Margins and leverage in the futures markets

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http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/comment/104837#comment-104837
 
Seems to me this is grinding an axe pretty hard. More margin is a good idea whenever volatility is high - the direction of motion shouldn't be the issue, it's the speed, since you could be either long or short. So yeah, if margins got to be high because beta was high going up, with beta still high going down, what's the diff? As he even points out, this is good for phyzz pm buyers anyway.
 
I say bring on the margin calls. This shakes out the paper hangers and makes PM's attractive and cheap. I have some dry powder I want to fire off anyway. In fact, make margins a hundred percent. That would end nearly every vehicle but physical from existence.
 
To be fair margins should reflect the risk of the underlying asset.
The fact that silver has higher margins is justified given it´s higher volatility compared to gold.
The problem, however, is that the volatility is created artificially to supress prices.
Another issue is that margins on treasury and S&P500 futures don´t reflect their inherent risk.
 
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