Interesting read. Ted Butler is saying that all of the big long contract holders of silver have been intentionally squeezed out.

COT Extremes

By: Theodore Butler

– Posted 2 December, 2008

It’s been a while since I have commented in detail about the Commitment of Traders Report (COT), since there have been other issues to be discussed. Plus, I know many find the topic confusing. However, there have been some recent developments that should be reviewed.

Long-time readers know that I have studied and written about the COTs for years. I find the report invaluable. This weekly report from the CFTC tells us who has been buying or selling in all U.S. futures and options on futures. The reports don’t tell us the “who” by name, but offer three broad trader categories - large commercial, large non-commercial, and non-reportable. The two large categories must report their positions to the CFTC on essentially a daily basis,

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Almost from the moment that trading began in the Far East on Monday morning, there was someone there to sell the gold and silver market down. This pressure really began to accelerate to the down side at one of the usual times of day…2:00 a.m. New York time…which is early Monday evening in Sydney, late afternoon in Hong Kong…and first thing in the morning (7:00 a.m.) in London.

Then, the moment the Comex opened for business, the bullion bank(s) pulled their bids and both metals sank like stones…particularly silver. For style points in silver, I give da boyz a 9.5/10. Any bets that it was mostly JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM)? After that pounding, the metals did nothing for the rest of the day. The shares got creamed.

Ted Butler had this to say about it yesterday…”While I certainly didn’t expect it, explaining Monday’s sell-off is pretty easy. It was a dealer-engineered drop

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Almost from the moment that trading began in the Far East on Monday morning, there was someone there to sell the gold and silver market down. This pressure really began to accelerate to the down side at one of the usual times of day…2:00 a.m. New York time…which is early Monday evening in Sydney, late afternoon in Hong Kong…and first thing in the morning (7:00 a.m.) in London.

Then, the moment the Comex opened for business, the bullion bank(s) pulled their bids and both metals sank like stones…particularly silver. For style points in silver, I give da boyz a 9.5/10. Any bets that it was mostly JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM)? After that pounding, the metals did nothing for the rest of the day. The shares got creamed.

Ted Butler had this to say about it yesterday…”While I certainly didn’t expect it, explaining Monday’s sell-off is pretty easy. It was a dealer-engineered drop

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NBER: U.S. in Recession Since Dec. 2007; Fed Reserve Could Buy T-Bills; JP Morgan Sees 0% Interest Rates; Pilgrim’s Pride Files for Bankruptcy Protection; Consumer Credit Crunch in the Making; Crude Slides on Recession Outlook; J&J to Buy Mentor

It’s official: The United States has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said yesterday (Monday). Already 12 months into it, this recession is longer than eight of the 10 recessions the U.S. has experienced since World War II, CNNMoney reported. Should it continue past the June 2009, it will be the longest. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank could buy long-term Treasury securities to help revive the economy. “This approach might influence the yields ...

GM is essentially already bankrupt, says Horacio Marquez. And it has been for years. This clearly makes the company one to avoid for investors. But Horacio says there are still some ways for those with a big risk appetite to make big profits with the giant automaker.

This from Money Morning:

With America’s “Big Three” automakers all due to submit turnaround plans to Congress today (Tuesday) – a requirement if General Motor Corp. (NYSE:GM), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F), and Chrysler Corp., are to receive $25 billion in government loans – I couldn’t help but recall the moment eight years ago when I realized the U.S. auto industry was skidding toward a financial collapse.

I’ve been thinking about that market call of mine a lot of late, particularly after recently reading that JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) credit analysts had

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Anatomy of a panic? The collapse of Morgan Stanley

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/11/25/18667/anatomy-of-a-panic-the-collapse-of-morgan-stanley/

Anatomy of a panic? The collapse of Morgan Stanley

From the WSJ:

It turns out that some of the biggest names on Wall Street — Merrill Lynch & Co., Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank and UBS AG — were placing large bets against Morgan Stanley, the records indicate. They did so using complicated financial instruments called credit-default swaps, a form of insurance against losses on loans and bonds…

…during those tumultuous few days in mid-September, the swaps market turned on Morgan Stanley like a financial Frankenstein.

Disclaimer: No evidence has emerged publicly that any firm trading in Morgan Stanley stock or credit-default swaps did anything wrong. Most of the firms say they purchased the credit-default swaps simply to protect themselves against potential losses on various types of business they were doing with Morgan Stanley.

Indeed it would be madness for Merrill, Citigroup, DB et al to actually

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Today, China announced its largest interest rate cut in 11 years to encourage borrowing as well as its support of a multibillion-dollar stimulus package to boost slowing economic growth. Jing Ulrich, chairwoman of China equities for JP Morgan & Co., stated, “This is the most aggressive monetary easing in recent years and should bode well for China’s market performance.”

This interest rate cut is the fourth cut made in the last three months and is several times larger than the other three cuts as they were only 0.27 percentage points. Even with the large cut, Ulrich believes the effectiveness will depend on whether banks increase their lending to the most troubled sectors of the economy.

Let us hear your thoughts below:

Nations do not purchase their prosperity, says Eric Fry. Since this crisis started last year, the government has thrown around $8 trillion at the problem. But these are banknotes that it has manufactured for itself. And that’s why we may soon face a severe threat from inflation.

This from The Rude Awakening:

Citigroup did not go bankrupt yesterday, therefore the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared nearly 400 points. If Citigroup does not go bankrupt tomorrow, there’s no telling how high the Dow might go.

Joy and jubilation returned to Wall Street yesterday because the federal government tossed a $326 billion lifeline to Citigroup - $306 billion worth of loan guarantees and $20 billion of actual cash. Unfortunately, Dow points aren’t as cheap as they used to be. Remember last March, when the Treasury handed a $30 billion check to J.P. Morgan to finance the Bear Stearns takeover? The Dow rallied 187

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Oil rallies after near $100 drop since July…  OPEC’s Khelil says possible no output decision in Cairo…  U.S. shares higher

Oil prices steadied on Friday, after falling more than 7 percent the day before, as stock markets recovered from early lows caused by continuing economic gloom.

U.S. crude fell 13 cents to $49.29 a barrel at 12:08 p.m. EST (1708 GMT), after earlier hitting $48.25, its lowest level in three and a half years. London Brent crude gained 53 cents to $48.61 a barrel.

U.S. stocks recovered slightly after falling into negative territory on Friday as shares of financials, including Citigroup , declined and investors worried about the deepening economic slump.

Slumping demand in the United States and other top oil consuming nations has sent crude prices plunging from record highs above $147 a barrel in mid-July.

On Thursday, oil fell more than 7 percent on gloomy economic data, to settle at its lowest since

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Citi merger talk, equity rebound prompt FX turnaround…  Sterling also rises as risk aversion cools… Weak euro zone PMI a reminder of economic distress

The dollar and yen fell on Friday as global stocks rebounded and reports that banking giant Citigroup (C) was mulling a merger with another firm helped quell market anxiety.

The more relaxed mood prompted those who had lately sold risky assets in favor of the U.S. and Japanese currencies to reverse course and move back gingerly into stocks, commodities and higher-yielding currencies such as the euro and sterling.

“It feels like we’ve reached a point where total fear is receding a little. There’s an inkling of hope that we may be near a bottom, which is reflected in equities and high-yielding currencies today,” said Boris Schlossberg, senior currency strategist at GFT Forex in New York.

Geoffrey Yu, currency strategist at UBS in London, said “the market is trying to

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