Commonly hoarded products include assets such as money, gold and public securities,[1] as well as vital goods such as fuel and medicine.

[2] Consumers are primarily hoarding resources so that they can maintain their current consumption rate in the event of a shortage (real or perceived).

[7] The practice of hoarding can have varied effects in the economy and is legal in most cases, however price controls and other regulatory laws are often enforced to prevent negative market implications.

[6] Unlike investing, which commonly involves providing corporations with money to be spent on manufacturing goods and services, hoarded stockpiles are not active in the economy.

The main condition granting the ability for speculators to manipulate prices is that the goods being hoarded are traded on a non-competitive market.

[11][7] Resultantly, agents acting in these imperfect markets have amplified power and a greater ability to influence the price of a product both directly and indirectly.

Civil unrest or natural disasters may lead people to collect foodstuffs, water, gasoline, generators, and other essentials which they believe, rightly or wrongly, may soon be in short supply.

[18] Governments may also create agencies to monitor entities for hoarding behaviours, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S., responsible for identifying and tracking potential speculators storing excessive commodities with intentions of manipulating a marketplace.

[19] However, it is often difficult for regulators to distinguish when an act of hoarding is provoked by the intention to manipulate prices or by fearfulness of future events.

The subsequent decrease in supply will tend to an increase in demand, which can lead to the formation of underground markets where the product is illegally sold for a higher price.

[21] There are multiple Islamic hadiths, being the recorded traditions of the prophet Muhammed,[22] deeming practices of hoarding and profit maximisation as an exploitation of society in times of need.

[2] The prohibition of economic hoarding, or ‘Kanz’, rules against speculators withholding assets from the market with intentions of reselling the good at a higher price.

Additionally, circulating false information about price and/or demand changes of a good is also prohibited in Islam, as it is considered to be a sinful act of deception.

With consumers struggling to obtain the goods required to maintain their livelihoods, society becomes vulnerable to collapse, hence such instances of hoarding are ‘haram’, meaning forbidden by Islamic law.

[30] In this case, brothers Herbert and Nelson Hunt speculated that inflation would result in the value of paper currency to diminish, whilst metal assets, such as silver would maintain value and subsequently face an increase in demand.