Throughout 2005, rumors of the long-awaited launch of the iShares silver Trust were rampant; and each day PM investors waited with bated breath for the SEC to approve its IPO. The SPDR gold ETF – GLD – had successfully debuted a year before, and silver investors longed for the day they could also buy “silver” with the click of a mouse.
Back then, it was assumed the SEC was “delaying” SLV’s launch, for fear the Cartel would be overrun by demand; and thus, even I was surprised when it was actually approved. The fact that it commenced trading with a holding of 130 million ounces – or EXACTLY the amount Warren Buffet had “mysteriously” disposed of – was largely overlooked; but clearly, SLV’s operational “shenanigans” were present on DAY ONE…
Seven years later, many would call SLV a “success” as a silver proxy. However, an increasing faction are seeing it for what it likely is; i.e., a Cartel “tool” to suck demand from the tight PHYSICAL market, into an amorphous, PAPER “black box” that likely DOES NOT own the silver it purports. Frankly, it’s no different than what the Indian government is trying to do today – in response to a PLUMMETING Rupee – in increasing PHYSICAL gold import duties while decreasing “PAPER gold” taxation…
Tax cuts on ‘Paper Gold’ may trim India Gold import by 70%
As I have written numerous times over the years – such as the below RANT from August 2011 – the iShares Silver Trust appears no more than silver “laundering” front…
Ranting Andy: “Outing” GLD and SLV, and “Inning” Alternative Forms of Gold and Silver Investment (ignore the “including Mining Companies” part of the title, as my former employer added it without my knowledge)
…and after reading the “Risk Factors” on pages 6-11, you, too, will understand why any sane investor would feel the same…
iShares Silver Trust Prospectus
On Thursday afternoon – just before the U.S. Mint indefinitely suspended Silver Eagle sales due to DEPLETED SUPPLY…
US Mint Temporarily Sold Out of 2013 Silver Eagles
…this MIND-BLOWING report emerged; that SLV increased its silver holdings by more than 5% in one day; by an amount exceeding ALL of what it acquired in 2012; a year, by the way, when silver rose 8%…
SLV adds Record 572 Tons of Silver in One Day, More than in all of 2012
At a time when investor hoarding is so strong that the U.S. Mint RAN OUT of silver; HOW ON EARTH could SLV have sourced 18+ million ounces, worth nearly $600 million…
Central planning results in hoarding..Bill Holter, Miles Franklin
…when, for example, the Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PSLV) oftentimes has trouble sourcing half that – at times when PHYSICAL demand is much weaker?
More importantly, HOW ON EARTH can SLV – operated by…drum roll please…JP Morgan; have acquired 345 million ounces of PHYSICAL silver in just seven years, without having pushed its price above its 1980 high price of $50/oz…
…as silver supply has dramatically depleted (per the decline in the silver/gold production ratio from 16:1 to 9:1)…
…and MONEY PRINTING exploded…
…when just over one billion ounces of above ground, investable silver EXISTS; much of it sitting in vaults, to NEVER see the light of day…
One Billion Silver Ounces and 100 Billion Owners
Frankly, even a “mental midget” could put the aforementioned factors together and conclude prices are suppressed by PAPER naked shorting. However, as the world’s “news” is disseminated by the “evil troika” of Washington, Wall Street, and the MSM; one must consciously search for the TRUTH.
Fortunately, as a reader of the Miles Franklin Newsletters have it; and hopefully, it will convince you to…
PROTECT YOURSELF, and do it NOW!
Call Miles Franklin at 800-822-8080, and talk to one of our brokers. Through industry-leading customer service and competitive pricing, we aim to EARN your business.
10.0Moz of the 18.4Moz surprise deposit to SLV went to a “new” JPM vault in New York (likely the same one that it recently opened to hold silver for COMEX). That silver likely came from JPM’s own COMEX inventory (although COMEX doesn’t appear to supply past data that could help confirm this).
Of the other 8.4Moz, 1Moz appears to have been a “normal” SLV deposit. Of the 7.4Moz left, about 3Moz was silver that had been in SLV before and was removed in early 2012. Of the rest of the 3.4Moz, it was likely obtained like much of the rest of SLV silver: via contracts banks have with miners to buy their supply (ala HSBC/KGHM).
I did a complete analysis at http://About.Ag/SLV/LargeSlvDeposit.htm . I think JPM opening a new vault in New York is the most noteworthy piece (which makes transferring SLV silver to/from COMEX that much easier — a good thing or not?). SLV never had a vault in New York before, just London vaults. They also closed down the Johnson Matthey London vault this week. It’s been a very, very interesting week or so for SLV.
JG