¤ The Wrap

The cat is still stuck up the tree and we don’t know how to get it down. Keynes would suggest building a bigger ladder. Hayek would wait for the cat to jump down of its own accord. The European approach involves chopping the tree down. - Economist George Akerlof at an IMF conference on rethinking macroeconomics

Today's pop 'blast from the past' takes me back to my hippy days of the mid-1960s in Toronto.  This is the first time I've heard this song in about forty-five years...and if you're of that age, you should know it right away.  The link to the youtube.com video is here.

Richard Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto was written for the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight, and continues to be a popular concert and recording piece. The film-makers wanted something in the style of Sergei Rachmaninoff, but were unable to persuade Rachmaninoff himself to write a piece. Roy Douglas orchestrated the concerto. It has been recorded over one hundred times and has sold in excess of three million copies.

As was common with film music until the 1950s, many of Addinsell's scores were destroyed by the studios as it was assumed there would be no further interest in them. However, recordings of his film music have been issued since his death, reconstructed by musicologist and composer Philip Lane from the soundtracks of the films themselves which, knowing orchestral music as well as I do, I find amazing!

I posted this classical piece several years back, but thought I'd post it again.  Here's Philip Fowke doing the honours.  The video quality could be better, but the musicianship and interpretation is hard to beat. The link to the youtube.com video is here.

So...are we done yet?

As bad as the last few days have been, JPMorgan et al haven't succeeded in taking out the Far East lows set on the morning of April 16th in Hong Kong.  They came within pennies in silver...but missed gold's old low by thirty-five bucks.

Unless they can find more longs prepared to sell, or tech funds prepared to go short this far below the major moving averages, 'da boyz' can't get the prices any lower than this.  As Ted Butler said on the phone yesterday, the slices off the salami to the downside are getting thinner with each passing day.  There are limits to how low they can get prices...and we may have reached them at 4:00 p.m. EDT yesterday in New York.

And even if they do succeed early next week, the reward for their efforts will be pretty meager.  We'll just have to wait and see what developments await us next week.

The three days of price declines that we've experienced since the Tuesday cut-off for yesterday's Commitment of Trader Report, has probably set new lows in a lot of categories...and if prices remain subdued for Monday and Tuesday, the Commitment of Traders Report this coming Friday should be something to see as well...provided all the data is reported in a timely manner.

A quick glance at any gold or silver chart reveals what may be the classic double bottom formation from a market technician's point of view.  But it wasn't formed by free-market forces.  It was courtesy of JPMorgan et al...as they can, and do, print any chart pattern they please.  I would think we'll find out pretty quick if what they're telegraphing to the market is the real deal or not, as their reaction to the next rally will tell us all we need to know.

(Click on image to enlarge)

(Click on image to enlarge)

I received an e-mail from reader Stephen Sadd yesterday...and these were his thoughts on the precious metal mining industry..."Why are there no voices coming from the mining sector on the gold and silver take-down? I find it highly remarkable there has been no strong cries of wrong doing from this entity.  Are they just going to sit back like a bunch of zombies while their very own industry gets crushed, not to mention their shareholders. Just disgusting!"

I have other far less charitable words than this that I shall not utter here...but it's sufficient to say that they don't give a damn about you, the shareholder...and as a group they have already circled the wagons against their real owners...us. How did it come to this?

On that happy note, I'm done for the day...and the week.

See you on Tuesday.

¤ The Wrap

The government was set to protect man from criminals -- and the Constitution was written to protect man from the government. - Ayn Rand

It was another day where "da boyz" went to work in the thinly-traded Far East market before London opened for the day...so they were able to set the tone first thing in the morning in Europe.  But the sell-off didn't last the long...and all the metals recovered most of their losses, or better, as the day went on.

But don't think for one minute that this had anything to do with what was going on in the dollar index, as it was nothing of the sort.  It was just JPMorgan et al...and their high-frequency traders trying to force the last technical fund long holder to sell.  As Ted Butler pointed out, we're already miles past the blood-out-of-a-stone moment.  This is right to the bone...and now that they've reached that stage, prices cannot be forced lower, as that's just the way the pricing mechanism in the futures market works.

