Claims that the silver market is being manipulated by large investment entities have been the subject of federal lawsuits since 2010. HSBC and JP Morgan Chase have been targets of the investigation, which alleges short positioning by the brokerage firms since 2008. Although the results of these exploitations are purported to be artificially low silver prices, by all appearances, the manipulation is not having the desired effect.
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has repeatedly concluded that the evidence obtained on the behalf of various whistleblowers does not effectively support the manipulation theories. They further point to continuous silver manipulation allegations, dating back as far as twenty-five years. They say the type of manipulation being alleged could not realistically continue for this period of time.
Proponents of the theory say manipulators can “bluff” others into selling by initiating, but never completing large sell orders. The CFTC claims that artificially lowered pricing could not be maintained because unrestricted market access would stimulate astute and able traders to buy cheap.
http://silverinvestingnews.com/11656/are-market-events-a-cover-for-silver-manipulation.html
