True or False? 3 Commodity Conspiracy Theories

When considering topics to focus on for this week’s article, the Contentworks office was divided between something to do with conspiracies and commodities trading. We merged the topics and jotted down some of our favourite commodity conspiracy theories! We are open minded here and would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the topics covered!

1. Fort Knox is actually cleaned out

Fort Knox, a US army military base in rural Kentucky, is supposed to contain around half of the US’ gold reserves — that’s about 147.34 million troy ounces (4,583 metric tons) of the precious yellow stuff. Today, that amount is worth an eye-watering $278 billion.

But some people believe that Fort Knox is nothing more than a series of empty rooms collecting dust. The theory goes that the gold has been removed and used in secret to gradually manipulate commodities markets in an effort to sink gold prices and bolster the US dollar.

…opens Google. Searches “Gold price”.

Source: Monex

Gold prices look pretty healthy to us, having risen 8.3% in the past year. In fact, gold hit an all-time high value in August 2020, topping out at $2,067.15, while the US dollar struggled to whip up investor fervour during the pandemic. believe this theory? Tweet us @_contentworks

2. Silver’s value is being driven down deliberately

Okay, this is a bit of a wild one.

Some people believe that a mysterious cartel of traders has made it their business to manipulate the price of silver to keep it as cheap as possible.

They believe that some industries that rely on silver in their products, e.g. camera, mobile phone and medical equipment manufacturers, are deliberately attempting to keep the price low to reduce their costs.

Well, if someone is manipulating the price of silver, they’re doing a terrible job of it as the price has jumped a whopping 56.62% in the last year alone. Like this theory? Tweet us @_contentworks

Source: Monex

3. Operation Iraqi Freedom Oil

Following 9/11, President George W. Bush sanctioned the US invasion of Afghanistan with the aim of toppling the Taliban regime which had supported perpetrators al-Qaeda and their leader Osama bin Laden.

Afterwards, the US shifted the controversial “War on Terror” to Iraq which had no clear link to al-Qaeda. The Bush administration claimed that Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein had obtained Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and was planning to use them imminently. The US was acting to defend key regional allies.

Many people claim that this was actually a move by the US to secure Iraq’s vast oil reserves. The country has the 5th largest proven reserve in the world with 141 billion barrels. The theory gained even more traction when it became clear that Iraq had developed no WMDs and no capability of building them.

Given the lack of WMDs and the huge amount of evidence that has since come out, this theory is quite compelling. However, if the Bush administration wanted to secure the oil fields, increase supply and drive barrel prices down, it was a total failure.

Following the Iraq War, crude consistently grew in price, climbing over 442% until the 2008 financial crisis stopped the black gold in its tracks. Tweet us @_contentworks with your thoughts on this one.

Source: Trading Economics

Trading conspiracies

We are big fans of unbiased research and collating a mix of sources before forming an opinion. As a trader, it’s important to do your research, but it’s also vital to remember that it’s a minefield out there.

Top trading events this week

There’s a fair bit going on this week, here’s when and where you need to tune in.

Monday

● No major events are planned.

Tuesday

● EUR — Germany, GDP Growth Rate YoY Final (Q1)

● USD — CB Consumer Confidence (MAY)

Wednesday

● NZD — Interest Rate Decision; RBNZ Press Conference

Thursday

● EUR — Germany, GfK Consumer Confidence (JUN)

● USD — Durable Goods Orders MoM (APR); GDP Growth Rate QoQ 2nd Est (Q1)

Friday

● USD — Core PCE Price Index YoY (APR); PCE Price Index YoY (APR); Michigan Consumer Sentiment Final (MAY)

Here at Contentworks we closely follow market movements and prep content that we think your traders would love to read. Let’s get you started right here.

Speak soon,

The Contentworks team