A Bunker Hunt Redux -- the first step underway?https://kingworldnews.com/wtf-europeans-can-now-only-place-sell-orders-on-sprott-physical-gold-silver-funds/
The paper silver market is currently under incredible stress. There are gobs of silver paper ounces sold short without any physical bullion to back them up. So it is possible heh heh that the big bullion bank dealers appear to have had the regulators estop the european arm of the Sprott physical gold and silver ETFs from taking any more silver and gold bullion off the market. Sprott etf holders can sell their sprott silver and gold etfs but no one is allowed to buy the sprott gold and silver etfs in europe...
This looks like it is the first step toward the return of the days when the hunt brothers tried to take control of the silver bullion market in the united states.
Then:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/optioninvestor/09/silver-thursday-hunt-brothers.asp Federal commodities regulators introduced special rules to prevent any more long position contracts from being written or sold for silver futures.7
5
This move stopped the Hunts from increasing their positions by temporarily suspending the fundamental rules of the commodities market. With longs frozen and shorts free to pile in, the price of silver began to slide. Margin calls on the loans began to take a toll on the Hunts' reserves to the point where they were paying millions a day in calls, storage fees, and interest.6
Silver Prices Collapse
The Hunt name, however, kept the brothers afloat with easy terms on more short-term capital. The Federal Reserve then took an unusual step: it strongly encouraged banks to stop making loans for speculative activity. When it became clear that the government was after the Hunts' scalps, their credit dried up. Concerns that the Hunts might not be able to meet margins with new loans and would go under (pulling several brokerages and banks with them) put further downward pressure on the price of silver.67
On March 27, 1980—a date that became known as "Silver Thursday"—the Hunt brothers finally missed a margin call and the market plunged; silver led the way, dropping to under $11 from its high of $50.42.7
The Aftermath of the Hunts' Plan
Government officials considered a bailout to prevent systemic chaos. The action was vetoed, however, because the government agencies didn't want to be seen as underwriting dangerous financial speculation. In the end, the Hunt name held true, and the brothers arranged a private bailout from a consortium of banks and companies.7
The Hunts were dragged in front of Congress, scolded, charged with manipulation, fined, fined again, and forced into bankruptcy. It took nearly a decade for them to unwind all their silver holdings and satisfy creditors, and the final bill left them billions poorer—although still wealthy by most