Woke up to this bulletin in my account this AM. I don't think they will stop the margin hikes until they shake out all the weak hands. Interesting times.

In light of the recent extreme volatility on the silver contracts, the

various exchanges that trade silver derivatives are expected to increase

margin requirements on these contracts. As the increase is anticipated

to be approximately 20%, we will be requiring an additional 25% cushion

of margin on top of the exchange-mandated maintenance margin

requirement. We anticipate this change will become effective as early as

12pm EST on 3 May 11.

For example, for the SI futures on NYMEX, as the expected NYMEX-mandated

margin requirement will be US$12,000 for each contract, we will be

requiring US$15,000 maintenance margin for each contract.

To anticipate the sudden increase in these margin requirements, our

initial margin requirements on the affected contracts were raised to

180% of current maintenance margin levels. The aim of this preemptive

change is to avoid adverse impact from the expected maintenance margin

increase. Thank you for your understanding.