Dear Mr. Hommel,

Mike Gorham has asked me to respond to your recent email. It is clear that you have read and considered Mr. Gorham's response to Mr. Butler's allegations concerning manipulation of the silver market, so I will not repeat the lengthy discussion of the various regulatory tools and Programs that we have in place to monitor futures trading. Rather I will note that the Commission has responded, as recently as last month, directly Mr. Butler (as well as to others like yourself that have been monitoring the exchange of correspondence). We have carefully examined his allegations and found them to be not credible and not supported by facts. Nonetheless, we take very seriously our responsibility for regulating the commodity futures and option markets and will remain vigilant with respect to every such market.

If you or anyone else has any, specific, first-hand evidence concerning violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, please forward it. The Commission staff, however, will be unable to provide you with any specific information about alleged violations or about any individuals that may be mentioned, because of prohibitions in the Act concerning disclosure of confidential information about the business dealings of any specific trader and because it is the Commission's policy not to disclose whether it is investigating a specific matter, unless and until such time as a legal action is taken.

I hope this information is helpful to you.

Sincerely,

David A. Kass

Senior Economist