As I said in this space yesterday, if we do go lower, it won't be on a lot of real trading volume, as virtually all the price action we're watching right now is of the HFT variety...regardless of the time of day...and it's a very illiquid market.

Here are the 6-month gold and silver charts.  As you can see, we've set a double bottom in the silver price, but we've still got a ways to go to get to the same position in gold.  I'll be amazed if we get there, but I've learned never to say never.

(Click on image to enlarge)

(Click on image to enlarge)

And as I said further up, to get lower prices than this, someone has to sell a long position...or be prepared to go further short than they already are.  As last week's Commitment of Traders Report showed, we're already in all-time record-breaking territory in some COT categories...both long and short...and I'm just trying to imagine what JPMorgan et al may have left in their bag of dirty tricks, but I'm not of a sociopathic bent, so I can't get into their head space.

While on the subject of the COT Report, we get the new one this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. EDT...and based on the price action for the reporting week that ended at the close of Comex trading on Tuesday, I'm expecting to see small declines in the Commercial net short positions in both silver and gold...but I reserve the right to be wrong... ;-)  The only thing I'm sorry about, is that the price action from Wednesday and Thursday won't be in it.

But whatever numbers are, I'll have them for you tomorrow.

There wasn't a lot of price activity in gold and silver during Far East trading on their Friday, but the usual negative price biases developed about an hour or so before the London open ...and it remains to be seen what develops as the Friday session progresses from London into New York.  Volumes, as of 3:42 a.m. Eastern time, are already very high...and obviously all of the high-frequency trading variety. The dollar index is up 21 basis points at the moment.

And as I hit the 'send' button on today's column at 5:15 a.m. EDT, the smallish sell-offs that came just before the London open haven't amounted to much...at least for the moment.  Gold is down ten bucks...and silver is down two bits.  Net volume in gold is already north of 40,000 contracts...and the gross volume in silver is a bit over 9,000 contracts.  The dollar index is still up 20 basis points or so.

Considering the fact that it's Friday, I'll be ready for any price scenario when I switch my computer on later this a.m.

Enjoy your weekend...or what's left of it, depending where on Planet Earth you live...and I'll see you here tomorrow.

¤ The Wrap

I believe that the big buyer of the 10 million oz of gold liquidated in the GLD was JPMorgan, either alone or with other collusive commercial banks. It dawned on me that the same methodology I’ve previously attributed to a potential Mr. Big in SLV (also probably JPMorgan) is at work in GLD. If one (or 2 or 3) big buyers in GLD had merely purchased the 100 million shares that were sold in GLD by liquidating shareholders, that would have quickly pushed the big buyer(s) over the 5% SEC reporting threshold, thereby revealing the identity of the buyers. Remember, we’re talking about 23% of shares outstanding and there is no way to buy that many shares and not quickly be into reporting status. But by having the gold redeemed out of the trust and the metal being purchased (instead of shares), stock reporting requirements are evaded. A single holder, perhaps working with a few collusive partners, came to own what is, effectively, almost a quarter of the world’s largest gold stockpile and no one is the wiser.  - Silver analyst Ted Butler...15 May 2013

Another day...and another engineered price decline in silver and gold.  One would have to fairly delusional to buy into the 'stronger dollar' story considering it's rather anemic performance.  The price action in both those precious metals had zero to do with currencies, as the dollar index was doing squat at the London p.m. gold fix where most of the price damage occurred.

It's amazing...and discouraging...to look at the precious metal share prices.  They're now back to where they were when silver was selling for under ten bucks an ounce...and gold around $500.  You'd think that the mining companies would be up in arms, but there hasn't been a peep out of any of them...or from the organizations that purport to represent them...the World Gold Council and The Silver Institute.

Of course these organizations are strong with the dark side of The Force...and any mining executive that has ever worked in an executive position in either of them had already been totally compromised, or they would never have been offered those positions in the first place.

It's too bad that yesterday's price action occurred on a Wednesday, as it was the day after the cut-off for tomorrow's Commitment of Traders Report.  And as I've pointed out countless times over the years, this is a little trick "da boyz" pull when they want to hide their tracks for as long as possible, as what happened yesterday won't be public knowledge until the COT Report on May 27th.

