One of the major topics discussed in the precious metals community is the manipulation of the gold and silver prices by the large bullion banks. Many precious metals analysts point to the massive commercial short positions held by JP Morgan and Scotiabank as the root cause for the low silver price. While I agree that the bullion banks’ massive short contracts are controlling the silver price to a certain degree, there’s another factor that is overlooked by the majority of precious metals analysts.

According to Ed Steers’ recent article titled, JPMorgan’s Silver Short Position Now At 195 Million Ounces, he stated the following:

Ed Steer is making the point that two banks, JP Morgan and Scotiabank control approximately 53% of the 210 days worth of global silver production to cover these short positions. If we look at the chart above, we can clearly see that silver has the highest amount of short positions in days of a production compared to any other metal or commodity.

Furthermore, Ted Butler, well-known silver analyst, made the following remarks in his recent article, Life Under Manipulation:

We as individuals have little or no control over the state of markets, all we can do is adapt to market realities. In the case of silver, the reality is that it is in the grip of a price manipulation. History shows that various world governments have often artificially set the price of silver and gold in connection with official monetary policies. However, for the past 35 years a specific type of price manipulation has existed in silver via futures contract positioning on the Commodities Exchange, Inc. (COMEX).

Nothing can be more significant than the fact that silver is manipulated. Whether to participate in a manipulated market is something everyone must decide. To me, the choice is easy. Virtually all price manipulations in history have been of the upside variety which caused prices to be higher than they should have been. Buying an asset priced artificially high is a surefire prescription for eventual financial loss. But because the manipulation in silver is of the rare downside variety, the price of silver is artificially low, thereby guaranteeing eventual profits for those taking advantage of the opportunity.

Please understand that if the bulk of the COMEX silver short position was held by hundreds or thousands of separate traders, there would be no manipulation possible and I wouldn’t contend otherwise. But the COMEX silver short position is held by very few traders and it is that concentration that equals price manipulation. Since there is no obvious explanation why just 4 and 8 large traders would be more heavily short silver than in any other commodity, away from seeking to cap and control prices, the most plausible conclusion is that they are protecting and continuing their perfect trading record scam.