The resiliency of silver in this market has been astounding.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that JP Morgan is continually shorting silver. Those numbers are reported. In a market void of position limits, this bank simply creates as many short contracts as they deem fit- to try and keep the price of silver suppressed. Here's a piece that details JP Morgan's huge short position. http://harveyorgan.blogspot.com/2011/03/cash-balances-decline-rapidly-at.html
The 64,000 dollar question is why. Why do they care? So today, I was reading Turd Ferguson's, "Along the Watchtower" blog. He posits (via an anonymous cartel) that JP Morgan has tied a vast number of derivatives to a low silver price. That as the price of silver rises, losses begin to mount exponentially at JP Morgan. This actually makes sense to me. It would explain why they have so feverishly tried to reduce the price of silver. That in fact since they have always been able to manipulate the small silver market- that the bank would be confident that it could keep the price of silver down when selling those derivatives. It looks like the last battleground is here. Thirty six bucks an ounce. Beyond this price, JP Morgan begins to bleed money like a stuck pig. That makes me happy. It makes sense. I have no way of proving or disproving the allegation. So read this and perform your own due diligence. http://tfmetalsreport.blogspot.com/2011/03/questions-continue.html
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
In America Anything Seems Possible, Creative Bribery Elevated to a Fine Art
Angelo Mozilo, the founder and CEO of Countrywide Mortgage, is one of the chief architects of the banking collapse. Ultimately, the now bankrupt Countrywide, was purchased by Bank of America. Angelo Mozilo had a little slush fund that he operated called the "Friends of Angelo" during Countrywide's heyday. The "Friends of Angelo" was nothing other than a way of providing bribes to elite high powered people and Congressmen such as Senators Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad. Mortgages did not go through any kind of regular channel, documents were simply routed to Mr. Mozilo who had complete authority over the note. The terms of these loans, or the people who received these secret loans, have not been fully disclosed.
I want to explain something to the un-indoctrinated here. Bribery comes in many shapes. Bribery can be done in hundreds of imaginative ways. Secret little corporate deals, personal loans done under the cloak of a legitimate business, future lucrative jobs, pieces of real estate set aside and sold at heavily discounted values, scholarships arranged for children that would ordinarily not receive them. What I am trying to do is expand your definition of bribery. Money in envelopes is passe.' The only place that practices true cash bribery are unsophisticated areas of the country like New Orleans.
Now let me give you an example of how this is done. A developer wants to build a development that is very lucrative in a small town. Millions of dollars. He has to get approval before starting the project. In a small town the project will have to go through planning and zoning and get approval before getting approval at the city council or county commissioner level. Facilitators such as architects or lawyers, are used to present projects. Very often if not always, several ordinances will stand in the way of project compliance. The life and death of any given multi million dollar project can hinge on some puny and insignificant ordinance and often does. Whether or not the project proceeds- almost entirely rests on whether or not local government chooses to enforce those ordinances and often depends on how they are interpreted by local governing officials. The easiest and quickest way for developers to get a project through- is to determine who in the approval process has all of the clout or power. Who has the final say. Once that official is identified, the developer then crafts a strategy to appeal to that individual. Let's say in this case it is the City Mayor. The developer might send a lawyer to meet with the Mayor. During the course of their initial conversation, the lawyer discovers that the Mayor is in need of a condo. The development is a condo development. An agreement is struck to deliver a condo at a really fantastic price. To avoid detection, an agreement is reached that the condo will be held in a corporate name during the construction phase and a period extending beyond the statute of limitations or the length of the Mayors term in office until such point that the property will be converted to private ownership. Long after anybody is looking. Does this shit happen? All over the world. I have seen it. It is as crooked as hell but it is virtually undetectable and unstoppable. It is sophisticated. In fact, if caught- the parties will have any number of excuses to justify the business deal that will render any potential prosecution useless and they will end your career for having even looked at it. Trust me.
That's why Darrel Issa's subpoenas are so interesting. He is compelling Bank of America to disclose the loans made solely by a man who has already been fined for insider trading. A criminal who should have been prosecuted for felony fraud. A man who had a sophisticated way to bribe and grease those elite people with power and get away with it. In fact, Congress themselves cleared Senators Dodd and Conrad because the potential truth is- they themselves may be involved in similar deals, they may be sympathetic for reasons outside this incident, the deals were done under the cloak of legitimate mortgage financing, or the facts are so difficult to obtain that a successful prosecution can't take place.
Please make no mistake about what I am stating here. The "Friends of Angelo" was nothing other than a way to bribe and grease powerful people with corporate and stockholder assets under the sole discretion of a criminal. Bank of America was ordered to comply with the subpoena on Mar. 7. That was yesterday. I do not know if they have, or will, or if the incriminating documents were destroyed. I am waiting to hear. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/02/18/bank_of_america_subpoenaed_in_inquiry_into_countrywide_vip_program/
I noted that Chris Dodd financed a cottage in Ireland through Countrywide. The terms were never disclosed nor could I find the seller. Interestingly, that cottage was purchased far below existing comps in the neighborhood at that time. Dodd is gone now. His term is over. Now he has found a new career. One wonders how he was able to secure this new gig as a lobbyist. Spending 1.5M on a crooked but influential former congressman is just good business for the MPA. In America, anything seems possible. Anything. You just have to dream big like Senator Dodd and be ethically corruptible. That it seems, is how our culture defines "success."