Not much happened, or was allowed to happen, in Far East trading on their Thursday...and as the London open approaches [in less than ten minutes] as I write this paragraph, all four precious metals are basically unchanged from Thursday's close in New York.  Volumes are already very high in both silver and gold but, as per usual, it's virtually all high-frequency trading.  The dollar index is up a handful of basis points.

It's been more than two hours since I wrote the above paragrah...and there have obviously been some 'developments'.  Around the time of the London open, the high-frequency traders showed up on the scene...and all four precious metals came under selling pressure once again.  And as I hit the 'send' button at 5:15 a.m. EDT...gold is down seventeen bucks, silver is down 40 cents...and platinum and palladium are down over a percent each.  Volumes skyrocketed...now over 65,000 contracts in gold and 14,000 contracts in silver...and the dollar index is up a magnificent 15 basis points.

Silver came within a few pennies of its Far East April 16th low price tick at 10:00 a.m. BST in London, but gold is still fifty bucks away from its low of the same day.  If I use Wednesday's trading action as a template for what might happen in Comex trading in New York today, I'd guess we'll see JPMorgan et al try to punch a new low price in silver.  But as Ted Butler has carefully pointed out, there are few technical fund long holders left to sell...and even fewer of them are prepared to go short at these prices.  "Da Boyz" may get the price lower, but it will probably won't allow them to improve their short positions by much...or go long themselves.

As you can imagine, I await the New York open with some apprehension.

See you on Friday...or on Saturday west of the International Date Line.

¤ The Wrap

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. - 2nd Amendment...Constitution of the United States of America...December 17, 1791

As I said further up in this column, I would classify the gold and silver price action yesterday as a bear raid by JPMorgan et al...hidden, in part, by the rally in the dollar index...such as it was.

The only good thing about yesterday's price action was the fact that it should appear in Friday's Commitment of Traders Report.  Of course, when it suits them, "da boyz" have been tardy about reporting Comex trading volume in the past, so it remains to be seen if they pull that stunt again...and I'd put nothing past these guys.

Just eye-balling the price action over the five reporting days that will show up in Friday's COT report, I would guess that we'll see improvements in the Commercial net short positions in both gold and silver...but nothing in platinum, as it has been trading flat...and palladium is on a tear...up about fifty bucks during the reporting period.

Just looking at the last five trading days on the 6-month charts, it should be obvious that the price pressure has only appeared in silver and gold...and not platinum and palladium.  Here are all four charts...complete with 20 and 50-day moving averages.

(Click on image to enlarge)

(Click on image to enlarge)

(Click on image to enlarge)

(Click on image to enlarge)

All four precious metals came under some price pressure during the Far East trading session on their Wednesday...and the high-frequency traders went back to work in gold and silver about the same times as they did on Tuesday...shortly before the London open.  As I write this paragraph, the London market has been open about thirty minutes...and gold is down about eleven dollars...and silver, JPM's real problem child, is down a bit over 40 cents.  Trading volumes are quite high...but as I said, it's all HFT.  This is not true supply and demand setting prices at this point...and to top it off, there's virtually no liquidity, as little real-world trading is being done.  It's the machines with their algos.

And as I hit the 'send' button on today's column at 5:15 p.m. EDT, both gold and silver are still under considerable selling pressure.  Platinum and palladium are lower as well, but just barely.  Gold is down about fifteen bucks...and silver is down 45 cents...about 2 percent.  Gold volume is north of 48,000 contracts...and silver's volume is over 14,000 contracts.  The dollar index, which spiked up about 25 basis points in afternoon trading in Hong Kong, is now up only 16 basis points as of 10:15 a.m. BST in London.

This 'bear market' we're going through is JPMorgan et al's last attempts to cover as many short positions as they can before prices head higher...much higher.  But as Ted Butler mentioned in yesterday's column, JPMorgan Chase was short 18,000 Comex silver contracts before the mid-April price smash...and was still short about that amount as of last Friday's COT Report, so one has to wonder what they're up to at the moment.  If they couldn't cover any or all of it back then, it's doubtful they can pull it off now.  We'll see.

