Nelson Bunker Hunt

Nelson Bunker Hunt ( born February 22, 1926 in El Dorado, Arkansas, United States) is an American speculator.

Hunt is the son of billionaire HL Hunt oil. The Texas Family Hunt was a leading force in the oil business and had large oil fields, including in Libya. The Hunts were at the time one of the wealthiest families in the United States.

Nelson Bunker Hunt was known by the silver speculation, which he ran with his younger brother Herbert William Hunt from the mid- 1970s.

Silver speculation

The Hunt brothers bought at this time - in collaboration with several wealthy Arab businessmen - large scale silver, both physically and on the commodity futures market.

Overall, the Hunts and their partners bought 150 million ounces ( 5000 tonnes) physical silver and 200 million ounces of silver in the commodity futures exchange Comex in New York.

The physical silver were partly bring in specially chartered cargo aircraft to Zurich and London, also because they do not trust the U.S. government and a confiscation feared the Hunts. ( In 1933, President Roosevelt banned the private gold ownership in the U.S. and all the gold that had not been replaced under threat of draconian penalties on time in paper money was confiscated. This gold ownership ban was valid until the year 1974). The price of an ounce of silver rose from under $ 2 in 1973, to $ 50 in January 1980.

The fatality

While it succeeded in the Hunts to bring their physical silver in safety to give them the business was on the Commodities Exchange of doom. They bought at further increasing silver price increasing amounts of silver contracts on the New York Commodities Exchange (COMEX ), as partly on credit.

In mid-January 1980 - the silver price was almost 50 dollars per ounce - hit back the American financial establishment: Overnight, the rules on the COMEX were from the SEC changed. It was forbidden to conduct any other purchases anymore, so no new long positions longer be received. It was ordered a liquidation -only trading, it could only existing long positions against existing short positions are compensated.

Thus, the price of silver could fall just yet, and so he did immediately, especially since the short- positioned banks continued their Bids firmly down.

This led to dramatic losses in long positions of the Hunts, who had to immediately compensate for this loss in value in cash - but could not. To meet its payment obligations, they had to sell parts of their long positions at any price, which further accelerated the decline.

Within weeks, many billions of dollars were paying, the eroded in all the assets had to be explained until finally the bankruptcy.

The environment of the silver market

Was further accelerated the decline of the price of silver by the panicky sales of thousands of small speculators and investors who had followed the example of the Hunts.

In addition, large amounts of physical silver had appeared on the market, because private citizens due to the rise in prices - the price of silver had in a few years, more than twenty-fold - sold on a large scale silver objects, jewelry, silverware and silver coins and let melt. The old silver containing 5 -DM coin ( " Heier man " ) was introduced in 1975 replaced by a silver-free.

The aftermath of the Hunt 's silver speculation

Since then, the Hunt brothers are regarded as the prototype of the failed speculators who brought it through greed, overconfidence and underestimation of his opponents within a short time of fabulous wealth to bankruptcy.

The moored to the brothers Hunt and their speculation rise and subsequent collapse of the price of silver, which at that time also countless private investors to make significant losses, has the silver market psychologically damaged sustained. This was followed after 1980 for silver over 20 years long bear market with falling or stagnant prices, which seems to have found its end only in 2004. The Huntsche trauma and legends about their deep case are still deeply rooted in the psychology of the silver market and have undoubtedly brought the silver as an investment medium for the masses of investors and financial professionals into disrepute. Even today - over 30 years after their failure - an imaginary contribution to the wider public about the silver is hardly written, in which not the Hunt brothers and their failure are cited in the silver market as a deterrent.

597290
de