That certainly can happen under some circumstances, but for it to work, a number of factors have to be true. For one, the shortage has to be a real one, and no

That certainly can happen under some circumstances, but for it to work, a number of factors have to be true. For one, the shortage has to be a real one, and not directly caused by hoarders, as happened with toilet paper during the 1973 oil crisis. In this case, the hoarders pretty much hurt everyone (other than providing a very clean and clear example of the Thomas Theorem). For another, the hoarders actually have to sell around the height of the shortage. If they sell after the shortage is resolved, then they took what they were hoarding off the market only to resell again when it was no longer needed and probably took a loss in the process. So, hoarders can certainly help smooth out a shortage, especially an unexpected one, but it will not always work out that way.