There's been quite a bit of talk about Andrew these past 24 hours. I've received a handful of emails asking me for my opinion so I thought I would start this new thread.
If you're wondering what all the fuss is about, this all started yesterday when Jeffrey Christian of the CPM Group, who was speaking at the Silver Summit in Spokane, Washington, concluded his presentation with some "revelations" about Andy's personal life and background. The story was then picked up by Kitco:
Rather amazingly, just a little over an hour later, the story was picked up and repeated verbatim by Forbes:
Hmmmm. What, if anything, do we make of this?
Beats me but I do think some context is required. Below is a link to Jeffrey's company website:
There you'll find all sorts of interesting tidbits such as Jeffrey's scowling visage:
Also included is a bio that prominently mentions: "(Jeffrey) has advised many of the world’s largest corporations and institutional investors on managing their commodities price and market exposures, as well as providing advisory services to the World Bank, United Nations, International Monetary Fund, and numerous governments."
Not sure that's the type of endorsement most here would value but apparently Jeffrey thinks it's important. Additionally, this is worth noting, right on the homepage:
"CPM Group is known for its research and analysis of the metals markets, its overall economic analysis of commodities markets, and its expertise in financial engineering, using derivatives to structure optimized positions for commercial hedgers, and for institutional and high net worth individual investors."
So...in my humble interpretation...it certainly appears that Jeffrey and his company have a vested interest in maintaining the current, leveraged, fractional reserve derivative system. I mean, it says so right there on their home page, does it not?
Anyway, Jeffrey has had a bug up his rear for quite some time now regarding GATA, Bill Murphy and Andrew Maguire. Again, I wonder why? Just speculating here but could it be related to his company's "expertise in financial engineering that utilizes derivatives..."? GATA has worked for years to end the blatant corruption of the manipulated paper (derivative) metals markets. If GATA was ultimately successful in ending paper metal derivative manipulation, would The CPM Group need to come up with a new business plan? Again, hmmmm.
Which brings us to my friend, Andrew. It's been almost four years but do you recall just whom and which organization brought Andrew to the forefront at the CFTC "hearing"? Oh yah...it was GATA! How about that?
And now here is something to be seized upon. Early in the clip above, Bill Murphy states "Mr. Maguire, formerly of Goldman Sachs, is a metals trader in London..." It is this supposed Goldman Sachs lineage that Jeffrey is claiming to be false. Apparently, by extension, if Andrew didn't actually work for Goldman Sachs, then everything else he has claimed or demonstrated must then be false, up to and including the JPM whistleblowers.
First of all, regarding Goldman Sachs, I challenge anyone reading this to scour the internet and find one, single incidence of Andrew Maguire stating that he worked for Goldman Sachs. This initial claim by Bill Murphy has been repeated and reported over and over but, as far as I know, never stated by Andrew. I suppose he could have refuted it somewhere along the way but, as I know from personal experience, once you start down the path of refuting everything that gets said about you on the internet, it leaves little time for anything else.
In the end, I guess I'm confused about what this has to do with anything, anyway. Is Jeffrey claiming that unless you've worked for Goldman Sachs like him, you are not qualified to offer an expert opinion on the metals? If that's the case, how come this site is so successful? I've been a stockbroker, a mutual fund wholesaler and a failed internet entrepreneur. Does that make all of my CoT, BPR, Comex and chart analysis worthless? Apparently not. And what about Andy? All of his trades are documented on the Coghlan Capital site and the only complaint I ever heard from anyone in "Turd's Army" was that the hours were too early for the average, U.S.-based trader. If the guy consistently makes money and, as you can see on the TFMR homepage, Andy is up considerably since April of 2012, why would a Goldman Sachs background matter?
Look....Andy's been awful busy lately. We haven't even spoken for over a month. By email exchange, though, I know he was very frustrated by the sudden ending of the 5-year CFTC silver investigation and he's been working behind the scenes to get the two JPM whistleblowers a fair hearing. Knowing this, the timing and scurrilous nature of Kitco's and Forbes' reporting seems rather convenient.
I feel fortunate to consider Andrew Maguire my friend. He is a good and decent gentleman who, like me, has found himself thrust into the limelight, fighting against the central bankers, the bullion bankers and their abettor media. Though we've never met in person, I can assure you that he is an accomplished trader, wise to the ways of the international metals markets. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience, which he has unselfishly shared with me and all of us here at TFMR, in order to increase our understanding of the markets. At great personal expense, he continues to forge ahead in his quest to end the price suppression scheme that has bankrupted companies and brought great harm to their workers, particularly in underdeveloped nations. For his effort, he is subject to all sorts of personal attacks, yesterday being just the latest example.
He has my friendship and support. He should have yours, too.
TF
