ted butler acknowledges that he's the only person in the world who thinks gary gensler is going to enact meaningful reform and/or position limits in the silver market:
I’ve labeled JPMorgan as the terrorist in my bomb-rigging analogy. My intent is not to defame them, but to end a market manipulation. While JPMorgan has always played a major role in OTC silver derivatives, past Bank Participation Report data does not indicate they played a dominant role in COMEX silver trading prior to 2008. With the financial failure and take-over of Bear Stearns, JPMorgan inherited Bear Stearns concentrated silver (and gold) COMEX short position, along with Bear’s giant OTC positions, probably at the government’s request. Those were dangerous times for the financial system and I can understand the government not wanting to see silver and gold prices soar in an unrestrained short covering panic. Further, I don’t think JPMorgan woke one morning and decided to manipulate the price of silver with an outsized and concentrated short position on the COMEX and OTC markets. I’m inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt and grant that they even may have been acting somewhat patriotically, in ceding to government requests.
But the Bear Stearns’ take-over took place more than a year and a half ago. That is too long to qualify as a near-term emergency. We are long past the point at which this should have been resolved. The dramatic increase in JPMorgan’s short position in the October Bank Participation Report dispels any notion that they are not controlling the price of silver. Without that short selling, the price would have been much higher. The US is a nation governed by the rule of law. It is perhaps our greatest quality. That means no one is above the law; not JPMorgan, not the COMEX, not the US Government itself. Whoever is responsible for the maintenance of this concentrated short position is undermining the best interests of our country. That makes them terrorists in my book.
That leaves the Bomb Squad. In my mind, the Bomb Squad is composed of one key member, CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler. That’s not meant to disparage the other commissioners or staff, just that it will be Gensler who determines how the agency deals with silver problem. Or even if it will be addressed in an open manner. I have been consistent in my praise of him and in my optimism that he will do the right thing in silver, not only in public, but also in my private conversations. I will either be dead right or dead wrong in my assessment of him. I freely admit to the possibility that I may have misjudged him. Since I don’t know of anyone who agrees with me, perhaps I should say the “probability” that I will be wrong. Time will tell.
http://news.silverseek.com/SilverSeek/1257430207.php
