The Road to Bullion Default: Part II

Again we are confronted with two possibilities. Is JP Morgan a silver philanthropist (and self-saboteur)? Or is JP Morgan a silver predator?

In summation, a decoupling event where paper-bullion prices go toward zero while the price for real/physical bullion soars could result from multiple causes or scenarios. It could come from direct fears or suspicions of the legitimacy of one of the major bullion funds; or it could start with the collapse of a much smaller, less-significant fund. Alternately, the triggering of this decoupling could be caused by some external event which threatens the solvency of the banks acting as guarantors/custodians for these funds.

We could also have a hybrid event. Fears of the solvency/legitimacy of one or more bullion funds could result in an exodus of unit-holders out of the paper-bullion market, and into the physical bullion market. What began as a "decoupling" could end up as a default event. Ultimately all that investors need to know is that sooner or later, most/all holders of paper-bullion products will be threatened with catastrophic losses.

At the time of publication the author had no position in any of the stocks mentioned but he does hold gold and silver bullion.

Follow @bullionbulls

This article was written by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

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