Needless to say, nothing will surprise me as far as price action is concerned once we get past the noon silver fix in London, which is 7:00 a.m. EDT...and after that, the 8:20 a.m. Comex open awaits.

Before heading off to bed, I'd like to mention that Casey Research is sponsoring another on-line video event.  This one is entitled The Myth of American Energy Independence Webinar.

Marin Katusa, CR's chief energy investment strategist, interviews the world’s top energy experts including former U.S. Energy Secretary - Spencer Abraham, Canada’s former Minister of Natural Resources – Herb Dhaliwal, and the Chairmen Emeritus of the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority – Lady Barbara Thomas Judge, and co-founder and CEO of Uranium Energy Corp – Amir Adnani about how important nuclear power will be for our global energy future.

Marin and Chairman of Sprott US Holdings, Rick Rule believe that due to increasing costs to bring uranium to market, increased demand, and the end of the Megatons to Megawatts agreement with Russia at the end of the year, uranium prices have nowhere to go but up.  And early investors can position themselves now for very large gains in the near future.

This free video will air on Tuesday, May 21 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.  It will be available for viewing after the initial stream for those who have schedule conflicts.

Following the webinar, all attendees will get a free copy of the new Global Resource Intelligence report on Uranium.  It’s a $29 value, roughly 39 pages, and will be e-mailed on May 21st.

If energy is your bailiwick, you can learn more about it here...and register at the same time.

See you tomorrow.

¤ The Wrap

It looks like JPMorgan is still net short 18,000 COMEX silver futures (90 million oz). If you recall, this is the level of short positions that JPMorgan held going into the big two-day price smash of mid-April. I had originally anticipated that JPM covered ferociously into the silver price smash, maybe even eliminating that concentrated short position for the very first time. Even though there were obvious delays in the proper reporting in the COT report by the CFTC in the aftermath of the price plunge...never acknowledged by the agency...it is clear now that JPMorgan did not reduce its concentrated silver short position at all. This is the most significant market consideration at this time. - Silver analyst Ted Butler...11 May 2013

Except for the early morning sell-off in both gold and silver early in Far East trading on Monday, it was a 'nothing' sort of day yesterday.  Volumes were pretty light, with a large percentage of what volume there was, being of the HFT variety.

One thing I have noticed over the last week, is that gold was not allowed to seriously breach its 20-day moving average...and silver's 20-day moving average is still unviolated on a closing price basis.  As long as this remains the case, there won't be much short covering by the technical funds that are predisposed to cover at this moving average.  Of course the 50 and 200-day moving averages are the big ones, but Ted says that what goes on at the 20-day moving average should not be discounted.  Here are the 6-month charts in both metals with the 20 and 50-day moving averages plotted.

(Click on image to enlarge)

(Click on image to enlarge)

Today, at the 1:30 p.m. EDT close of Comex trading, is the cut-off for Friday's Commitment of Traders Report.  If prices in both gold and silver are kept subdued, then we might see a bit more improvement in the Commercial net short position in both metals in Friday's COT Report.  But if we have a big rally and JPMorgan et al go short [or sell long positions] against all comers...then all bets will be off.  We'll see.

There was a bit of a rally in gold in early Far East trading, probably precipitated by a 25 basis point dollar index slump, but some of that smallish gain disappeared before the London open.  What gains silver had during the same period, disappeared by the London open, as the dollar index has recovered somewhat.  Volumes are 'average'...and mostly of the HFT variety.  London has been open about twenty minutes as I type this paragraph.

And as I hit the 'send' button at 5:15 a.m. Eastern time, London has been open a couple of hours...and nothing much has change.  Trading is quiet...both in price and volume.  The dollar index has regained a bit more of its early morning Far East loses.  Of course it's always what happens in New York that really matters...and I look forward to the Comex open with some interest.

See you tomorrow.

¤ The Wrap

The duty of a true patriot is to protect his country from its government. - Thomas Paine

Today's pop 'blast from the past' is instantly recognizable.  Few singers ever built their careers around one song...but this guy is one of them.  This song is fifty years old...and I remember it like it was yesterday.  Where the hell did the time go?  The link is here.

Today's classical selection is somewhat older than that, of course.

