Today is very different from 1980. Then, silver went up because of a short squeeze caused by the actions of two people, the Hunt brothers. They were broken because they got way overleveraged, the margins were raised (much like today), and they actually put in new rules prohibiting opening new long positions- in other words, the Hunts and others could only sell, not buy. That wouldn't work today. There are simply too many sources of demand. The Chinese and others don't need leverage- in fact they will welcome the artificially lowered prices as a chance to buy more physical. This latest attack was effective, but how many times can they raise the margin requirements? Most buyers will have realized by now not to use leverage. It will delay, but not stop, the rise in silver. And there are indications that JPM is using these tactics to reduce their short exposure in silver- a sign that they realize the game is nearly over.
