Remember the classic scene in the movie “Casablanca” where the head Nazi wants Rick’s nightclub to be shut down? And so, with Humphrey Bogart standing there wondering what the hell is going on, Claude Rains announces “I am shocked, shocked that there is gambling going on in this establishment”. Then immediately, Peter Lorre walks up and says “here are your winnings for the night”.
So, I know many of you are going to have to suspend disbelief at what I am about to announce. In good conscience I have to warn you with the following:
Yesterday, in the Southern District Court of New York, plaintiffs Brian Beatty and Peter Laskaris [cases 10-08146 and 10-01857] sued J.P. Morgan and HSBC for MANIPULATING THE SILVER MARKET.
The reaction, upon hearing this news, of random passerby’s out my front window pretty much says it all:
Defendants are accused of the following [from the complaint]:
"between in or about March 2008 and continuing through the present, Defendants have combined, conspired and agreed to restrain trade in, fix, and manipulate prices of silver futures and options contracts traded in this District on the COMEX division of the NYMEX. Defendants thereby have violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C ¶1. Also during the Class Period, individual Defendants have intentionally acted to manipulate prices of COMEX silver futures and options contracts. Such conduct violates Section 9(a) of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. ¶13b."
What makes this case so interesting, besides the various allegations, is that the plaintiffs seek class action status. So, all you guys who have traded silver since March 2008 and lost money, here is your “lottery ticket” for remuneration plus treble damages.
What’s the world coming to when two of the largest market manipulators and crooks most respected Wall Street firms get accused for simply “making a market”?
-vegas
u r right vegas - how could anyone suspect manipulation in a market as tame as silver?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely an interesting development.
ace