Do you know this man?
You should... he is now in charge of the CFTC, the government agency that "regulates" gold and silver futures trading, now that our buddy Gary Gensler has retired. His name is Tim Massad and he will do absolutely nothing to enforce the rule of law or ensure fairly traded markets.
How do I know this? Well, Tim Massad last worked directly for Geithner at the US Treasury department where he was best known for overseeing the 0bn troubled asset relief program, known as TARP, set up in 2008 to help prop-up ailing US banks following the financial crisis. He also worked on managing the US Treasury's investment in Citigroup. Before joining the US Treasury as chief counsel for the Office of Financial Stability in 2009, Massad spent 25 years with law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore, where he represented a range of companies including investment bank Lazard and worked to standardize legal documents that allowed derivatives to be actively traded between counterparties.
So lemme get this straight:
1. Oversaw using taxpayer money to bailout bank's gambling debts
2. "Managed" using taxpayer funds to prop up zombie bank Citi
3. Is a lawyer who represented investment banks
4. Worked to smooth-out the legal issues arising from the invention of derivatives... helped make it workable from a legal standpoint, in other words.
So if you wanted the archetype of a bankster shill/taxpayer nemesis, this would be your guy. You know what I don't see in any of this? Any experience in Commodities. Or in Futures. Or in Trading. But by all means, lets put him in charge of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Senate confirmed his appointment earlier this year.
So we have every reason to expect that he will watch out for small investors and will ensure free and fair precious metals markets just as his predecessor did. So meet the new boss... when it comes to gold and silver, he's the same as the old boss:
And a bonus pic, illustrating the fine work we've come to expect of the CFTC in the metals markets.
