Spotted over at Jesse Felder’s blog along with links to today’s news that included Kanellos the Greek Protest Dog, a story that really should be getting a lot more attention…
On May 10, 2010,
in Europe,
by Tim
On May 10, 2010,
in Commodities,
by Tim
This story has the potential to turn into something quite significant as it has long been believed that JP Morgan has depressed the price of silver through massive short positions that grew even larger after the early-2008 Bear Stearns acquisition.
Feds probing JPMorgan trades in silver pit
Federal agents have launched parallel criminal and civil probes of JPMorgan Chase and its trading activity in the precious metals market, The Post has learned.
The probes are centering on whether or not JPMorgan, a top derivatives holder in precious metals, acted improperly to depress the price of silver, sources said.
The Commodities Futures Trade Commission is looking into civil charges, and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division is handling the criminal probe, according to sources, who did not wish to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the information.
The probes are far-ranging, with federal officials looking into JPMorgan’s precious metals trades on the London Bullion Market Association’s (LBMA) exchange, which is a physical delivery market, and the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) for future paper derivative trades.
JPMorgan increased its silver derivative holdings by $6.76 billion, or about 220 million ounces, during the last three months of 2009, according to the Office of Comptroller of the Currency.
Recall that, in the recent CFTC hearings on metals markets and the somewhat ugly aftermath in the gold and silver community related to the inner workings of futures markets, this was the one major issue that remained – that JP Morgan basically controls the silver price.
One of the constants in the regular Greek demonstrations that have been going on for months now has been a yellowish canine named Kanellos who, apparently, doesn’t mind loud noises and isn’t too keen on the government’s austerity measures.
There are a couple of related reports here and here where it is learned that this is not the original Kanellos but, rather, a dog that looks a lot like another protest dog named Kanellos who died sometime last year. It is unclear whether the Riot Dog Facebook page refers to the old Kanellos, the new Kanellos, or both.
On May 10, 2010,
in Housing,
by Tim
This report in the Arizona Republic is typical of a raft of recent stories about how mortgage distress is working its way up the socioeconomic ladder as a wave of high end distressed property begins to hit the market.
While sellers at the housing market’s low end initiated the widespread use of short sales as an alternative to foreclosure, Valley real-estate agents said there has been a clear trend toward luxury homes, even those in the multimillion-dollar price range, being sold via short sale.
In a short sale, the sellers negotiate a sale price with their lender that is less than the balance of their mortgage. The remaining portion of the loan is forgiven, although in some cases lenders reserve the right to sue the seller for the unpaid portion of the loan.
Joyce Tawes, an agent with Arizona Realty ONE Group in Scottsdale, currently has nearly 100 short-sale listings for homes priced from $700,000 to more than $3 million.
…
Rosalie Soward, a Valley Realtor also licensed in California who specializes in short sales, said they compose about 80 percent of her current business.
Apparently,the government program aimed at streamlining the short-sale process is having the desired effect of getting this inventory moving faster than it would otherwise.
What’s really fascinating to watch for both bank-owned properties and short sales are the price reductions. It seems that, once a house gets listed, sellers of these properties aren’t shy about slashing their asking price, in many cases dropping more than 10 percent at a time until it goes low enough to attract a buyer.
On May 10, 2010,
in Commodities, Stocks,
by Tim
Well, it should be an interesting week ahead for financial markets as the massive $1 trillion European bailout has sent stock prices higher around the world, Dow futures almost 400 points higher as this is written. Last week, investors sold stocks and bought gold, the inventory at the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSE:GLD) smashing through the old record high with a 20 tonne addition on Thursday, the largest single-day gain in more than year.
In light of the events of last week, Felix Salmon at Reuters is urging his readers to sell their stocks - in a widely viewed video that showed up at the Huffington Post over the weekend and again in this item today where conventional investing wisdom is questioned. Recent events have no doubt sent even more investors fleeing the stock market for good – it remains to be seen how many of them hang on to their newly acquired gold.
On May 10, 2010,
in Uncategorized,
by Tim
TOP STORIES
EU Crafts $962B Show of Force to Halt Euro Crisis – Bloomberg
Euro, stock markets jump on EU’s $1-trillion crisis plan – Globe and Mail
Why European rescue may be bad news for Britain – Telegraph
Bipartisan statesmanship reigns in Senate banking debate – McClatchy
What Business Is Wall Street In? – Cuban, Business Insider
U.S. exchanges summoned to DC after market plunge – Reuters
Is Your Senator A Bankster? – Ratigan, HuffPo
Is the US too big to fail? – voxeu
Have these these links delivered to your inbox every weekday.
MARKETS/INVESTING
Oil jumps to around $78 on emergency rescue deal – Reuters
Gold Slips from Record Weekly Finish as Europe “Defends Its Money” – Bullion Vault
Feds probing JPMorgan trades in silver pit – NY Post
Frayed investors eye skittish stocks – Reuters
Staying sane in a crazy market – EconBrowser
Salmon: Get Out Of The Stock Market Right Now – HuffPo
![[Most Recent USD from www.kitco.com]](http://www.weblinks247.com/indexes/idx24_usd_en_2.gif)
Recent Comments