Silver nearly hit $50 per ounce in mid-January 1980 and then fell to $10 per ounce by the end of March.

Both entities sought to restrict their buying and forced liquidations. Over the next six years, the Hunts grew their holdings to well over 200 million ounces, worth more than $4.5 billion.Д«y 1979, their activity prompted actions by the Commodities Futures Trading Exchange (CFTC) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (COMEX). At the time, the price of silver per ounce was $1.50. The Hunts began buying silver in 1973, acquiring futures contracts equivalent to 55 million ounces of silver.

Since it was still illegal for individual investors to own gold, they chose to hedge with physical silver. Concerned about the effects of what they believed to be careless monetary and fiscal policies, as well as risks of the newly formed oil cartel (OPEC), they set out to hedge their businesses and assets. In the 1970s, the Hunt brothers, Nelson, Lamar, and William, had extensive holdings in oil, real estate, cattle, and sugar. To provide historical context on market manipulation we look back at an asset squeeze for the ages. That is an absurd figment of our imagination. Essentially Chris states that stocks are now a derivative of a derivative of stocks. Think about his powerful statement for a second. Given this activity is a source for significant volatility and instability, it is worth exploring.Д«efore continuing we share a recent tweet from Chris Cole at Artemis Capital. It wonвЂ™t be long before the shoeshine kid tells the Bank President about his gamma squeeze exploits.ДЄ Gamma squeeze is just the latest innovation in centuries of market manipulation schemes. Today, both traditional and social media regularly parrot the phrase. Any fool can run a printing press.вЂќ вЂ“ Nelson Bunker HuntДЄ year ago, the phrase вЂњgamma squeezeвЂќ would have caught many of Wall StreetвЂ™s most astute investors off guard. вЂњAlmost anything is better than paper money. What The Hunt Brothers Can Teach Us About Gamma Squeezes