Hunting for Soybeans

When he died 3 1/2 years ago, eccentric Texas Oil Billionaire H.L. Hunt left plenty of pocket money to his ten children. That has not kept some of his sons from speculative ventures aimed at increasing their inheritances. Last week a federal agency accused seven members of one branch of the family of trying, in effect, to corner the market in this year's dwindling supply of soybeans. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged that Nelson Bunker Hunt and W. Herbert Hunt, two sons of H.L.'s first marriage, acted in concert with five other Hunts to acquire contracts for future delivery of more than 23 million bushels of soybeans --nearly a third of the nation's expected supply this year and far above the legal limit of 3 million bushels allowed to any one trader or trading group. A federal district court in Chicago will consider this week whether to order the Hunts to reduce their holdings to that limit. The Hunts contend that each family member acted alone and so is entitled to hold the maximum.

Silver Profit. Commodity speculation is nothing new to the brothers. Three years ago they briefly held dominance over the silver futures market, and reaped a handsome profit as prices rose. The CFTC appears to fear a similar coup in soybeans. It charged that if the Hunts held on to all their positions, "price distortion or manipulation activity ... could cause serious injury to the American public," presumably by forcing soybean prices skyhigh. Nelson Bunker Hunt views the action against him as a political maneuver. Snorts Hunt: "Dozens of families trade like this. If your name is Hunt and you're from Dallas, then it must be a conspiracy."

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