Thursday, March 24, 2011

Will JPMorgan Now Make and Take 'Delivery' of Its Own Silver Shorts?

From Seeking AlphaExcerpts:

There is nothing inherently wrong and certainly nothing "illegal" about J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) gaining a vault license for storing and taking delivery of gold/silver/platinum/palladium from the futures markets known as NYMEX/COMEX. However, the speed, timing and manner in which the exchanges just granted it troubles us.
The process of being approved as a licensed vault or weigh-master/assayer for the NYMEX/COMEX futures exchange usually involves a careful security inspection of the vaults, a full report of that inspection, and a completely transparent package submitted to the U.S. Commodity Futures Exchange Commission (CFTC) for approval. This process will ordinarily consume considerably more than 45 days. Apparently, such correct and careful practices apply only to banks and independent storage facilities that are not J.P. Morgan Chase.
Some vault operators are more equal than others. JPM appears immune from processes that everyone else must suffer through. On March 15, 2011, the Commodity Exchange (COMEX) and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) advised the CFTC that they had approved .P. Morgan's application to become a licensed vault facility, using a "self-certification" process. The newly licensed vault, located at 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza, NY, NY, is ready to roll as both “weighmaster” and depository, for delivery of gold, silver, platinum and palladium contracts, as of March 17, 2011, two days later.

Silver's prospects in the near term..

Kitco chart(and where I found the previous article) courtesy Urban Survival.

Silver surged above $37 an ounce to a 31 year high  From FXStreet.com.  Excerpts:

Precious Metals: Gold rose for a sixth consecutive session as prices neared a record high. Spot gold’s record high of $1444.40 an ounce was set on March 7 previously. Unrest in Libya and the Middle East and Europe’s lingering debt crisis spurred demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment. Record low U.S. new home sales also increased speculation of extended central banks' accommodative policies. Silver surged above $37 an ounce to a 31 year high. Year to date, silver has outperformed gold, gaining over 20% compared to gold that is up just 1%.

Bullish momentum favoring gold, silver  From Commodity Online.  Excerpts:

Chart considerations suggest more upside for gold and silver, says BNP Paribas technical analyst Andrew Chaveriat. Spot silver hit a fresh 31-year high Wednesday.

“Bullish momentum favors a rise to $38.62 mega long-term resistance (76.4% retracement of the structural 1980-1993 decline) and perhaps the $40.00 psychological barrier,” Chaveriat says in a research note.

With everything happening all at once, don't forget to keep an eye on commodities.  It's a very important bellwether.

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