Another point--I would not be in the precious metals market to begin with (both as a "stacker" as well as a holder of precious metals stocks if I felt the market was so manipulated. Why be in a market where such forces can control your financial destiny?
Even Banks have limitations. Eventually the JPM stronghold on silver shorting will evaporate. The position is ,as I said inherited. They will look for market conditions that allow them to get out of that position and at that time the silver market will be more free. Does that mean silver will go up ? Probably, but then it will be subjected to someone else ,unless of course regulations are made to prevent it.
Basically, I see commodity markets as operating on supply/ demand fundamentals with added hedging which should bend or can change temporarily the supply/demand fundamentals but not destroy it.
When an institution with seemingly unlimited funding gets involved in commodities ,it destroys the supply/demand fundamentals .
This gets back to Banks with (seemingly unlimited funding from the FED) That's suppose to be Commercial Banks but since the end of Glass Steagall,it really makes little difference. Commercial Banks are suppose to lend,which is why they get FED RES. money but then they lend to other subsidiaries (Investment Banks)of themselves ,then use that cash to drive the price of a commodity out of it's normal supply/demand fundamentals.
Something is very wrong and JPM is a Prime example of this corruption but..... If there be no regulation,How can they be guilty (by law).
I agree with you that there are a lot of charlatans in the PM arena. I buy Projects of PM's,partially because of the commodity and partially because of the return that could be ,in the future with almost all currencies in decline. ,"Projects and Structure"