For 20 years I worked as an international metals dealer and gained something of a reputation as a speculator Metals are regulated far less than other markets With a bit of luck a willingness to take a risk and a good understanding of how the market works its possible to make a lot of money Risktaking is part and parcel of the industry The buccaneering culture fits nicely with a freemarket global economy But now the freetrade economists who claimed the market itself would maintain the price of scarce metals have found the opposite is happening More minerals are being extracted and the cost of raw materials is decreasing Taking inflation into account the prices of most metals are about half of what they were 20 years ago Recently I was asked to look into allegations made against one of the multinational conglomerates that benefit from these cheap raw materials