Ludwig van Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, was written in 1806.

The work was premiered on 23 December of that year in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. Beethoven wrote the concerto for his colleague Franz Clement, a leading violinist of the day, who had earlier given him helpful advice on his opera Fidelio. The occasion was a benefit concert for Clement. However, the first printed edition (1808) was dedicated to Beethoven’s friend Stephan von Breuning.

It is believed that Beethoven finished the solo part so late that Clement had to sight-read part of his performance. Perhaps to express his annoyance, or to show what he could do when he had time to prepare, Clement is said to have interrupted the concerto between the first and second movements with a solo composition of his own, played on one string of the violin held upside down; however, other sources claim that he did play such a piece but only at the end of the program.

The premiere was not a success, and the concerto was little performed in the following decades.

The work was revived in 1844, well after Beethoven's death, with performances by the then 12-year-old violinist Joseph Joachim with the orchestra conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Ever since, it has been one of the most important works of the violin concerto repertoire, and it is frequently performed and recorded today.

That it is...and if I had to pick just one violin concerto as a desert island recording, it would be Beethoven's "great fall upwards"...with all due respect to Johannes Brahms!

Here is violinist Arabella Steinbacher doing the honours with an unnamed orchestra...and the link is here.  The video runs for 47 minutes.

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what to make of yesterday's price action in the precious metals.  To hang it all on what was going on in the currency markets is more than a stretch...as there certainly was nothing free-market about it as far as I was concerned.  Almost all of the volume was of the HFT variety, but it's fair to say that a large number of newly-minted long positions in all four precious metals were forced to liquidate as sell stops were hit, which was probably the object of the exercise.

I'm also more than suspicious of the silver numbers reported in the May Bank Participation Report, as there were monstrous improvements in gold, as one would expect after the violent engineered price decline in mid-April...but the positions in silver barely changed from the April report...almost to the contract.  What the U.S. banks managed to liquidate during the month, was made up entirely of new short positions added by the non-U.S. banks.  Something does not compute.

But, having said all that, the COT structure is still beyond wildly bullish...and even more so in gold after this week's improvement...and as I've said several times in this space, it only remains to be seen when the next rallies begin in all four precious metals...and how JPMorgan et al respond to them when they do.  Nothing else matters.

Despite all the "happy talk" out there about how things are "improving", it's still more than obvious to any serious market observer that the world's economic, financial and monetary systems are close to collapse...and the only thing keeping them levitated is oceans of free money, helped along by computer algorithms.  This situation can't last forever.  Only the timing of the end game is unknown...but my guess is that it's close at hand.

Here's one last chart for you today.  It's Nick's "Total PMs Pool"...and there's virtually no sign of the mid-April price massacre in the precious metals, nor the big withdrawals of gold from the world's major ETFs.

(Click on image to enlarge)

That's more than enough for today...and I await the opening in Tokyo on their Monday morning with great interest.

Enjoy what's left of you weekend...and I'll see you here on Tuesday...Wednesday west of the International Date Line.

¤ The Wrap

I have never understood why it's "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned, but not greed to want to take somebody else's money. - Thomas Sowell

Pardon me for thinking so, but yesterday's price action in gold and silver didn't look very free-market to me.  And the buy the dollar/sell precious metals event between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. Eastern time in the thinly-traded New York Access market had a peculiar odor to it as well.  But maybe it's just me.

I have nothing much to add to what I've already said further up about gold and silver price action.  What I'm waiting to see is today's Commitment of Traders Report...along with May's Bank Participation Report.  That should tell us quite a bit...and I'll have all the details in my Saturday column.

It was a very interesting trading day in the Far East on their Friday...and both gold and silver got sold down initially, but then attempted to rally, but didn't get far.  The volatility has extended into the London open as well...and all four precious metals are under considerable selling pressure as I hit the 'send' button on this morning's missive at 5:20 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.  At the moment, gold is down ten bucks...and silver is down 20 cents.  Volumes are quite a bit higher than normal...and, as usual, is mostly of the HFT variety.  The dollar index is up a bit over 30 basis points already...and one has to wonder if we're seeing a blow-off rally in the dollar index as well.

