Copper's Crowd of Bears Punished by Trader Squeezing the Market
- A single company held up to half the metal in LME warehouses
- Fees to roll forward short bets jumped to highest in 3 years
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There were so many people shorting the copper market that one or two traders made them pay for it.
One company is hoarding as much as half the copper available in warehouses tracked by the London Metal Exchange. With that much metal under control, the trader can help drive up the fees associated with rolling forward a short position, making it tougher for speculators to keep their bearish bets. This week, the cost jumped to the highest in three years.