JPMorgan, HSBC Sued For Alleged Silver Conspiracy

Another very busy day for stories on Wednesday. The silver story was finally discovered by The Wall Street Journal yesterday. The headline reads "Act Now, CFTC Is Urged". The story is more than worth reading... and the picture that accompanies the article is worth looking at... and the link is here.

Business News Network in Canada devoted nine minutes to the silver market manipulation issue raised by CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton on Tuesday. Arguing that "there's nothing to see here" was Jeff Christian of CPM Group, while Silver-Investor.com's David Morgan argued that "there is something to see". [Jeff Christian is a storm trooper for the dark side of the Force. - Ed]. The link to the video clip entitled "Silver market manipulation?" is linked here.

Of course the big story yesterday was news of the lawsuits filed against both JPMorgan and HSBC USA forconspiring to drive down silver prices and reaping hundreds of millions of dollars of illegal profits. Those two names should not come as a shock to you, dear reader... as I've been going on about these two bullion banks for more than three years now. I have several stories on this... and the first one is a Reuters piece headlined "JPMorgan, HSBC sued for alleged silver conspiracy". It should also come as no surprise that silver analyst Ted Butler was the first one through the door with this story... and the link is here.

Not to be outdone... Bloomberg has also issued a story on this yesterday. The current headline reads "HSBC, JPMorgan Accused in Suit of Placing ‘Spoof’ Silver Orders". This is the third title [and second URL] change that this story has gone through in the last six hours. The prior one spoke of 'collusion and manipulation'. The Orwellian 'thought police' at Bloomberghave softened it down to what you have before you now... complete with a photo of a GMAC building... and the link is here. I thank Florida reader Donna Badach for sending it along.

The last word on this lawsuit comes from a Dow Jones Newswires story published this morning over at theaustralian.com.auwebsite. The headline there reads "JPMorgan, HSBC accused of manipulating silver price". I thank 'David in California' for the story... and if you don't want to read it, you should at least look at the picture. The link is here.

I have several non-precious metals-related stories for you now. The first is from reader Roy Stephens and it's an Ambrose Evans-Pritchard offering from Tuesday's edition of The Telegraph. The headline reads "Greece reignites Europe debt woes". Their debt problems, which were briefly swept under the carpet a few months back, have returned with a vengeance. It's not an overly long read... and it's definitely worth your time. The link is here.

Here's Roy Stephens' second offering today. It's also from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard... and is from yesterday's edition of The Telegraph. The simmering crisis on the eurozone fringes has erupted again as the full impact of debt deflation hits home, testing political solidarity and raising fresh doubts about the workability of Europe’s austerity policies. The headline reads "Political upheaval rocks eurozone debt markets". This story fits in nicely with the previous one... and is also worth the read. The link is here.

The next story is posted over at the uk.reuters.com website... and bears the headline China minister says dollar printing "out of control". This is leading to an inflation assault on China, the commerce minister said. The link to this very short story is here.

Reader Roy Stephens has one more story for us today. This is about rare earth minerals and the problems its causing in Germany. The story is posted over at the German website speigel.de... and the headline reads "Western Electronics, Chinese Mines: German Industry Feels Rare-Earth Metals Squeeze"... and the link is here.

Here's a Bloomberg story from Washington state reader S.A. It's all about proprietary trading. The reporter in this op-ed piece, Michael Lewis, states that "The banks have no intention of ceasing their prop trading. They are merely disguising the activity, by giving it some other name." The headline reads "Proprietary Trading Goes Under Cover"... and the link is here.

Here's an eye-opening story that was posted over at zerohedge.com late last evening. The headline reads "A Paralyzed Fed Defers Decision On Monetary Policy To Primary Dealers In An Act That Can Only Be Classified As Treason". In other words, the criminal banks will tell the Fed how much they need... and that will be called QE2. Wow! This is a must read... and the link is here. Once again I thank reader 'David in California' for sharing it with us.

Here are a few more gold-related stories for you today. I see in a GATA release that there's more clamor for China to increase its gold reserves. The Reuters story from Beijing yesterday is headlined "China should significantly boost gold in reserves". It's a short piece which is worth the read... and the link is here.

The next story is contained in a GATA release that Chris Powell headlines "Yikes! Time to sell? FT publishes commentary favorable to gold". The Financial Times headline reads "China Is Key to Next Rally in Gold Prices". It's well worth the read... and the link is here.

The next item is a King World News blog with John Embry, chief investment strategist at Sprott Asset Management. John says he's certain that hyperinflation is coming, as the U.S. dollar collapses against hard assets. Excerpts from this upcoming interview are contained in this blog which is headlined "Hyperinflation is certain, John Embry tells King World News". It's a short read... and I urge you to take the time to read it. The link is here.

Also from Sprott Asset Management comes their October edition of Markets at a Glance. It's co-written by Eric Sprott and David Franklin. This month's headline reads "Bonfire of the Currencies". It's a 3-page tome... and it's a must read from beginning to end... and the link is here.

Last, but certainly not least, is your long read of the day. It's a speech given by GATA's Chris Powell at the New Orleans Investment Conference yesterday. The title of his commentary is "Piercing the mystery of the gold market". In his day job, Chris Powell is senior editor at the Journal Enquirer in Manchester, Connecticut... so he's reasonably well know in the print media circles on the U.S. east coast... and this speech reflects that. If you read nothing else in my column today... this should be it... and the link is here.