JP Morgan began to ruthlessly "short" chocolate bars.

Silver: Shorting Consumes, Investing Conserves
Jeff Nielson
14 November 2011

It is a very simple proposition to explain how "shorting" is an activity which relentlessly, inevitably destroys markets, while investing is a benign activity which inevitably "heals" markets which are out of balance. What makes it difficult to understand this concept is years of media brainwashing branding investors as "speculators" and/or "hoarders".
To pierce this brainwashing, I will explain these simple principles of arithmetic using an example to which we can all relate. Let's assume that instead of JP Morgan hating silver that it hated chocolate bars instead. And so to destroy that market (and deprive the world of chocolate bars) JP Morgan began to ruthlessly "short" chocolate bars.

For the sake of argument, let's assume that this ruthless shorting drove the price of chocolate bars to 10 cents apiece (since shorting always depresses prices). What would happen then? The immediate, obvious consequence is that chocolate bars would be cleaned-out on all the shelves of all the stores around the world, as people stampeded to take advantage of this incredible "sale" on chocolate bars.

However, the full consequences of this shorting are far, far worse. Virtually no chocolate bar-makers on the planet could manage to "break even" selling chocolate bars at 10 cents apiece, as the cost of their materials alone would greatly exceed that price. Most of the world's chocolate bar-makers would be bankrupted, creating a much, much more severe chocolate bar shortage.

Most importantly, the chocolate bar "crisis" would never end unless/until prices rose substantially. At that artificially low price, it is a mathematical impossibility for there to ever be sufficient supply to meet demand. Enter the investor.

What happens if "investors" began competing to buy up the tiny, remaining supply of chocolate bars? The price would start to rise. That rise in price then "magically" accomplishes two necessary goals: it discourages demand while simultaneously stimulating supply, because as the price goes up more and more chocolate bar-makers can return to the sector.

As the price continues to rise, the market continues to heal. Demand moderates and supply rises until the two meet in equilibrium. Healing complete.

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[link to www.gold-eagle.com]


Great analogy !