ted butler comments on the manipulation of the silver market:

In silver, there are no hard position limits in force. There used to be, but the CFTC allowed the COMEX to replace hard position limits many years ago. Instead, now there is an “accountability limit” of 6,000 contracts. This limit is regularly exceeded by the big silver shorts, but rarely by the longs. Since there are 5,000 ounces in a COMEX futures contract, the accountability limit is equal to 30 million ounces. Whereas the position limit in wheat was 1.6% of the US crop, the accountability limit in COMEX silver is almost 52 times larger, at more that 83% of total US mine production (estimated at 36 million oz by the USGS). While the position limit in wheat was 0.16% of the world wheat crop, the COMEX accountability limit is 28 times larger, at 4.5% of the world silver mine production (660 million oz. per the US Geological Survey). Just to keep the record straight, the US is the 4th largest producing country in wheat and the 7th largest in silver.

What this demonstrates is that there are no effective position limits in COMEX silver. The limits are set so high as to not have any impact. It’s like setting the speed limit in a school zone at 100 MPH. In silver it’s made worse because the absurdly high limit isn’t observed. More correctly, the limits are observed by the longs, just not by the shorts. CFTC data show that the 4 largest shorts currently hold an average position of almost 12,500 contracts each, while the 4 largest longs hold an average long position of just over 3500 contracts each.

The facts are clear. While the Senate report has concluded there should be no exemptions to position limits in wheat, the position limits in silver (if you can call them that), are 52 and 28 times larger, in terms of real US and world production.

http://news.silverseek.com/TedButler/1246302473.php