Another Lawsuit Filed Against JPMC for Silver Price Manipulation

Another Lawsuit Filed Against JP Morgan For Silver Price Manipulation

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/16/2011 13:26 -0400

• Commodity Futures Trading Commission

It has been a while since JP Morgan has been sued for silver manipulation. Well, that changed on September 12, after JPM was served with its most recent lawsuit alleging silver manipulation, which we have no doubt will promptly move from JPM's Inbox straight to the trash can. Since this is a class action, virtually everyone who has ever traded silver and lost on the trade appears to be on the list of plaintiffs (we jest, although the list of impaired parties a through x is rather, well, dillutive of the purpose). It is unfortunate that the John Doe defendants are not named as the general media will merely see this as just another lawsuit which serves simply to remind us that the CFTC still has to investigate any of the allegations against JPM and HSBC for silver manipulation. And while a lot of the content in the filing is regurgitated filler, it does provide some suggested details (with price/volume - probably a first in a legal filing) on JPM's specific manipulation techniques, which makes for some engaging reading. There is substantially more, which at time reads like a diary of a conspiracy nutjob, and unfortunately that is how the conflicted legal system will see it. Because after all it is the CFTC's dute to monitor its member firms, and as long as the regulator is one of the alleged manipulators, nothing will change. That said, we certainly wish the plaintiffs lots of luck to at least get their case heard. That said, and going beyond the purvey of this lawsuit, we ask ourselves: why all the endless sound and fury over this purported ongoing price manipulation. Surely, the plaintiffs are smart enough to realize that every market intervention (such as the alleged JPM silver manipulation) always ends with price discovery in the end, i.e., silver, gold, spam, what have you, reaching its fair value. As such, should the litigants not be thanking JPM for allowing them to buy silver at lower than fair value prices? We wonder...