this is from ed steer of casey research, who questions the validity of the silver etf as well as the efficacy of the cftc investigation into the silver market:

There were no changes to either precious metal ETF on Friday...GLD or SLV. In a conversation with Ted Butler, he feels (based on volume over the last five trading days) that the GLD is owed about a million ounces...and the SLV between 15-20 million ounces. The gold should be reasonably easy to come across in good delivery form, but Ted and I both felt that it would be a while before all that silver showed up. They are probably waiting in line at the smelters just like the Central Fund of Canada is doing with their latest offering. It will be of interest to see how long it takes the SLV to get it...or at least report that they have it. Whether they have it or not is a different story.

In case you haven't figured it out, I have my deepest, darkest suspicions about these two ETFs. Not withstanding their individual prospectus...JPMorgan (The Federal Reserve's bank) is the custodian of the SLV...has the biggest derivatives position in precious metals (and I doubt they're net long this market either, baby!)...and the biggest silver short position on the Comex. Ted Butler has been screaming at the Comex about manipulation and concentration in the silver (and gold) market for twenty years...and they won't lift a finger to admit what is obvious in their own reports. Now....please ask me again why I am suspicious of the SLV.

http://caseyresearch.com/displayDrp....