Free Republic

Back in July of 2014, we reported that in an attempt to obtain if not compensation, then at least confirmation of bank manipulation in the precious metals industry, a group of silver bullion banks including Deutsche Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC (later UBS was also added to the defendants) were accused of manipulating prices in the multi-billion dollar market.

For the first few months of 1980, the silver market had been slipping as newly enacted rules began tightening their grip on the Hunt Brothers’ silver scheme. On March 27 (known as “Silver Thursday”), silver opened at $15.80 and closed at $10.80 as the Hunt Brothers reportedly initiated a massive sell-off of silver and contracts to meet their obligations. Commodities and the futures market crashed on these reports, but rallied somewhat, bringing silver to $12 an ounce within a few days. But the futures contracts owned by the Hunts were predicated on silver at $35 an ounce. What had been...

Contrary to popular myth, Bunker Hunt didn't try to corner the silver market; he and his brother were the main victims in one of history's biggest swindles. Nelson Bunker Hunt, R.I.P.: The Myth of the Hunt Brothers' "Scheme to Corner the Silver Market" 23 October 2014 “Nelson Bunker Hunt, oil fortune heir whose bid to corner the silver market led to ruin, dies.” So ran the headline of the Associated Press report, as it appeared in the U.S. News & World Report online edition for October 22. Similar headlines accompanied many other obituaries of the famous Texas investor/entrepreneur, and if...