Talk:Nelson Bunker Hunt/Archives/2014

Partly
The brothers' financial difficulties in 1987 were partly caused by the drop in land prices in the South of the U.S.A. and the drop in oil prices in 1986, as well as the drop in silver prices in 1980. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 87.74.62.19 (talk) 11:06, 7 April 2007 (UTC).

Actual
An actual conviction for phone-tapping does exist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.41.51.240 (talk) 11:36, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
 * By all means, please add it to the article, with a source.. Thanks David in DC (talk) 12:28, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
 * The most reliable source seems to be http://query.nytimes.com
 * Bunker Hunt was acquitted on the wiretapping charge and pleaded nolo contendere on the obstruction of justice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.194.4.21 (talk) 08:54, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
 * The source provided just takes you to the front page of the NYT. David in DC (talk) 15:30, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Type "Nelson Bunker Hunt, wiretapping" into the box at the top of the same front page and then click on "Search".
 * The actual reference is very long.


 * I get the following: "In 1973, Bunker and Herbert were indicted on charges of wiretapping several former employees who the Hunts believed had cheated them. The conservative Bunker - he has been on the John Birch Society national council and was a financial backer of the Nicaraguan contras - hired a civil liberties lawyer who had previously represented the black militant H. Rap Brown. After telling their side of the story to a Texas jury, Bunker and Herbert were acquitted" (my emphasis). Debate (talk) 11:20, 24 May 2008 (UTC)
 * So far, then, we have no source for any conviction and no grounds for re-inserting the American Criminal category David in DC (talk) 18:31, 24 May 2008 (UTC)
 * http://www.buyandhold.com/bh/en/education/history/2000/hunt_bros.html
 * This gives details of the August of 1988 and the further convictions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.145.155.125 (talk) 11:19, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure that's a WP:RS. But more importantly, it describes the CFTC's regulatory punishments as convictions.  They were not. David in DC (talk) 16:43, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

What did they do, exactly?
'Conspiracy' is a rather vague charge, and corners have often been done in stock and commodities markets before this. How did their activities overstep the line of normal buying and selling?

Well, they never tried to "corner the world's silver market" as so many uninformed authors write. What they did do was try to get physical delivery of the silver they held contracts on. The governemt came down on them because they didn't want the COMEX exposed as a fraudulent market. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.123.223.100 (talk) 19:45, 10 July 2009 (UTC)


 * The charges were civil - see this 98.118.62.140 (talk) 00:59, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

200,000,000
The quantity has been said to be 200,000,000 troy oz. of silver. Arab supporters also did some buying. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.97.194.200 (talk) 13:32, 1 March 2011 (UTC)