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Who's the Little Man Behind the Curtain?
Bix Weir
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Email sent to Bill Murphy of GATA


Hi Bill -

After many ranting and raving emails to the CFTC about the 20M oz. SLV inventory "switcheroo" on 12/31/07 I finally got a response....well kinda.

Before I go into it I'd like to commend David Kass of the CFTC for his answer. My emails to the CFTC are sometimes....shall I say "confrontational" but he has the ability to brush off my attitude and answer the real questions the best he can.

Here was the question I asked and here is the following exchange:

"Question for the CFTC: Is any of the silver pledged to SLV also seen as deliverable silver by the CFTC to cover the enormous short position in silver on the COMEX? Would this inventory sleight-of-hand count as deliverable silver for the silver shorts?"


Here was his response on 1/30/08 9:46am


Dear Mr. Weir:

I apologize for the delay in answering your question. I believe that I can offer some insight into whether physical silver held against the iShares Silver Trust (quote symbol: SLV) could be deliverable against NYMEX silver futures. The iShares Silver Trust has a Form S-1 on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission [see this hyperlink: iShares Silver Trust]. The Trust's statement on custody and location(s) of the physical silver reads as follows:

"The custodian may keep the trust's silver at locations in England or with the consent of the trustee and the sponsor, in other places. The custodian may, at its own expense and risk, use subcustodians to discharge its obligations to the trust under the custodian agreement. The custodian has agreed that it will only retain subcustodians if they agree to grant to the trustee and the independent accountants of the trust access to records and inspection rights similar to those granted by JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., London branch, in its agreement with the trustee. The custodian will remain responsible to the trustee for any silver held by any subcustodian appointed by the custodian to the same extent as if such silver were held by the custodian itself. "

The plain language appears to allow the possibility that physical silver held in custody of the Trust could be held in vaults outside of England. Nonetheless, based upon the January 16, 2008, listing of bars of silver held by the custodian [found on the iShares Silver Trust website: iShares® Silver Trust (SLV): Overview], silver currently held by the Trust appears to be entirely in London. Silver in London vaults is not deliverable against the NYMEX futures contract. If, in the future, any of the silver held by the Trust were to meet the location, brand, size, and quality standards of the NYMEX silver futures contract, it could be deliverable on that contract. We cannot opine on whether the Trust could or would hold silver in NYMEX-approved vaults, whether any such silver would also meet all of the futures delivery requirements, or whether the obligations of the Trust would allow (or preclude) making any such silver available for futures delivery.

I hope this has been helpful.

David Kass, Senior Economist

Market Surveillance Section

Division of Market Oversight

Commodity Futures Trading Commission



Here was my response to Mr. Kass at 10:24


Hi David

Thanks for the response and your take on the SLV inventories. I appreciate it.

I am a little confused about why you think the silver is in London. Am I missing something in one of the SLV disclosures? I don't see anything addressing where the bars are stored.

Thanks again,



Here was his reply at 12:59pm


Dear Mr. Weir,

My earlier email includes a hyperlink to the iShares Silver Trust website. On the left side of that website is a link to the "Silver Bar List," which lists the 156,645 individual bars of silver that make up the total of 156,699,416.9 troy ounces of silver held as of January 16, 2008, in the name of the Bank of New York (the Trustee) at the JPMorgan Chase Bank, London Branch (the custodian). Also, as I noted below, the Trust is required to keep the physical silver "…at locations in England or with the consent of the trustee and the sponsor, in other places."

Hope this clarifies my earlier response.

David Kass


Here was my response to his reply 2:13pm

Thanks again David.

Yes, that's the way I read "in other places" also. I think I'm confused when you say the silver "appears to be entirely in London". I don't see anything in the inventory count that mentions the physical silver being in London at all, other than it is controlled by the JP Morgan, London Branch.

Are you saying that it is possible that if some of the SLV silver was being stored in approved COMEX warehouses, it could be pledged or identified as deliverable silver in your monitoring of the silver short position?

