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The Court in Ewing stated that the 24-page opinion letter,
written by attorney Avram Salkin, was the most influential item
in the Hunter promotional material. Ewing v. Commissioner, 91
T.C. at 418. Petitioner testified that he received and read the
opinion letter along with the other promotional material. In
contrast to the substantial discussion of tax benefits, the
profitability of the Hunter program was neither seriously
discussed nor quantified.
Second, petitioner's trades indicate a greater interest in
the tax advantages of the Hunter program than in obtaining a
profit. Petitioner's expert, Edward Horowitz, testified that the
gold market was very volatile in December 1980 and that there is
a greater potential to profit in a volatile market. Thus, Klein
was correct in advising petitioner to enter the market at that
time. Mr. Horowitz also testified that petitioner's modification
of his straddle position on December 10, 1980, which resulted in
a substantial loss, actually increased petitioner's profit poten-
tial. While the Court does not disagree with Mr. Horowitz's
opinion that the modification of petitioner's straddle increased
his profit position, the Court finds that the modification was
motivated by a desire to obtain a tax benefit. Petitioner placed
his first straddle positions on December 1, 1980, and then, only
9 days later, he modified his positions as a result of a recom-
mendation from Klein that the market was moving and that, by
making additional trades, petitioner could realize substantial
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