but showed no other signs of affluence. He kept to himself, often walking a dog in the neighborhood, wearing cowboy boots.
Mr. Saxon moved to the condominium a few months ago, from one nearby that he had shared with his wife. He told acquaintances that he was separated from his wife and that they were getting a divorce.
Dirty O- don't feel bad. Many of us have been guilty of looking too deep into the well. Sometimes we just have to take a step back and a deep breath, pull our line of vision out of the well and gaze towards the future. Some of our fellow investors went to the convention and posted some very nice photos of the products. If you need any reinforcement of where this company is going, just ask and I'm sure they would be happy to repost some of them for you. Add it all up with the $millions in free advertising, and except for a misstep or 2 a company that has been delivering value(I didn't say wealth because that will follow on the heels of value eventually) to investors by growing the company, well I'm still a believer.
.........al
Latest from Ted Butler:
Unfinished Business
By: Theodore Butler and Israel Friedman
-- Posted 3 February, 2009
Almost eight months ago, I wrote an article titled "A Hidden Silver Default?" - http://www.investmentrarities.com/06-16-08.html
It was a detailed article on a complex subject - the unreported short selling of shares in the big silver exchange traded fund (ETF) run by Barclays and trading under the symbol SLV. I won’t repeat all the points made in that article, so I would urge you to read or reread the original, as the issue has surfaced again. Allow me to first summarize my original findings.
The short selling of shares of SLV (and other metal ETFs, like GLD and IAU) is fraudulent and represents a default and violation of the terms of the prospectus, which call for a specific quantity of metal to be deposited for each share issued (minus expenses). Any short sale circumvents this metal deposit requirement, leaving a certain amount of shares unbacked by metal. I wrote how some short selling of shares was tolerable on a very short-term basis and in limited quantities, due to the logistics of arranging for metal to be deposited with the custodian. However, long delays on large quantities of metals being deposited on shorted shares was fraudulent and a de-facto silver delivery default.
I am revisiting this issue because my analysis indicates the problem may have surfaced again. In my original article, I estimated that somewhere between 25 to 50 million ounces of silver were owed to the SLV, at that time. My analysis revolved around the change in the volume of trading of SLV shares compared to overall price action. Currently, that analysis leads me to conclude that 15 to 20 million ounces of silver are now owed to the SLV. By not depositing this amount of metal, due to the short selling of SLV shares, those sellers have, in effect, defaulted on their delivery requirements, as promised in the prospectus, and have defrauded all SLV shareholders.
It is this recent development that has prompted me to review my original article and findings. Quite frankly, I sort of forgot about the original article, because more important developments have transpired since then. Like the revelations in the August Bank Participation Report which indicated one or two U.S. banks held a net short position equivalent to 25% of world annual silver mine production, followed by the historic decline in price and the resultant investigation by the CFTC. This investigation is very unusual in that it is the third silver investigation by the Commission in five years, something that has not occurred in any other commodity. The real irony is that the Commission was not even asked to investigate, but to merely explain how such an unprecedented concentrated position could not be manipulative.
I think the key question is how accurate, or even plausible, are the quantities I allege have been sold short in SLV shares, both then and now. While it remains to be seen how accurate my current speculation of 15 to 20 million shares/ounces may turn out to be, sufficient time has passed to grade my guess back in June, of 25 to 50 million silver ounces being owed to the trust by shorted shares. I’ll present the facts and let you decide.
In June, the SLV held 195 million ounces. Over the next three months or so, more than 27 million ounces of silver was deposited in the trust, within the range of what I claimed was owed. Importantly, this increase in holdings came right in the middle of the most severe sell-off of silver prices in memory, with prices falling as much as 40%. There were widespread reports of commodity fund and general resource type liquidation. Previously, strong inflows of metal into the SLV generally occurred on upward price moves, in keeping with normal investor buying behavior. It must be considered unusual for such strong metal inflows to occur on such dismal price performance. Even the big gold ETF, GLD, experienced a sharp and temporary liquidation of 10% of its metal holdings, before rebounding sharply at the end of September. No such sharp decline in holdings was recorded in the SLV.
My conclusion is simple - the short sellers of SLV shares used the occasion of the vicious general commodity selling to buy back silver metal for deposit into the trust for shares they had sold short months earlier. Throw in what must have been straight liquidation of SLV shares, and the upper band of my range of 50 million ounces probably was realized.
Of course, even if I was dead on the mark with my allegations back in June on the quantity of SLV shares sold short and the subsequent shortfall of actual metal that represented, in terms of fraud and de-facto default, it doesn’t mean I’m right this time. But it certainly doesn’t suggest I’m wrong either. The most important take-away is that if I am just in the ballpark, this means that the silver market may be as tight as a drum.