I'm sorry for the pestering but it is very hard for most individual silver investors to get our hands around the silver dynamics with so much secrecy and backroom dealings in a market that is supposed to be freely traded.

Please let me get this straight:

1) The original question: Is any of the silver pledged to SLV also seen as deliverable silver by the CFTC to cover the enormous short position in silver on the COMEX?

The CFTC answer: It could be if the SLV silver was stored at a COMEX warehouse and had the proper specifications.

2) Would this inventory sleight-of-hand (20M oz) count as deliverable silver for the silver shorts?


Am I correct in both these answers?

Clearly, the 20M oz one day "inventory" deposit and withdrawal in SLV needs to be fully explained to the public. Being that the CFTC is the watchdog agency in the largest silver market in the world, I would expect that you would also want to get to the bottom of this abnormality and investigate. Are you aware of it and have you looked into it?

New Question: Since the CFTC has judged that there is adequate "deliverable silver" available to cover any potential COMEX silver withdrawal and having access to the serial numbers of both SLV inventories and COMEX approved warehouses, has the CFTC matched up the serial numbers to see if the silver is pledged to both situations? Does it matter to the CFTC if deliverable silver is encumbered or pledged?

Thanks again



I have not heard back from Mr. Kass yet…must be checking with his legal staff again.

Now I draw a few conclusions from this exchange:

1) The fact that I even got a fairly quick response shows a change at the CFTC which bodes well for the scrutiny of future manipulations. At least they are appearing to try more than they used to.

2) The CFTC seems to agree with friends of GATA that the SLV Trust S-1 filing gives JP Morgan, as custodian, the right to store the silver anywhere in the world without disclosing its location although it is clear to me that the "delay" in his response was clearing it through the CFTC legal department. I love the line "The plain language appears to allow the possibility that physical silver held in custody of the Trust could be held in vaults outside of England." What kind of "plain language" also "appears to allow the possibility"?! Plain language would state "physical silver can be stored at any location". That is "plain language".

3) The CFTC believes that the SLV 162M oz. of silver resides in London and thus does not count it as deliverable silver against any of the oversized short positions. That is what he stated. Unfortunately, they only believe this to be true by saying "the silver currently held by the Trust appears to be entirely in London" but have not confirmed it to be fact. He left the CFTC a very big legal "out" unless it can be proven that the CFTC was aware of that some of the SLV inventory was in COMEX warehouses. The CFTC should have or could gain access to the COMEX serial # information. Double counting can be easily proven by matching the serial numbers posted on SLV and those in the COMEX warehouses now that the SLV serial numbers are posted.

4) My theory that JPM bumped the SLV silver storage numbers at the end of the year to legally prove to the CFTC they can deliver against the short position can not be true IF the silver is in London BUT it is clear from Mr. Kass's second email that he wants to point out that the silver can be stored "in other places". Why then does the David Kass go out of his way to send the "clarifying memo" after I question the CFTC belief that the silver resides in London? Why was he was trying to "clarify" his "plain language". The "switcheroo" theory still stands.

5) It seems the CFTC does not know or care if any of the "deliverable silver" is in any way leased, swapped, loaned or otherwise encumbered when they determine that it is deliverable against the gigantic silver short positions taken on the COMEX. The CFTC only requires that the "deliverable silver" meets the location, brand, size, and quality standards of the NYMEX silver futures contract. How many times has this silver been pledged? COMEX, SLV, Pooled Accounts, Storage Accounts, Silver many parties are claiming ownership?!

6) If the COMEX short position isn't backed by any of the SLV silver inventories, as the CFTC says it isn't, then where is the deliverable silver the CFTC requires that could ever cover the over sized silver short position? How do they confirm that this silver is truly deliverable and not otherwise spoken for? The line "If, in the future, any of the silver held by the Trust were to meet the..." sounds like they are expecting at some point that silver may be removed from London and used to back silver shorts in the US. What silver is backing the shorts now?

Where does this leave us? Nowhere today but as the reality of silver manipulation unfolds and people try to cover their "legal backsides" we have a record building of official denials. I will keep you updated on future contact with the CFTC and the remaining questions that were raised but not yet answered.

