Silver Shortage gets Worse, Price Drops Again!
(If you don't hold it, you don't own it)
Silver Stock Report
by Jason Hommel, March 20, 2008

Note - This was part of an E.Mail Jason sent me today. It has long been rumoured there is a very large shortage of Silver and after reading this article it seems the rumours are true.

Three more major silver dealers are reported to be out of silver today: The U.S. Mint, Kitco, and Monex.  This, on top of the major dealers yesterday, Amark, Perth Mint, CNI Numismatics, and APMEX, all reported sold out.  Further, nearly all of Canada is reported to be out of silver, from Vancouver to Toronto.

This is unprecedented, and is a perfect case of market manipulation in the paper market at COMEX and other futures exchanges to see silver prices continue to drop down to below $17/oz. today.  Paper promises can be created endlessly, but real silver cannot.

This is NOT a case of the dealers getting spooked, and selling out to the refiners just in time, at peak prices.  This is a case of the public buying up the stock at coin shops across the world ever since gold hit $1000/oz..  That event finally sparked a little of the public's buying of silver and gold.  Thus, the typical coin shop flow of silver to the refiners just stopped in the last few weeks, and especially the last two days. 

This is NOT a case of the public creating a top with 'everyone' in silver, because nobody's in silver yet.  In 2006, only $1 billion was spent on investment silver, which is 0.007% of the $13.5 trillion of money in the banks.  As I have long reported, the silver market is so small, there is no room for new investor demand, not even 0.1% of money could be spent on silver, because that would be $13 billion, which would push silver prices to $200/oz., and we are seeing only the tiniest beginnings of that. 

$13 billion would be almost enough to buy all the silver produced by the mines in one year, which would leave nothing for industry.  It would essentially double demand, but supply would remain the same.

Furthermore, this is not a top because the public continues to get to the coin shops, and is now getting on waiting lists for silver. The public is not yet in, so how can the price drop?

This is a case of price fixing and manipulation, like communism.  Sausage is reported to cost 1 link per ruble, but there is no sausage.  Silver price is quoted, but there is little to no silver.
 
Shortages are evidence of price fixing.  Price fixing results in shortages.  They are price fixing silver at a below market price over on the paper exchanges in New York and around the world.

How long can it go on?  Until people stop trusting the paper exchanges, which could be after they default and fail to deliver silver.  Or we could see a severe backwardation, as people refuse to trust and buy futures contracts, which would thus sell at a discount to real silver. Then, the spot price will really go up, maybe about double or more very quickly.

Regarding Monex and Kitco:

Monex has a shortage of 100 oz bars and silver eagles. They say that they are 5-7 days behind on orders for 100 oz bars and at least 10 days behind on silver eagle orders.

"This message has been placed on KITCO's buying board in large red letters. TT

IMPORTANT: Due to the volatility of the market, we are experiencing a significant increase in the volume of products that are being sold to Kitco. Although Kitco and HSBC Bank are working hard to stay on top of this, you may experience a delay in your package being processed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and appreciate your patience and understanding."

bulliondirect says:

High Activity Market Alert
The precious metals industry is experiencing a substantial surge in activity which may increase the possibility of logistical delays; including customer service response time and product processing (incoming and outgoing).  Our goal is to keep our prices competitive while still delivering an exceptional transaction experience.

I now have 4 pages of reports that I posted to my member's forum, from people saying that dealers around the world are out.  Here is a summary of their comments: 

Apmex out.
CNI out.
One in the UK.
One in New Port Richy, Florida.
Ebay is selling silver over spot.
Toronto out except overpriced Eagles and Maples.
Kitco in Montreal is out of Silver Maples.
Local shop in Victoria BC is out of all bullion.
Mexico City's "Consultoria casa de cambio" is out of bullion.
There is no silver for sale in eastern Canada.
Perth Mint is out.
A world class gold and silver bullion dealer in Dubai, Lakhoo Jewelry, is almost out.
Most Utah coin shops say there is a critical shortage of silver available for purchase in Utah.
(Johnson Matthey, the largest refiner, is in Utah!)
www.argentarius.de , there where 637 Mexican Libertad still left. Now, two hours later: nothing.
We could not find silver in canada from two days now.
Conejo Coin and Stamp run out of 100 oz silver bars too.
I just cleaned out the last 25 oz. of silver at my local coin shop.
scotia bank told me that they have no silver for about 2 days now.
Camino Coin of Burlingame, CA says, There seems to be a silver shortage.
In the Detroit, Michigan area, very few coin shops have any, I got the last 2 bars at one shop.
Bulliondirect having trouble mostly with Silver Eagles and Canadian Silver Maple Leafs.
The US Mint has said they are out of silver eagles - at least for a few weeks.
Portland, OR, Alder Gold Exchange., just a few bars, bought them out.

The dealers in Vancouver are offering 100 oz bars at $1875 preorder, but we wont get them for months.

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