With today being Friday, absolutely nothing will surprise me about precious metal prices when I switch my computer on later this morning.

Enjoy your weekend...or what's left of it if you live west of the International Date Line...and I'll see you here tomorrow.

¤ The Wrap

It's time for the CFTC to come clean about silver and stop pretending it is investigating. It will be better for everyone (except holders of long COMEX contracts) for the CFTC to simply shut down this crooked exchange instead of letting the manipulation continue. At one time I did think the exchange could be reformed, but I no longer feel that is possible. The corruption goes too deep. It’s bad enough that an important American financial institution is corrupt beyond repair, but it is more a loss that the COMEX has dragged the CFTC down with it.

In my latest article, I referred to the commissioners and other high officials of the agency as traitors to the American people. I still feel that way. Not only are none of them fit to hold their current positions, they should never hold any other public office again. - Silver analyst Ted Butler...08 May 2013

Another day...another not-for-profit seller at the Comex open.  We've seen it all before.

As you can tell from the quality and quantity of stories that have appeared on the Internet since the engineered price declines in mid-April; any precious metal commentator...except those from the willfully blind...now acknowledge the presence of a not-for-profit seller in certain commodities, particularly the precious metals.  This fact has now become so widespread, that sooner or later someone [or a government or two] are going to put the paper market to the test...and that may be underway right now.  And if you haven't read Lawrie Williams' excellent commentary on this issue posted above, now would be a good time to rectify that situation.

The speculation swirling around the World Wide Web yesterday from several quarters is that all this gold coming out of GLD is heading for the Far East in general...and China in particular.  The off-take we know about...plus the off-take that has yet to be announced...is a staggering amount...and you have to ask yourself the question..."Where the #%*& is all this gold coming from?  Once again we have questions with no answers...only speculation.

How this situation resolves itself in the fullness of time is the big unknown...but when it does come to a head, I expect it to do so in rather spectacular fashion.

Not much happened in gold in Far East trading on their Thursday...but not quite the same thing can be said for silver.  Volumes were 'average' in gold...and mostly of the HFT variety.  But silver's volume was much heavier, as a strong rally that began around 10:00 a.m. in Tokyo took a few hours to get under control...but 'da boyz' got the job done.  Heaven only knows how high silver would have risen if given free rein, which it obviously wasn't. The dollar index is comatose.

And as I hit the 'send' button at 5:10 a.m. Eastern time, gold is down about five bucks...and silver is back to about unchanged.  Volumes have changed very little from an hour or so ago, so all is quiet...for the moment.  The dollar index is now down about 10 basis points.

That's more than enough for today...and I'll see you here tomorrow.

¤ The Wrap

A little knowledge that acts, is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle. -- Kahlil Gibran

Another day...and another engineered take-down in the precious metals.  Although volume was high, it was mostly of the HFT variety...and with almost non-existent liquidity on the Comex, it's not hard to manage prices.  JPMorgan Chase et al were certainly out and about yesterday.

I'm not sure how many short contracts they managed to cover, but it wouldn't have been many, as they would have to set new low prices for this move down...and I'd be prepared to bet a good chunk of money that the spike low of April 16th will not be revisited.

As silver analyst Ted Butler said in his Saturday missive..."I don't doubt for a minute that JPMorgan Chase would like their current short position in silver [around 18,000 contracts] to be even lower.  But I'm hard pressed to imagine who the selling victims might be, given the extent of speculative selling that has already occurred on the price carnage to date."

I echo those sentiments.

Yesterday was the cut-off for this Friday's Commitment of Traders Report...and this month's Bank Participation Report.  Based on the price action over the reporting week, I'll stick my neck out and speculate that we'll see some more improvement in the Commercial net short position in both gold and silver, but it won't be a lot.

I'm still pondering the continuing out-flow from GLD.  Except for one, or maybe two days at the most, this ETF has been in continuous decline since December 7th...Pearl Harbor Day...with no respite, even with the rally off the April 16th low.  This is not at all normal...and certainly hasn't been the case in SLV.

My records show that the gold ETF over at Switzerland's Zürcher Kantonalbank began to decline during the first week of 2013...and it, also, has shown no signs of ending.  But their silver ETF is unchanged over the same period.