IZZY’S INSIGHTS: THE BEST IS YET TO COME
By Israel Friedman
(Israel Friedman is a friend and mentor to Theodore Butler. He has followed silver for many decades.)
In my best dreams I didn’t believe that you, the silver investor, would make me so happy that you bought almost twenty million US Silver Eagles in 2008. That almost doubled the record of the previous best year ever. I wrote many articles in which I said silver eagles are the most promising investment and I congratulate you in agreeing with my belief.
Nothing has changed from last year. Silver Eagles are still the most promising investment for two reasons. One, the day will come when the Mint will stop minting these coins and they will have a numismatic value. Two, when silver prices will be in the sky with a shortage situation, the demand for one ounce Silver Eagles will be tremendous. Why? Because the price of silver will be so high that people won’t be able to afford to buy 100 or 1000 ounces of silver. One ounce of silver will be of real substance.
The prices lately are artificial, produced by the one or two big short sellers. As long they can satisfy the market with physical silver, they will be able to control prices with their paper short sales. But watch out when they will lose control and then you will become rich by holding silver. This loss of control can happen on any day with no prior notice. Don’t think you can predict it. Just prepare and be ready for it.
Already we have started 2009 with big sales of U.S. Eagles and I hope you will clean up like in 2008 when there were sell-outs and the Mint had to allocate supplies every week. Even though the Mint has increased their production capacity, the demand has continued to exceed supply.
The forces in the market that control silver cannot control the interest that you, the smart investor, has in buying Silver Eagles. There is a tremendous pressure on the short sellers to supply silver for the production of Silver Eagles. It is no joke when 20 million ounces of silver get taken off the market by one force in a year. I hope you clean out everything the Mint produces in 2009 as you did last year.
I can tell you that the real silver value is increasing by the day, but is not reflected in price. If you speak about value, look at the price of gold at over $900 and silver only $12. Take into consideration supply and demand. Do you think silver prices reflect true value? In my opinion, no. I see the true value of silver at close to the value of gold or maybe more.
Ask yourself where are the profits more promising, gold or silver? I’d say silver. It’s not that far away when silver will be past gold prices, then you will make a fortune. I know that many think that is crazy, but I ask you to think of this. Not to sound immodest, I don’t know of anyone who wrote that Silver Eagles would go to a big premium. Look what happened. I was right with the Silver Eagles. I will be right about the silver gold price as well. I read where many people say the premiums on Silver Eagles (and other forms of retail silver) must fall. But I ask these people to be honest and say whether they predicted premiums on Eagles would rise? Then why should we listen to them now? Mr. Butler told me that when I first wrote about Silver Eagles more than a year ago, he received an e-mail from a well-known silver guru saying I was all wet. Only when I take a shower.
I have an intellectual question that I ask myself with no clear answer. In what range the price will silver and gold cross? I can see two scenarios. In deflation, they will cross in the hundreds and in inflation, they will cross in the thousands. I stress to you don’t play the ratios on a leveraged basis as the prices are controlled on the COMEX.
In this moment we must have patience and strength and know that the time is working for us. Silver was always intended as a long-term investment and that is no different today. Things seem to move faster for us, but families grow and age at the same pace as always. Keep that pace in tune with your silver investments. In my opinion, today’s prices for the long-term investors are the best ever to clean out the reserves of the shorts. Once they are cleared away, then the express road will be open for higher prices.
I am happy to see the tremendous interest in silver and congratulate my friend Mr. Butler who is doing a fantastic job by writing weekly. His work on the silver manipulation is truly heroic. Don’t forget that the futures market is a casino and that you will be much better off buying real silver, like eagles and bullion bars.
Probably most are asking when the explosion in prices will come? The only answer I have is when the shortage will come. With all the forces that Mr. Butler has brought against the manipulators, it is amazing they still don’t run. That’s because they have connections and no choice because they will lose so much. Theirs will be no minor retreat. Shortage will mean total defeat.
We see lately some signs that they are struggling. They have not had the power to increase the total visible stocks of silver much over the past 3 months. Up until then we were growing at 15 to 20 million ounces a month and now the growth seems flat. This is a very good sign that their troubles can come any moment.
