What does the CFTCs investigation mean for silver?
Ted Butler, Butler Research (Butler): That we’ll only know in time. It should mean, at a minimum, that they think the allegations are credible enough to warrant them looking at it again. I suppose if they thought the allegations were baseless, they would say so and dismiss the subject. HAI: What’s the likelihood that they’ll take real action in the market? Butler: That’s anyone’s guess. But if my allegations are accurate, as I believe them to be, the question of them taking action becomes moot. That’s because if the silver retail shortage keeps growing and morphs into a wholesale shortage, the market itself will do what the CFTC has refused to do. Any downward manipulation must, inevitably, end in a shortage. I think they may recognize this. HAI: What exactly are they looking at? Butler: That, you will have to ask them, but if they are not looking at the one or two U.S. banks that sold short the equivalent of 20% of the world’s annual production of silver, they are not looking at the r
