Was founded in 1973 by Jim Cook, and has since grown to be one of the nation’s leading silver and gold dealers. In the 50+ years of service, IRI has logged 400,000 transactions for 250,000 customers equaling $3 billion sold and delivered.
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FROM THE DESK OF JIM COOK
TO SELL OR NOT TO SELL
I received a letter recently from a long-time client who reminded me that I promised to tell him and others when I sold my silver. Back in 1980, I sold my silver for almost $50 an ounce. Over the next 30 years, I managed to buy another quantity. I am still holding this silver and don’t plan to sell it any time soon. However, I reserve the right to change my mind if the price gets crazy. If I am still writing my newsletter at the time, I will certainly mention any sale.
This is the last thing Ted Butler wrote for us. He was trying to summarize what he saw happening in silver. His illness was making it difficult to write, but he did a good job of conveying his final thoughts.
Price volatility in silver has been heavy recently, but two conditions point to much greater price volatility ahead. Currently, bearish futures-market positions on the COMEX feature an unprecedented short position by a single managed-money trader of some 13,000 contracts (65 million ounces). This is combined with a heavy commercial short position. The short position by a big managed-money trader is particularly concerning since it is larger than what the largest silver mines produce in a year and is clearly not a hedged position, but purely speculative, appearing to violate speculative position limits. While bearish on its face, should this big short get caught in a squeeze, all heck could develop on the upside.