What will the powerful shorts do before they give up? They will go to the government like crybabies and ask the Mint to stop producing Eagles and the government will give in. Then those who hold Eagles will profit tremendously. Many people are concerned with confiscation, but that is not my big worry. I can tell you for sure one thing. Any confiscation, should it come, will come long after the Mint has stopped producing Silver Eagles. And Eagles will be the last form of silver ever confiscated. Today the Silver Eagles are selling at a premium of 30% or so, and I will not be surprised that the premium can go to 100% and much higher. After all, premiums hit over 70% this past year with no wholesale silver shortage and with the Mint still producing. What will the premium be when a wholesale shortage comes and the Mint says no coins any more?
All the available physical silver in the world is moving out of the big shorts’ control and into the control of the long-term investor. Once this shift is complete, you will be in control and you and your children will set the price of silver.
Big fuss over nothing here. Yes, it looks like there was some mis communication. But I see grousing over a few thousand dollars when we're holding a small growing company with a potential market cap in the 9 figures. Don't scoff, I've seen it many times over the years with small companies that had far less going for them. For all the math wizards here, just take the share structure and figure out what the share price will be when we have, say, a market capitalization of $500,000,000. I use that figure because I can think of 2 companies off hand that did it a few years back with no revenues and just a few good news releases. JMHO
..........al
Mr Roberts makes a lot more sense than the whole of Washington put together. Wall street and the bankers are not stupid. They gave just as much to the democrats as they did to the republicans. No matter who's in control their financial interests will take precedence over the taxpayer. Like I just read somewhere- "if voting could really change things, it would be illegal". Taxpayer beware, protect thyself. Wish I knew the Latin phrase for that. It could be a rallying cry.
.........al
Great board here. A lot of the people that post around here can use all the help they can get. Your "crap stock indicator posts" should be required reading prior to registration on ihub. Keep up the good works.
..........al
remember, parabolas come down just as fast as they are formed.
.........al
I've been checking around the day trader boards and we haven't been picked up by them. Bad enuff we have we have the pump sites. We don't need the day traders playing with this. JMHO
..........al
Hi Shaun and thanks for your kind words. What the uplisting will do is open the stock up to many more investors that will not touch a pinkie. That is due to the 10K and 10Q filings required for otcbb listing. They become far more transparent. What will happen is anyone's guess, but the uplisting can't be bad.
......al
another site, no compensation-
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2148817/
stockguru.com has us also. didn't see any paid for in the disclaimer. all these paid pumpers and daytrading sites are not good for the company. makes it look like a pump and dump like most of the others.
.......al
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2148550/
Hi Shaun- glad to see you still on board. I told you this was a long termer way back when. I don't have an answer, but have an opinion. I know opinions are like--------, everyone has one. The company is in a niche market and as such is not a major threat to the biggies in the industry who's mainstay is the traditional lines. I believe they should and will stay in their niche. The funeral industry has embraced them and their concept and has extended a hand in friendship. It would not be a good idea to try and compete traditional products and bite the hand that is so to speak feeding you. JMHO
...........al
Lurker, just for you, the repost of NAR:
Posted by: racerx992 Date: Monday, December 10, 2007 2:48:46 PM
In reply to: None Post # of 156518 [Send a link via email]
Good afternoon I am the investment advisor of North Atlantic Resources. I assure you it is not a defunct Gold Mining Company or anything of the sort. It is a fund that sources and capitalizes young emerging UNDISCOVERED companies. In fact to date we have provided capital in excess of 25 million dollars to small and mid cap companies. ETIM is one of those companies. We feel along with others that ETIM represents an aggressive small cap company. One that we feel as well will bring our investors a significant return within the next 12 months. If we had to speculate we would place these shares at approximately .50 by year end. We have not sold are not selling shares until it reaches are target price. So for all the bashers who feel the company is not worth buying great. If you're shorting the company even better (although that doesn't make any sense). And for those of you who are nervous I ask one question... What changed about the company since you bought your shares? The answer is quite simple... it has gotten better, stronger financially and closer to the goal of being listed on the Bulletin Board. In fact it's everything Management has told you they would do. So don't panic relax and enjoy the ride. Happy Holidays to all.
For the record, stock manipulation will never end. There is always someone that will do whatever it takes to make a buck no matter what the security or which exchange it is traded on. That includes the bigger ones also. If the average small time investor really knew how bad the odds were stacked against him, he would never even enter the market. There are far more people in the world of finance that are trying to separate you from your money than there are trying to help you make more. It's a fact of life and only a novice wanting to part with his stash will not believe it until it's too late. So in answer to the question "will the manipulation end with the uplisting?", it is a resounding NO. Will we possibly see a share price spike with the uplist? Possibly. I know I have stated before that we would, but I believe the recent share price increase has already factored in the uplist. We may get another spike on the actual day we begin trading on the otcbb. I'll feel vilified if this price holds and we go from here as I expected. I believe the 2.5¢ area is our new plateau. the Qs and Ks will be taking us from here.
