Comment Text:
Dear Chairman Gensler and fellow Commissioners:
I've arrived at a point in my life where doing the most to protect my child's all around well being is the largest priority I now have. Through affordable healthcare, quality supplemental education, a true concern for her family, friends, and neighbors, and some "money management" skills, I believe she's in a much better position to cope with the everyday obstacles presented than others her age may be.
In the recent past I began to look at the precious metals market as a hedge against financial issues that seem to be presenting themselves. I do not gamble on stocks, don't participate in any paper markets, and have learned as much as possible about the fundamentals. I have a buy and hold strategy.
It's become quite demoralizing over time that the market I've chosen to help protect my daughter's future has become so blatantly rigged. There's a big difference between playing the market and controlling it. My daughter's future, and the concerns of others are being controlled by the same people who we've given millions of our dollars to in an attempt to "protect" our economy from disaster.
How are we repaid? By a small few who continue to steal more of our hard earned wages through this manipulation. The fact is my daughter has less net worth because of these individuals' actions.
I urge you to approve the staff’s proposal on position limits, including limiting exemptions to bona fide hedgers. I would ask you, however, to readjust the proposed formula in silver. The current formula would result in a position limit of over 5,000 contracts for any single speculator, on an all-months-combined basis. 5,000 contracts is the equivalent of 25 million ounces of silver. This is too high of a threshold in light of the realities of the world silver market.
There are only three mining companies in the world who produce more than 25 million ounces of silver per year and only a similar number of industrial consumers using more than that amount. Any speculator holding an amount of silver derivatives greater than what 99% of the world’s silver producers and consumers make or use in a year would have inordinate pricing power. The purpose of speculative position limits is to prevent such a circumstance.
Please institute a 1500 contract (7.5 million ounce) position limit for silver.
Respectfully submitted,
A Taxpaying citizen who deserves to be heard.