Maybe the next WSJ article should read "Anybody Seen Our Silver"!

Great days for GATA!



After my exchange with Bill I began to dig deeper into the ETF's. Knowing in my gut that they are a gold and silver market manipulation tool, I began to do some research and found a treasure trove of secrets I'm sure the Cabal would rather have stay secret. Sorry, but anything I write must take into account my "Road to Roota" theories by familiarizing yourself with parts 1 & 2.

Part 1- The Original Road to Roota

Part 2- Greenspan's Golden Secret


This company is not public, has few employees, is fairly invisible and has only been in operation since 2002. Yet somehow, it has amassed a computer based trading platform so vast and far reaching that in just 5 years it boasts of being a "leading market maker….on 25 exchanges and market centers globally." So how did a startup trading company build such a large and powerful trading network so fast? What if I were to tell you that this little known company was closely connected to the senior banking Cabal market rigger himself Mr. Robert Rubin and the former NYMEX Chairman Vincent Viola?

First let's look at the "Authorized Participants" of the gold and silver ETF's as outlined in the StreetTracks GLD Prospectus and the iShares SLV Prospectus:


Obviously the expected names in the Cabal jump out such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and other public financial companies with similar interests in keeping the fiat money system alive and well. (Bear Hunter is a JV of Bear, Stearns). All with "supposedly" very solid reputations and solid track records…they are what you would expect an "Authorized Participant" would be. Incidentally, this list alone should tell you that the gold and silver ETF's are not a benign holding company for an honest investor to place his precious metal holdings. The Prospectus even states as much over and over and over again. The silver and gold are 100% controlled by the authorized participants. They can put it in and pull it out at will. Who else in their right mind would lend their precious metals to an ETF and get NOTHING in return for doing so? It is more than likely that these hoards of gold and silver have more than one claim against them. Chief of which I believe is the backing for the oversized COMEX short positions in gold and silver. Let's look a little closer at those "Authorized Participants"…

Wait...who in the world is EWT, LLC?

I'd never heard of them. They aren't a bank or a large publicly traded financial institution like all the other "Authorized Participants". Turns out they are a very private hedge fund that has uses "state-of-the-art technology and algorithmic models to make electronic markets". Why is a "state-of-the-art technology and algorithmic models" company an "Authorized Participant" in two of the most non-technology focused securities ever publicly traded…the storage of Physical Gold and Silver… Let's find out!

I did a Google search on "EWT, LLC" and all I found was a boat load of ads trying to hire computer experts. Interestingly, there is also only one area of their company website that you can have access to without a "secret password"…what's with all the secrets? Here's their careers section link:

Now read this brochure from the careers section:

"While our business is highly profitable, we also perform a critical social good. We make money by improving prices available to the public and by advertising these prices as widely as possible. Every second in every major market, our operations ensure that pension funds, mutual funds, charitable foundations, university endowments, individual retirement accounts, and the general public obtain better prices for the assets they buy and sell."

Am I losing my mind or are they declaring that "they make money by improving prices". Isn't it against the law to make money by influencing the price? Is this a flat out admission of fraud? And there's this:

We are not your father's "Wall Street broker"

"We employ super-intelligent professionals dedicated to teamwork and the open exchange of ideas. We succeed because of what we do rather than where we went to school. ….If you feel you are among the smartest people in your class or peer group, you may possess the intellectual qualities we seek. ….But, if you are uncomfortable working cooperatively with other highly intelligent people in a critical, success-oriented environment, EWT is not the place for you. We leave our egos at the door every morning."

This is reeks of the arrogance that pervades the entire cabal….

According to some filings EWT, LLC had ...less than 10 employees in 2003 but is now a "leading market maker...on 25 exchanges and market centers globally"! Wow, these guys are either REALLY good or REALLY CONNECTED TO SOMEONE POWERFUL!

Let's look closer.

The co-founders of EWT, LLC were the former NYMEX Chairman Vincent Viola and a GOLDMAN SACHS MAN named David Salomon who "reported directly to ROBERT RUBIN". Yes, the King Pin himself! If you know GATA you know that ROBERT RUBIN = BANKING CABAL

Let's look at David Salomon..

