Understood - but would like to know how, exactly, they intended to profit from the artificially boosted precious metal prices.
J.P. Morgan obviously profited directly, in that they could then charge higher trading fees based on the (slightly) higher prices - like charging 3% on an order of 50,000 ounces of gold at the artificially inflated price of $2,000 / oz. - instead of at the "real" price of, say, $1,990 / oz., thus yielding an additional profit of 3% x $500,000 = $15,000. So that would have been the day's "haul?!" Peanuts!
Regards,
The nature of the fake trades these folks injected into the market were different from what you are positing. They would place large limit orders In the market indicating A sudden high demand for some particular underlying. The limit orders would not fill, But other market participants would see the enhanced demand for a long position, for example, and follow on with their own long orders. And then these guys would place market orders short the market, When these guys then canceled their long limit orders, the perceived demand would apparently disappear from the market. They then placed short bets and the followers of their trading would find themselves on the wrong side of the market. That is how spoofing works.