Comment Text:
It's been over a year since I last wrote the commission (again...), at your urging, to offer my thoughts re this decision. I'll repeat them here as they clearly fell on deaf ears when I originally wrote the letter last January, 2010. I won't waste my time helping you in your public relations circus of requesting our input. I would feel foolish spending the time to compose a new letter when the last one was never considered. But to be counted once more, I re submit my last correspondence with the commission. Just change the dates, certainly nothing else has changed.
Dear Sirs,
I am writing in regards to the CFTC meeting Jan. 14th. I wanted to express my appreciation that you have chosen to make such an important meeting open to the public. The issues you will be addressing have been of great concern to me for many years and I'm gratified that this commission will be taking them on in such an unveiled forum.
The fact that you've chosen to make the meeting open takes the issue of position limits in silver into full view. Thank you. I ask that you and the other commissioners seriously discuss reducing the position limits in COMEX silver to 1500 contracts. I have long been concerned by what was clearly a small minority of short positions controlling the price of silver. To have recently found out that that 'small minority' that we used to assume was four to eight banks is primarily JP Morgan was more than stunning. It is illegal to have one entity be allowed to short 40% of the COMEX silver market and 30% of world production. To say it does not manipulate the price of spot is insulting to anyone who can read and do basic math and it could come to an ugly end.
My understanding is that Thursday's meeting will be considering proposed hard position limits in energy futures and legitimate hedge exemptions to those limits. Any discussion of position limits has to begin with Silver as it is by far the most extreme example both in terms of the size of it's market and the percentage shorted. I look to the commission to END JP Morgan's short concentration and dominance to find out truly 'what the market will bear'.
Thanks again, I look forward to Thursday.
Elizabeth Read
Watertown, MA
