Rumor circulating in metals markets

Unconfirmed reports suggest a major bullion bank may have run into serious trouble after large silver short positions were forced to unwind.

Here’s the timeline being discussed:

- Friday: chatter about a bullion bank struggling to meet margin requirements on sizable silver shorts

- Sunday night: unverified claims (via Hal Turner) say a systemically important bank failed a margin call

- Allegedly, the silver shorts were liquidated, followed by a $34B emergency liquidity injection via the Fed’s repo window

If true, this would fit a familiar pattern:

- Historic gold & silver short positions held by bullion banks, implicitly backstopped to avoid systemic fallout
- Repo liquidity would be the fastest way to stop a full-blown collapse.

Key detail to watch: Around 8:30am Monday, data may show whether a TBTF bank tapped overnight Fed repo liquidity in that ~$34B range.

Banks the market is quietly watching :

1. JPMorgan Chase ($JPM)
2. HSBC Holdings ($HSBC)
3. Scotiabank
4. BNP Paribas
5. UBS Group ($UBS)
6. Deutsche Bank ($DB)
7.Citigroup ($C)
8. Goldman Sachs ($GS)

Still a rumor, not confirmation