Something is definitely happening in London.....I like it!
The momentum is back....too powerful for the shorts to push down.
Could the following have something to do with it?
LME stands behind silver over brokers' objections
NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange stands by its decision to launch a silver contract even as some brokers have raised some objections this week as executives converged here for the annual Copper Club Banquet.
Among the criticisms lobbed by brokers include that the London Bullion Marketers Association already provides a liquid market for silver and its member banks already make adequate markets. Traders have also complained about the cost of opening new trading books for silver.
''Bear in mind that half of our members already trade silver,'' said David King, the LME's chief executive, speaking to reporters after a speech given at the American Metal Market copper forum. "They will be able to hit the deck running.
''But what our members have asked for is a higher level of transparency and multiple delivery points, as compared to the LBMA,'' he added. ''There are many metal producers that already do business on the LME that have silver (by-product) production and would feel more comfortable doing their hedging on the LME.''
He noted that the LBMA is being pushed into a higher regulatory environment. ''We are already prepared to provide daily prices, daily stock reports, volume and open interest reports,'' he said.
He declined to comment on specific warehouse locations, other than to note that producers are ''keen for global delivery points in the U.K., continental Europe and Asian markets.''
''We're doing all of the background research into physical locations and making sure the infrastructure is in place,'' he said. ''We'll be putting out a paper next week on (guidelines) for warehouse location approval.''
He noted that warehouse would likely need to be able to accommodate a higher level of insurance and security, given the increased value of silver inventories relative to other base metals.
''Clearly, we'll be looking for a higher level of financial standing from our warehouses carrying silver,'' he said.
Another key difference between the proposed LME silver contract and other silver trading venues is that the LME will eventually accept delivery of granules, the specifications of which King acknowledged that would be harder to verify.
''We won't be introducing granules for delivery until October,'' he said, giving the exchange a chance to work out those issues.
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