ted butler thinks the new chairman of the cftc will make meaningful changes in the commodity markets. i hope he's right, but i think if gensler were really of a mind to do that, he wouldn't have been appointed to that position. the most useful part of this essay comes at the end, i.e. the e-mail addresses of the commissioners. bart chilton recently said he receives correspondence every week about the manipulation of the metals markets, so these are the people to write to:

Ggensler@cftc.gov
Mdunn@cftc.gov
Bchilton@cftc.gov
Jsommers@cftc.gov

Every once in a great while, something big comes along to upset the status quo. Sometimes the change is long overdue and welcome. I think we may soon witness such a game-changer in silver.

As I briefly referenced last week, the new chairman of the CFTC, Gary Gensler, issued a statement on July 7, that I felt was very important. Click Here to read Upon further reflection and subsequent additional statements from Commissioner Bart Chilton, I am convinced that great change may be on the way. Click Here to read

The statement from Chairman Gensler is clear; he is deeply concerned about and is soliciting your input on the matter of speculative position limits. In a moment, I will suggest how you can participate in the coming great change.

The issue of legitimate speculative position limits is one about which I have petitioned the CFTC and the COMEX for more than 20 years. In fact, I consider it a signature issue and one in which there has been much public dialogue between myself and the CFTC. (Here are some samples from 2002, Click here and here) Simply put, speculative position limits are designed to prevent large futures traders from unduly influencing the price of a commodity, either on the long or short side. It goes to the heart of the silver manipulation. I have always maintained that if legitimate speculative position limits were in place and enforced in COMEX silver, then manipulation would not be possible. This is the clear intent of commodity law. Knowing this, I pressed the CFTC on this issue relentlessly. Unfortunately, the CFTC and the COMEX were equally consistent and they dismissed my arguments for more than 20 years.

Now the CFTC has done a complete about face. The new stance by the CFTC to review the entire issue of position limits is nothing less than ground shaking in nature. I know that many are skeptical about the Commission’s real intent, but this 180-degree turn by them holds profound implications for the price of silver. It is also my opinion that Chairman Gensler and Commissioner Chilton should be applauded for the steps they have taken. Since they will face much criticism and discouragement from changing the status quo, they must be supported in this endeavor at every turn. I intend to support them and I ask the same of you.

There are two aspects to speculative position limits. One is the proper level of the actual position limit in each commodity in contract terms. What is the maximum number of contracts a single trading entity is allowed to hold, long or short, in every commodity? The second aspect is what exemptions from the maximum number of contracts should be granted to trading entities with bona fide hedging requirements larger than the stated position limit. There has to be a legitimate economic reason, under commodity law, in the granting of these hedging exemptions. A desire to manipulate prices is not a legitimate economic reason.

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