I don't get it.

[Southerner]

This is a question about Evil Doers manipulating the price of silver.

Given that silver like all commodities responds to supply and demand the Evil Doers who are charged with forcing the price down would either need lots of physical or long positions to dump on the market to create oversupply. But they don't have these things apparently.

So their other alternative is to purchase short positions aggressively to shake out Ma and Pa from their long positions. But to do this they will have to continually create a lower and lower price to be able to find long positions to purchase, and in doing this they are locking in losses.

The only way this can work is if purchasing a few low price shorts shakes out a lot of long positions. Maybe that's what happens.

A third alternative is that I am absolutely wrong and don't understand this at all. This is the most likely scenario.

 

[thatguy]

and in doing this they are locking in losses.

Bank and losses don't go together in this day and age... these banks have benefactors that give them billions of free dollars. These benefactors have a vested interest in low $ PMs

 

[Jislizard]

Well from what I have understood, Central banks had a massive stock from when silver was money and the silver certificates were redeemable for actual silver. Since they got rid of silver as a monetary metal, every time the price of silver started to rise the central banks sold off enough to flood the markets and bring the price down, thus preserving the value of their fiat currencies. They could do this for years but now apparently the well is running dry.

Also the lack of silver requirement for photography has removed a fair chunk of demand and the increasingly rich Indians are apparently selling their silver jewellry and buying gold, thus releasing more silver into the market place and suppressing prices whilst not necessarily manipulating the price.

That's what I heard anyway.