Here is another account of the Hunt Brothers cornering the silver market. There were other players in the game, banks that shorted silver, and possibly even the assassination of the Saudi king of the time by his nephew was related to it, but who knows.
The reason why silver is not higher than it is, is because of the enormous short position taken by JP Morgan Chase Bank. Last time the price approached $50 (early May) the regulatory body raised the margins 4 times in a row in order to keep them from having a margin call. This in my opinion robbed others who hold silver from an opportunity to make money.
At the same time as the "silver smackdown" at the beginning of May, JP Morgan Chase took delivery of a lot of physical silver (about 190,000 oz.). They now have 41% more physical silver than they did before.
However, the sheer size of this short position is actually keeping the dollar higher and staving off hyperinflation. But at some point the dam will have to burst, i.e. when China gets done divesting itself of dollars.
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