Questions with no answers.  But as I've said before, maybe I'm looking for black bears in a dark room that aren't there...but I don't think so in this particular case.

As I've said on several occasions lately, something appears to be afoot, but I just can't put my finger on it. But whatever it is, it will change things quickly, as this bifurcated market cannot continue forever...or for much longer.  So we wait.

Not much happened in Far East trading on their Wednesday...and the same thing can be said about the first thirty minutes of trading in London, which is where we're at as I type this paragraph.  Volumes in both gold and silver are considerably reduced from their levels of Tuesday morning...and the dollar index is down about 11 basis points, not that it matters.

And as I hit the 'send' button on today's column, not much has changed during the last couple of hours.  Gold is currently up a couple of bucks...and silver is down about 20 cents.  Volumes have changed very little...and the dollar index is still down the same 11 basis points.

I hope your day goes well...and I'll see you here tomorrow.

¤ The Wrap

I now hold the opinion that the commissioners and other high officials of the CFTC are traitors. That’s a real ugly word, but Merriam-Webster defines traitor as one who betrays another’s trust or is false to an obligation or duty. It may be ugly, but the CFTC has betrayed the public trust and has been false to a sworn obligation and duty to uphold commodity law. How else to describe a phony 4.5 year investigation and never a comment on the series of unprecedented price declines in silver while the supposed investigation was in place? I don’t know how these people live with themselves by betraying the public on a daily basis. - Silver analyst Ted Butler...04 May 2013

As I mentioned further up, I wouldn't read much into yesterday's price action considering the amount of volume there was.  However, it should be noted that the mid-morning rallies in both gold and silver in the thinly-traded Far East markets were squashed in the usual manner...and volumes at the time, were heavy.

Nothing has changed in the precious metals market since the big sell-off of three weeks ago.  The Commitment of Traders Report is still sitting in a wildly bullish configuration...and all that awaits is a trigger of some sort.  That, coupled with the reaction of JPMorgan et al when the rallies begin, will determine how high the rally goes...and how fast we get there.  Supply and demand means squat in a managed market.  So we wait.

Today, at the close of Comex trading, is the cut-off for this Friday's Commitment of Traders Report...and after last week's surprise, I'm not about to hazard a guess as to what the new report will show when it's posted on the CFTC's website at 3:30 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Both gold and silver came under some selling pressure during the Far East trading session on their Tuesday...and volumes at the London open [3:00 a.m. EDT] are already pretty chunky in both metals.  Virtually all of it is of the HFT variety.  The dollar index isn't doing much.

And as I hit the 'send' button at 5:10 a.m. Eastern time, London has been trading for a bit more than two hours.  Gold is down about ten bucks...and silver is lower by 35 cents, but was down 55 cents just before the Lodnon open.  Volumes are way up there...35,000 net in gold...and around 11,000 contracts in silver.  The dollar index is not doing a thing. 

Before heading off to bed, I'd like to mention that Casey Research is sponsoring another on-line video event.  This one is entitled The Myth of American Energy Independence Webinar.

Marin Katusa, CR's chief energy investment strategist, interviews the world’s top energy experts including former U.S. Energy Secretary - Spencer Abraham, Canada’s former Minister of Natural Resources – Herb Dhaliwal, and the Chairmen Emeritus of the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority – Lady Barbara Thomas Judge, and co-founder and CEO of Uranium Energy Corp – Amir Adnani about how important nuclear power will be for our global energy future.

Marin and Chairman of Sprott US Holdings, Rick Rule believe that due to increasing costs to bring uranium to market, increased demand, and the end of the Megatons to Megawatts agreement with Russia at the end of the year, uranium prices have nowhere to go but up.  And early investors can position themselves now for very large gains in the near future.

This free video will air on Tuesday, May 21 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.  It will be available for viewing after the initial stream for those who have schedule conflicts.

Following the webinar, all attendees will get a free copy of the new Global Resource Intelligence report on Uranium.  It’s a $29 value, roughly 39 pages, and will be e-mailed on May 21st.

If energy is your bailiwick, you can learn more about it here...and register at the same time.

See you here tomorrow.