.........al
A little common sense -
Guest commentary by Isaac Kahan
Attention: Physical Silver Investors: You have an edge over the Wall Street trader!
First: Let me define over whom you have an edge.
In every trading market there are different categories of people trading it. They include:
In the silver futures market, there is the scalper or floor trader: This is the trader buying & selling the item with no attachment to the product itself.
What this trader is concerned with is the difference between the bid & the ask. To explain these terms, know that every tradeable entity really has two prices.
The bid, which is what you get if you sell the item now & the ask, which is what you can buy the item for. For example, If silver is trading at $10.50, the ‘real' number if you want to sell it would be $10.495 & if you were to buy it you would have to pay $10.505.
This half penny in ether direction is the spread that represents the money the floor traders make when they buy from one person & sell it to another. This same system happens with everything such as wheat, sugar & even treasury bonds, etc.
The next kind of trader is the hedger. This trader can be from a gold & silver mining company to a dealer in metals.
For example, a dealer in metals gets an order and sells some coins & bars. He needs to replace this inventory that he just sold & buying from the market is the best & cheapest way to cover his position. The same thing happens when a dealer buys coins & bars but has no customer for it. He will go out & sell a contract on the market so as not to lose money should the market go against him.
The speculator. This trader buys or sells for any number of reasons. It might be that he or she is following the trend or any other system that they have. It might be that they have a gut feeling. It really doesn't matter what the reason is. What does matter is that these are the people that are out there buying & selling & causing the market to move.
These people are helpful in the marketplace as they are providing liquidity & allowing for the markets, such as silver, the ability for the spread between the bid & ask to be only half a penny.
The concern with the different types of traders is that in most cases they don't care about the underlying market. All that the floor trader cares about are making the half penny spreads between the bid & ask & to be able to do it many times in a day. The more such trades he makes, the more times he can earn the spread. All that the hedger cares about are that he can cover his exposure to the market so if he bought the actual silver then he needs to sell it at the best price. In most cases the hedger is not a true hedger in the sense that if he bought silver at 10.5 & now silver is at 10.51 he will try to squeeze out a little bit more & wont sell it till it gets a little higher. By the end of the day these people will try to be flat in the market.
What about the “speculator”? This person is buying or selling for his own undisclosed reasons. He or she feels that the price will go up or down. This is the person that really interests us. Why? Simply put, it is this type of trader who really moves the market.
In the end, the scalper is just trading for the ½ cent the dealer hedger is covering the base so in reality nothing that he is doing is moving the market all that he is doing is buying in one place & selling in another.
But the speculator is the only person that is causing the market to move. How? The speculator is the only one who is really holding a position.
What causes the speculator to cover their position? There are three reasons.
1) To take profit.
2) To cover losses.
3) Found a better market.
For reasons 1 and 3, you can't predict where & when the speculator will get out of their position. The speculator might be using a specific dollar amount & since it is not known when he got in the market it can't be determined what will compel him to get out. The speculator might also be using any number of technical tools available to him. He might be using trend lines, overbought & oversold levels or even just round numbers (for some reason people like to use all round number such as 10 dollars 10.50 & 11 and son on).
Don't worry; we are starting to get closer to disclosing where you have an edge.
To some extent the speculator will have to cover losses. This is done in one of two ways:
1) Essentially, the opposite of taking profit. The speculator says that he has had enough of losing & just bails out of the position.
2) The speculator has a certain dollar amount that they are willing to lose. Now, remember, since it is not known what that amount is nor is it known where they got in, we simply can't know when they will get out.
Now let me interrupt with a little story. It was back in 2002 & a customer/friend of mine comes up to my office & shows me his brokerage statement. His final balance was a little more than one million dollars. I don't remember how long it took him to make this but it wasn't more then three or four months. I told him to be careful because by this time I was already trading for 15 years & I knew that trading with a gut feeling cannot achieve such returns in the long run. Anyway, to make a short story even shorter, it wasn't more then one month later, and he was back ashen faced. When I asked what was happening, he whispered “margin.” To this day I don't know why I had not warned him of this as I should have known that this was the only way for him to make so much in so little time. You see, the margin is a silent killer. Just the mere fact of getting a call from your broker saying that you have to pay up or else . . .
This changes the way your thought process works. From having a rational train of though of where you want to buy or sell you go to thinking what can I do to get this guy off the phone! Another thing is that for some reason or other the margin clerks only call you when the extreme is happening. I feel that if I had the ability to take the other side of any trade that is happening because of a margin call I would be extremely rich.
