Although silver futures prices took a plunge, the demand for physical silver still remains at an alltime high. The differential between futures prices and spot prices opened further, increasing the backwardation ratio. While futures prices on the COMEX and LBMA were in the $60-$80 range, the Shanghai Metals Exchange was still offering spot physical silver north of $90-$110 per oz.
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA said Chief Executive Officer Luigi Lovaglio has been notified he is under investigation for alleged market manipulation and obstructing regulators in the bank's takeover of rival Mediobanca SpA. Monte Paschi also said it received a search order from Milan prosecutors. The company is confident in the correctness of its actions and is fully cooperating with authorities, it said in the statement on Thursday, following a media report.
The sci-fi films and books take place in a universe where a single, desolate and hostile planet, called Arrakis, controls the production of the Spice Melange, a powder that grants its users mind expansion powers and enhanced space travel mental navigation properties that are essential for interplanetary transport. Wars, espionage, and intrigue all become part of the plots, since control of the spice confers power over the entire market, and thus, the universe.
