http://www.wsj.com/article/SB121857778719434667.html?mod=psp_whatsnews If you don't think this was a conspiracy to squeeze legitimate hedgers, you're even dumber than you look. And that's REALLY saying something.
In the back room there are a few guys smoking big cigars who control the market. When they trap a short they put that cigar down for a second and yell out"Hit the buy switch". Sometimes good is bad and bad is good(news). Do your trading but be careful so you are not noticed. Here is one to the OP, what is not rigged? From the grocery store to housing to our law/construction/cable/Sat/phone/Electric/Gas/Oil and so on. Scam? It's the way the world works. You can't beat them join them and remember life is a game of poker and the hand you are dealt it's up to the person to play his cards right.
Most of you guys didn't read the article because you probably didn't get past the preview. This is not the same sour grapes manipulative market post. It's about hedge funds taking advantage of a little known rule, the transition to all electronic trading/elimination of floor trading. Effectively a raid on the market by pirates to plunder money from the farmer in the dell. thanks for posting.
Google news search this part of the head line for the full article. In Mystery Cotton-Price Spike Good article. link includes chart art http://www.google.com/search?q=In+M...t:*&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1
"Agricultural lenders had provided merchants with large amounts of credit. With cotton now spiking, they were leery -- so unsure of cotton's value that they wouldn't accept additional physical bales as collateral." That doesn't make sense. If you've got physical bales, then you're good for delivery on your shorts at any price. Why woudn't lenders lend on a sure thing?