"David Salomon co-founded, with former NYMEX Chairman Vincent Viola, EWT LLC and Madison Tyler, two of the most successful algorithmic-based trading companies in the securities industry. He also recently co-founded FATTOC LLC, a trading company and developer of next-generation trading-related applications for major financial institutions. Mr. Salomon began his career in finance in the risk arbitrage department at Goldman Sachs, where he ran the equity strategy group and reported directly to Robert E. Rubin. Mr. Salomon spent 15 years of his career as a trader in the energy markets. He was a founding member of the oil-trading department at J. Aron & Company. He went on to help found the energy derivatives business at both Banker's Trust and American International Group, Inc. (AIG). In 1978, Mr. Salomon received his B.S. degree in politics and psychology from Princeton University graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. In 1982, Mr. Salomon graduated with distinction from the Wharton School."

(QUICK SIDE NOTE: Mr Salomon's company Madison Tyler is where Lawerence Eugene Harris worked while he was on the Regulation SHO Roundtable that was convened to investigate naked short selling on the exchanges…I challenge other GATA folks to dig into those depths!)

Not disturbed enough yet? Here's an interesting new rule from the NYSE that will further disguise our friends over at EWT.

The New Definition Of Program Trading

Beginning September 30, 2007, the NYSE changed the definition of program trading to eliminate the $1 million requirement.

The definition of program trading was also redefined to be more specifically focused on trades that are part of a larger "coordinated" strategy.

"Program trading" means either (A) index arbitrage or (B) any trading strategy involving the related purchase or sale of a "basket" or group of 15 or more stocks, provided, however, that the purchases or sales of stocks are part of a coordinated trading strategy, even if the purchases or sales are neither entered or executed contemporaneously, nor part of a trading strategy involving options or futures contracts on an index stock group, or options on any such futures contracts, or otherwise relating to a stock market index.

What the revised definition means is that many types of algorithmic trading strategies will not be considered "program trading."

How many other "algorithmic-based" trading companies and hedge funds are in on the market manipulation game? My guess is there is quite a network working together with the goal of centralizing the world's wealth into the hands of the few. I believe that after the Enron and other high profile scandals in early 2000 they determined they had to do their dirty work outside the scrutiny that public companies attract and they have gone "underground" into private hedge funds. Remember when Greenspan railed again hedge funds a few years back? Greenspan knows he created a monster in the 1960's with his secret computer-based market rigging programs. Unfortunately, the rigging operations had to be shared with most of the large financial institutions for them to work and that is like giving matches to a pyromaniac and telling them not to light up! The market riggers in the US became so powerful over the years most have truly abandoned the original intent of Mr. Greenspan's plan to add a benevolent "digital invisible hand" to Capitalism. Now Greenspan and friends in "The Group" are finding it hard to slay the monster they have created. This truly is a titanic battle to save what is left of America and the entire world.


"EWT continues to expand into more markets and exchanges, further leveraging the firm's technology and trading expertise globally. EWT is becoming a premier liquidity provider on all major domestic and international exchanges, making markets in equity, fixed income and derivative securities around the clock, and around the world. EWT is one of only a few trading firms that combines today all of the elements required for tomorrow's trading opportunities - scalable and cutting-edge technology, uniquely sustainable proprietary trading strategies and a commitment to investing in human capital."

So there we have it. The Robert Rubin connection seals the deal. SLV and GLD are definitely a part of the computer market rigging operations of the banking Cabal. I believe EWT runs their rigging programs through the accounts of the "Authorized Participants" on the COMEX as they buy and sell to each other to fix prices and orchestrate market take downs. Their designation as "Authorized Participants" of both SLV and GLD gives the needed credibility for their shorting activities on the COMEX/NYMEX markets. No doubt about it in my book.


I'm sorry but I truly believe without the complete destruction of computer based markets and our current fiat money system there is no "Liberty and justice for all" in our future.

Bix Weir

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