Former Metals Traders at JPMorgan Found Guilty

Former Metals Traders at JPMorgan Found Guilty in Landmark Spoofing Case, Proving That Precious Metals Prices Are Rigged

The comments below are an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Ethan Huff

Former JPM global precious metals desk head Michael Nowak and precious metals trader Gregg Smith were both charged by the Department of Justice with racketeering and conspiracy.

Nowak and Smith engaged in illegal spoofing, which involves the use of computer algorithms that disrupt normal trading activity for manipulation purposes. In essence, spoofing creates artificial pricing for assets, in this case precious metals.

The DOJ’s most aggressive case to date targeting spoofing, the ruling saw Nowak get convicted on 13 other charges as well, including fraud and attempted market manipulation. Smith was convicted on 11 charges.

For those directly involved in the metals markets, it’s no secret that gold and silver are highly manipulated. The price for the actual commodities is skewed because of paper trading, meaning the trading of metals that may only exist on a screen.

The CFTC confirmed this in a previous ruling against investment bank Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc., which was caught spoofing the price of gold and silver futures contracts on the Comex exchange.

While it might seem encouraging for these JPM employees to finally get what was coming to them, they are just the patsies, so to speak, in a much greater system of financial fraud that continues to dominate the world.

Until the big boys are held accountable for their crimes of financial terrorism, these convictions are mere stage play meant to pacify everyone into thinking that there is still some semblance of justice in the US.

The silver lining is that justice is coming for the pervasive evil that currently rules the world. They might think they have it in the bag, but they have something entirely different coming to them soon.