My perception, but I am an amateur.

A lot of brokers, especially Canaccord, have bought shares from Canadian juniors and exploration companies in the early 2000nds, so I do not think they are naked. They are just playing out retail investors and then buy back.

Then as to JPM/HSBC, I understand they are short the futures and are going long call options. So as to the futures their counterparties are they themselves reducing futures and you/me buying futures.

Concerning the call options JPM/HSBC are buying, the market maker only has to buy the physical to support any mismatch between bought and sold calls.

In all cases, the result is explosive.