Now back to the program.
All three classes of traders that I spoke about before have margin issues. The least is the scalper because he isn't really holding any positions it doesn't really matter to him. Nevertheless, in order for someone to make a lot of money as a scalper he needs to trade on a large scale. So if a scalper trades 10 times a day with one contract of 5000 ozs silver, then each ½ penny that he makes comes to only $25.00. I don't know anyone in this business that will be happy to earn $250 a day & remember the 5000 represents $50,000 of underlying value. Also keep in mind that no person is right all ten times. So what does the scalper need to do? He has to over trade so instead of trading just 1 contract he has to trade several.
Now the hedger has things a little better because since he has the underlying stock, his margin requirements are lower than that of a speculator. So let's say a dealer sold his silver at $10.00 and re-buys it on the Comex. There should not be any problem because he has the money from the sale to cover any margin requirement. But what if the dealer bought some silver & sold it on the Comex as a hedge? Now he spent money to buy the silver & he needs to have extra money to cover initial margin. If the market moves against him, he will have to cover even more money. Now granted he has not lost money because the silver is his and he now has the choice of going un-hedged or he can sell some of the silver that he has at any price to give him some money to pay the margin clerks.
This brings me to another category: the silver investor.
I will not talk about selling silver short because since silver can go up & up your risk is unlimited.
But the silver buyer that is buying silver with his or her own money & owns the silver will never be forced to get out of the silver position because of the silver market. Silver can go up, down or even stay at the same price. There is no interest to pay because you have not borrowed to buy it. No margin clerk will ever call nor will any broker call you because he has found a better investment.
You remain in complete control of your investment. No one can ever tell you to get out of it. Also, since the silver remains in your possession, there can be no possibility of a bank default that should affect you.
It has been valued since the beginning of time & at no time did it make more sense to own it than today.
Hi Lurker- It's sad to watch at times. I know many people have lost a lot of money playing penny stocks. As most pennys are losers it's not hard to believe that all of them are losers. But most with that attitude in mind either stick with higher exchanges or just go with mutual funds. It's almost pathetic to see someone stick around spreading their own misery as the boat with the profits leaves the dock. A glance from the stern revealing only silhouettes in the exhaust.
.......al
GM all, more publicity:
http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/monday/business/ny-bzcask266011968jan26,0,3638735.story
They're still fans, even from the grave
BY CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN | carrie.mason-draffen@newsday.com
January 26, 2009
Sports fans, you can take it with you. And the Branch Funeral Home in Smithtown wants to make it possible.
Branch offers caskets and urns imprinted with the logos of Major League Baseball teams, which in this area primarily means the Mets and Yankees.
The funeral home began offering caskets with logos in October and urns two years ago, said John Vigliante, 32, owner and manager of the 40-year-old family business.
So far for the caskets, it's Mets 1, Yankees 0. A buyer prepurchased a casket for himself, Vigliante said. As for the urns, the score is even at 5-5 for the 10 imprinted vessels holding the ashes of dearly departed fans.
Vigliante said he got the idea for the caskets last year while attending the National Funeral Directors Association Convention in Florida.
"I saw them, and I thought it was something [that would interest] somebody that happened to be a fan of baseball," he said.
The tops of the caskets, which are 18-gauge steel with a velvet interior, feature a splash of the ash wood used to make bats. The caskets have 13 colorful logos inside and out, Vigliante said. Ten are team insignia - blue and orange for the Mets and white and royal blue for the Yankees. Other teams' logos are also available. The remaining three designs show the Major League Baseball logo of a player at bat.
The caskets sell for $5,900 with the logos, $4,900 without, Vigliante said. The urns, which he also first saw at an industry convention, sell for $750 with logos and $550 without.
The urns are also made with a team's colors. At the top of each sits a baseball encased in plastic, while the bottom has a replica of home plate. An enterprising family whose deceased relative was a Mets fan got the baseball for its urn signed by David Wright, the Mets' third baseman.
Vigliante orders the caskets through Eternal Image, a Michigan company that he said is the country's only manufacturer of licensed brand-image products for the funeral industry.
Vigliante markets his offerings, which also include products with "Star Trek" images, through local papers, news releases and the company's Web site. He's aware the idea may strike some as ghoulish.
"It's not for everybody," he said. But he noted that many customers approve of them.
"When going through the room, everybody sees [the caskets], and they seem to gravitate toward them," Vigliante said.
I think we'll see 17¢ before .017. This is only the beginning.
......al
Me too.. eom