Makes me wonder WHY?........................from Rico

The OCC's (Office of the Comproller of the Currency) "Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activities, First Quarter 2015" makes me wonder WHY?

- In 1Q 2015 JPM cornered the commodity derivatives market with a total position of >$4 trillion, an increase from the prior quarter of 1,681 percent.

- While JPM usually accounts for 50% of total commodity holdings among all US commercial banks, but in Q1 it was 96%.

- There was a concurrent 237% increase in the total amount of precious metals contracts, from $22.4 billion to $75.6 billion, in 1Q.

 

Well, WHY NOT? The TBTF are gambling with OPM (Other People's Money), not theirs. When they win big, they keep the winnings. When they lose big, (and they lose in the trillions) the muppets and suckers .....er, clients and taxpayers pay, not them.

- Massive leverage in OTC derivatives via super computers is a beautiful thing....for them. Not so much for everyone else.

 

The cinematic Mortimer and Randolph Duke explain it neatly in 1983's "Trading Places" when they tell Valentine 'they get paid whether the customer wins or loses' to which Valentine responds 'so you're bookies.'