The Comex is owned and operated by the CME Group, which acquired the NYMEX in 2008. The CME Group sets platinum margin requirements based on volatility in the futures market. The more frothy the markets, the higher the CME sets margin requirements. Here’s a full list of the changes to Tier 1 platinum margin requirements for NYMEX platinum futures contracts since 2009:
Jan. 12, 2009
Initial: $3,025
Maintenance: $2,750
April 15, 2009
Initial: $6,600
Maintenance: $6,000
June 26, 2009
Initial: $4,950
Maintenance: $4,500
June 29, 2009
Initial: $1,100
Maintenance: $1,000
April 30, 2010
Initial: $3,850
Maintenance: $3,500
June 7, 2010
Initial: $5,500
Maintenance: $5,000
Sept. 2, 2010
Initial: $4,125
Maintenance: $3,750
Nov. 16, 2010
Initial: $4,950
Maintenance: $4,500
May 31, 2011
Initial: $3,850
Maintenance: $3,500
Oct. 4, 2011
Initial: $4,950
Maintenance: $4,500
Feb. 13, 2012
Initial: $3,850
Maintenance: $3,500
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The Comex is owned and operated by the CME Group, which acquired the Comex on August 22, 2008. The CME Group sets gold margin requirements based on volatility in the futures market. The more frothy the markets, the higher the CME sets margin requirements. Here’s a full list of the changes to Tier 1 gold margin requirements for COMEX 100 gold futures contracts since 2009:
The Comex is owned and operated by the CME Group, which acquired the Comex on August 22, 2008. The CME Group sets silver margin requirements based on volatility in the futures market. The more frothy the markets, the higher the CME sets margin requirements. Here’s a full list of the changes to Tier 1 silver margin requirements for the COMEX’s 5,000-ounce silver futures contract since 2009:
Less volatility means less risk, so the CME’s letting investors ratchet up the risk in their trading accounts. And yet, margins may still have room to fall.
The Comex is owned and operated by the CME Group, which acquired the Comex on August 22, 2008. The CME Group sets copper margin requirements based on volatility in the futures market. The more frothy the markets, the higher the CME sets margin requirements. Here’s a full list of the changes to copper margin requirements for COMEX copper futures contracts since 2009:
This spring’s silver price collapse followed a surge in silver prices to a brand new nominal record high around $50 an ounce. As soon as the white metal took out that milestone, the selling started and it didn’t stop until silver prices had shed more than $18 an ounce. That was good for a 36 percent plunge in eight days!
Markets are jumpy right now. Investors are positioning themselves for an announcement from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday morning. Bernanke will speak from his annual pow-wow with several others central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While many were anticipating Bernanke would announce more economic stimulus (just as he did last year after the Jackson Hole meeting), that notion seems to have gained a lot less traction in recent days. That’s lent some strength to an otherwise ailing dollar and pushed investors into riskier trades – particularly equities.
In a sign of the times, the SPDR Gold Trust actually surpassed the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) to become the world’s largest ETF yesterday (per 
To answer that chicken-and-egg question, we’ve got to understand why the CME Group adjusts silver margin requirements in the first place. To put it bluntly: they do it to protect their own interests. Any sign of froth or increased volatility in the silver futures market potentially exposes the CME Group to losses.
