The banks have still not heavy reduced their short positions, they are still holding them, but at about a $300 Million loss per $1 rise in silver price.

574 Silver Contracts (each 5,000 oz) posted for delivery in November.
http://www.cmegroup.com/delivery_reports/MetalsIssuesAndStopsReport.pdf

This shows the details of how much is left at the exchange ware houses
http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/energy/files/Silver_Stocks.xls

From now on I'll divide all of these into the four different categories
1. Regulatory Changes (Manipulation, Law Enforcement, Law Suits etc)
2. Investment Demand (Paper Vs Physical, Global Precious Metals ETF etc)
3. Industrial Demand
4. The Future

1. Regulatory Change

hagens-berman-sobol-shapiro-jp-morgan-and-hsbc-face-rico-charges-in-silver-futures-class-action-lawsuit-106624128.html

Kaplan Fox Sues JP Morgan and HSBC on Behalf of Investors
for Silver Futures and Options Contract Losses Caused by Market Manipulation
NEW YORK -- On November 2, 2010, Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP (www.kaplanfox.com), a leading plaintiffs' firm, filed a class-action complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of an individual investor against JP Morgan Chase and HSBC in connection with their alleged conspiracy and manipulation of the market for silver futures and options contracts traded on COMEX. http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Kaplan-Fox-Sues-JP-Morgan-HSBC-on-Behalf-Investors-Silver-Futures-Options-Contract-Losses-1347390.htm

Ron Paul vows renewed Fed audit push next year

2. Investment Demand

Central banks in past were net sellers, now they are net buyers!
No need to gold imports for a decade, Iran says
TEHRAN, Oct. 30 (MNA) – Iran has changed some 15 percent of its foreign exchange reserve to gold stocks and there is no need to gold imports for the next ten years, Central Bank governor Mahmoud Bahmani said here on Saturday.http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=1181508

CHINA is a buying all domestically produced gold, encouraging their citizenry too as well.One alternative for China is to declare itself the buyer of last resort for gold, i.e. it will buy all that is offered for sale at their specified dollar price. This is not going on the gold standard, but rather, it’s a hijacking of the valuation process for both the dollars and gold. To implement such a policy, they should currently be busy secretly buying all the gold they can. When their buying finally attracts world attention, they would announce the new policy. With the announcement would also be the setting of this month’s dollar denominated benchmark gold price. As frequently as they need to, they can ratchet this price upward to preserve the buying power of their combined gold/dollar reserves or to gain other advantages yet to be discovered.

Cramer Is A Goldbug, Says His Retirement Fund is 'Almost Entirely Gold' (GLD, GDX)

November 4, 2010 3:12 PM EDT http://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Comments/Cramer+Is+A+Goldbug,+Says+His+Retirement+Fund+is+Almost+Entirely+Gold+%28GLD,+GDX%29/6078056.html

Hong Kong launches first local gold fund

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — For Asians unnerved about a global currency war, a new weapon is about to emerge: a gold exchange-traded fund that stores its bullion in Chinese vaults. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hong-kong-launches-gold-fund-2010-11-03?pagenumber=1

4. The Future
There will be more bailouts in the future, probably of the banks, most likely through the FED (in Europe the ECB) rather than through the legislative side. Right now they are walking a fine line with the all residential and commercial MBS they hold on their assets sheets. FASB changed the accounting rules (Mark-to-Market) at the beginning of the crisis to allow the banks to 'value' these securities at what they wish.

Bank of America Edges Closer to Tipping Point: Jonathan Weil

Mortgage-bond investors are demanding untold billions of dollars in refunds. The foreclosure fiasco is metastasizing. A member of the Troubled Asset Relief Program’s oversight panel, AFL-CIO attorney Damon Silvers, openly worried at a hearing last week about the risk that Bank of America might need another bailout.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-04/bank-of-america-edges-closer-to-tipping-point-commentary-by-jonathan-weil.html

Irish banks, bonds hit as EU eyes survival plan

Irish bank shares hit new lows, bond yields new highs as EU eyes Ireland's survival plans

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Irish-banks-bonds-hit-as-EU-apf-2771408459.html?x=0

World Bank president open on the idea of a gold standard

LONDON (Reuters) – The advanced economies should consider adopting a modified gold standard to guide the exchange rate, the World Bank group president, Robert Zoellick, said on Monday in an unexpected proposal before the G20 summit.

http://ffog.net/world-bank-president-open-on-the-idea-of-a-gold-standard-20105815.html

* Urges return to gold standard

Silver Brick Road

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

2010-11 Updates