dimelab dimelab: shrinking the gap between talk and action.

CFTC Topic in The Credit Debacle Catalog

CFTC Commissioner (1); CFTC exempts index funds (1); CFTC hears (2); CFTC indicate (1); CFTC Investigation (1); CFTC protecting silver short interest (1); week's CFTC hearing webcast (1).

zero hedge Wed 2010-04-07 18:26 EDT

The Latest Gold Fraud Bombshell: Canada's Only Bullion Bank Gold Vault Is Practically Empty

Continuing on the trail of exposing what is rapidly becoming one of the largest frauds in commodity markets history is the most recent interview by Eric King with GATA's Adrian Douglas, Harvey Orgen (who recently testified before the CFTC hearing) and his son, Lenny, in which the two discuss their visit to the only bullion bank vault in Canada, that of ScotiaMocatta, located at 40 King Street West in Toronto, and find the vault is practically empty..."The game ends when the people who own all these paper obligations say enough and take physical delivery, and that's when the mess will occur."...It is funny that central bankers thought they could take the ponzi mentality of infinite dilution of all assets coupled with infinite debt issuance, as they have done to fiat money, and apply it to gold, in essence piling leverage upon leverage. They underestimated gold holders' willingness to be diluted into perpetuity - when the realization that gold owned is just 1% of what is physically deliverable, you will see the biggest bank run in history.

Bullion Bank Gold Vault; Canada's; Latest Gold Fraud Bombshell; practically empty; Zero Hedge.

zero hedge Mon 2010-04-05 15:14 EDT

Former Goldman Commodities Research Analyst Confirms LMBA OTC Gold Market Is "Paper Gold" Ponzi

When we put up a link to last week's CFTC hearing webcast little did we know that it would end up being the veritable (physical) gold mine (no pun intended) of information about what really transpires in the commodities market. First, we obtained direct evidence from Andrew Maguire (who may or may not have been the target of an attempt at "bodily harm" as reported yesterday) of extensive manipulation in the silver market. Today, Adrian Douglas, director of GATA, adds to the mountain of evidence that the commodities market, and the CFTC, stand behind what is potentially the biggest market manipulation scheme in the history of capital markets (we are assuming for the time being that all allegations of the Fed manipulating the broader equity and credit markets are completely baseless). Using the testimony of a clueless Jeffrey Christian, formerly a staffer at the Commodities Research Group in the Goldman Sachs Investment Research Department and now head and founder of the CPM Group, Douglas confirms that the "LBMA trades over 100 times the amount of gold it actually has to back the trades."

Goldman Commodities Research Analyst Confirms LMBA OTC Gold Market; paper gold; Ponzi; Zero Hedge.

Jesse's Café Américain Sat 2010-04-03 09:48 EDT

Whistleblower Speaks Out On J. P. Morgan's Market Manipulation - Reports Violations to the CFTC

Do we have another Harry Markopolos here, describing in detail the manipulation of the gold market by J.P. Morgan to the CFTC? How does this square with the testimony today from the CFTC Commissioners, who seem to indicate that the markets are functioning extremely well, and that investor can have full confidence in them? I am led to understand that Mr. McGuire had offered to testify before the CFTC today, and that he was refused admittance. I do not know him, or the position he is in within the trading community. I cannot therefore assess his credibility or the validity of any evidence which he may present or possess. But I have the feeling that nothing will come of this...What seems particularly twisted about this is that JPM is the custodian of the largest silver ETF (SLV). Is anyone auditing that ETF, and watching any conflicts of interest and self-trading? Multiple counterparty claims on the same bullion? If you ever wanted to see a good reason for the Volcker rule, this is it. These jokers are one of the US' largest banks, with trillions of dollars in unaudited derivatives exposure, and they seem to be engaging in trading practices like Enron did before it collapsed...

CFTC; J. P. Morgan's Market Manipulation; Jesse's Café Américain; reported violations; Whistleblowers speak.

Jesse's Café Américain Thu 2009-12-17 10:11 EST

Is the Price of World Silver the Result of Legitimate Market Discovery?

Ted Butler: ...the concentrated short position in COMEX silver futures is so extreme, that it is hard to imagine how it can be resolved in an orderly manner. The most recent data from the CFTC indicate that one US bank, JPMorgan, now holds 200 million ounces net short in COMEX silver futures, fully 40% of the entire net short position on the COMEX (minus spreads). As I have previously written, JPMorgan accounted for 100% of all new short selling in COMEX silver futures for September and October, some 50 million additional ounces...So extreme is JPMorgan's silver short position that it cannot be closed out in an orderly fashion...As extreme as JPMorgan's position is, there is a total true net short position of 500 million ounces (100,000 contracts) in COMEX silver futures. Try to put that 500 million ounce short position in perspective. It equals 75% of world annual mine production, much higher than seen in any other commodity.

Jesse's Café Américain; Legitimate Market Discovery; Price; resulting; World Silver.

zero hedge Fri 2009-08-28 17:15 EDT

The Oil-Gas Six Sigma Dislocation

The CFTC has earned its stripes by allowing speculators to take the oil to natty relationship to unprecedented arb levels. Represented in energy content equivalents, where oil traditionally has been in the 6x-12x range for gas, the most recent reading is 26.36! This is, as the chart indicates, your six sigma event for the day. A long NG1 - short CL1 arb may take some abuse but absent Amaranth coming out of somewhere (and even they were eventually prosecuted), this relationship should collapse to some semblance of normalcy. Although in this bizarro market it is guaranteed to do the opposite of what any fundamental or technical relationships dictate.

Oil gas; Sigma Dislocation; Zero Hedge.

Fri 2009-01-16 00:00 EST

Jesse's Café Américain: The CFTC Is Failing to Regulate Commodity Market Ponzi Schemes

Jesse's Café Américain: The CFTC Is Failing to Regulate Commodity Market Ponzi Schemes

CFTC; fail; Jesse's Café Américain; Regulate Commodity Market Ponzi Schemes.

Sun 2008-06-01 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: CFTC Investigation of Oil Trading Focuses on Tankers, Storage

CFTC Investigation; naked capitalism; Oil Trading Focuses; storage; Tanker.

Sat 2008-05-24 00:00 EDT

Jesse's Café Américain: Silver Price Manipulation through 'Naked Shorting'

Jesse's Café Américain: Silver Price Manipulation through 'Naked Shorting'; CFTC protecting silver short interest; crony capitialism corrupting public markets

Jesse's Café Américain; Naked Short; Silver Price Manipulation.

Sat 2008-05-17 00:00 EDT

Angry Bear: Index funds influence

CFTC exempts index funds from position limits

Angry Bear; Index funds influence.