"When misguided public opinion honors what is despicable and despises what is honorable, punishes virtue and rewards vice, encourages what is harmful and discourages what is useful, applauds falsehood and smothers truth under indifference or insult, a nation turns its back on progress and can be restored only by the terrible lessons of catastrophe." … Frederic Bastiat


Evil talks about tolerance only when it’s weak. When it gains the upper hand, its vanity always requires the destruction of the good and the innocent, because the example of good and innocent lives is an ongoing witness against it. So it always has been. So it always will be. And America has no special immunity to becoming an enemy of its own founding beliefs about human freedom, human dignity, the limited power of the state, and the sovereignty of God. – Archbishop Chaput

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Monday, May 2, 2011

CME Group hikes margin requirements for Silver - AGAIN

For the third time in a week, the exchange has hiked margin requirements for trading silver futures contracts.

New margin requirement rises to $16,200 from $14,513. Maintenance margin moves up to $12,000 from $10,750.

Hedgers pay the maintenance margin as their initial margin requirements.

It looks as if the exchange is extremely worried after seeing a nearly 10% plunge in silver prices overnight. It will make it more and more difficult for small specs to participate and as I have said previously here, will tend to magnify downward moves in price as margin calls escalate rapidly.

Small specs - be extremely careful in this market right now. There is an attempt going on here to rid the general public of its positions leaving only the big boys to play.

That will also aggravate the volatility even more as open interest drops off and liquidity begins to shrink.

Gold - 8 Hour chart update

Silver fails to hold $45 in afternoon trading

Silver - 8 hour chart update