Big Banks Busted Manipulating Aluminum and Copper Prices [View all]

[zeos3]

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/07/big-banks-busted-manipulating-aluminum-and-copper-prices.html

The New York Times reported yesterday that Goldman Sachs has been scalping consumers of billions of dollars by manipulating the amount it charges to warehouse aluminum in its storage facilities.

And the Times notes that Goldman and JP Morgan are doing the same thing with copper.

Here is a link to the NYT article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/business/a-shuffle-of-aluminum-but-to-banks-pure-gold.html?pagewanted=all&_r=3&

Only a tenth of a cent or so of an aluminum can’s purchase price can be traced back to the strategy. But multiply that amount by the 90 billion aluminum cans consumed in the United States each year — and add the tons of aluminum used in things like cars, electronics and house siding — and the efforts by Goldman and other financial players has cost American consumers more than $5 billion over the last three years, say former industry executives, analysts and consultants.

The inflated aluminum pricing is just one way that Wall Street is flexing its financial muscle and capitalizing on loosened federal regulations to sway a variety of commodities markets, according to financial records, regulatory documents and interviews with people involved in the activities.