LOS ANGELES - Former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, a veteran Washington insider, is Hollywood's new chief lobbyist. The Motion Picture Assn. of America said Tuesday that Dodd will become the new chief executive of the MPAA, the lobbying arm for the main studios that also oversees the film ratings system. Dodd succeeds Dan Glickman, a former Kansas congressman and Secretary of Agriculture, who stepped down a year ago after five years on the job. Dodd will pull down more than $1.5 million in salary, 25 percent greater than the $1.2 million Glickman received. Dodd In selecting Dodd, the MPAA's board is counting on the one-time U.S. presidential...
I want to explain something to the un-indoctrinated here. Bribery comes in many shapes. Bribery can be done in hundreds of imaginative ways. Secret little corporate deals, personal loans done under the cloak of a legitimate business, future lucrative jobs, pieces of real estate set aside and sold at heavily discounted values, scholarships arranged for children that would ordinarily not receive them. What I am trying to do is expand your definition of bribery. Money in envelopes is passe.' The only place that practices true cash bribery are unsophisticated areas of the country like New Orleans.
Now let me give you an example of how this is done. A developer wants to build a development that is very lucrative in a small town. Millions of dollars. He has to get approval before starting the project. In a small town the project will have to go through planning and zoning and get approval before getting approval at the city council or county commissioner level. Facilitators such as architects or lawyers, are used to present projects. Very often if not always, several ordinances will stand in the way of project compliance. The life and death of any given multi million dollar project can hinge on some puny and insignificant ordinance and often does. Whether or not the project proceeds- almost entirely rests on whether or not local government chooses to enforce those ordinances and often depends on how they are interpreted by local governing officials. The easiest and quickest way for developers to get a project through- is to determine who in the approval process has all of the clout or power. Who has the final say. Once that official is identified, the developer then crafts a strategy to appeal to that individual. Let's say in this case it is the City Mayor. The developer might send a lawyer to meet with the Mayor. During the course of their initial conversation, the lawyer discovers that the Mayor is in need of a condo. The development is a condo development. An agreement is struck to deliver a condo at a really fantastic price. To avoid detection, an agreement is reached that the condo will be held in a corporate name during the construction phase and a period extending beyond the statute of limitations or the length of the Mayors term in office until such point that the property will be converted to private ownership. Long after anybody is looking. Does this shit happen? All over the world. I have seen it. It is as crooked as hell but it is virtually undetectable and unstoppable. It is sophisticated. In fact, if caught- the parties will have any number of excuses to justify the business deal that will render any potential prosecution useless and they will end your career for having even looked at it. Trust me.
That's why Darrel Issa's subpoenas are so interesting. He is compelling Bank of America to disclose the loans made solely by a man who has already been fined for insider trading. A criminal who should have been prosecuted for felony fraud. A man who had a sophisticated way to bribe and grease those elite people with power and get away with it. In fact, Congress themselves cleared Senators Dodd and Conrad because the potential truth is- they themselves may be involved in similar deals, they may be sympathetic for reasons outside this incident, the deals were done under the cloak of legitimate mortgage financing, or the facts are so difficult to obtain that a successful prosecution can't take place.
Please make no mistake about what I am stating here. The "Friends of Angelo" was nothing other than a way to bribe and grease powerful people with corporate and stockholder assets under the sole discretion of a criminal. Bank of America was ordered to comply with the subpoena on Mar. 7. That was yesterday. I do not know if they have, or will, or if the incriminating documents were destroyed. I am waiting to hear. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/02/18/bank_of_america_subpoenaed_in_inquiry_into_countrywide_vip_program/
I noted that Chris Dodd financed a cottage in Ireland through Countrywide. The terms were never disclosed nor could I find the seller. Interestingly, that cottage was purchased far below existing comps in the neighborhood at that time. Dodd is gone now. His term is over. Now he has found a new career. One wonders how he was able to secure this new gig as a lobbyist. Spending 1.5M on a crooked but influential former congressman is just good business for the MPA. In America, anything seems possible. Anything. You just have to dream big like Senator Dodd and be ethically corruptible. That it seems, is how our culture defines "success."
LOS ANGELES - Former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, a veteran Washington insider, is Hollywood's new chief lobbyist. The Motion Picture Assn. of America said Tuesday that Dodd will become the new chief executive of the MPAA, the lobbying arm for the main studios that also oversees the film ratings system. Dodd succeeds Dan Glickman, a former Kansas congressman and Secretary of Agriculture, who stepped down a year ago after five years on the job. Dodd will pull down more than $1.5 million in salary, 25 percent greater than the $1.2 million Glickman received. Dodd In selecting Dodd, the MPAA's board is counting on the one-time U.S. presidential...
Monday, March 7, 2011
Obama Plays His 60th Round of Golf
If we ever get rid of this bastard, maybe we should consider making the Office of the President a full time position. http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2011/03/05/golf-2/
The Rubber Is About To Meet the Road
I have been hearing talk of ending QE2 all morning long. That smug Kudlow on CNBC thinking that once QE2 ends- the economy will stand on it's own. I don't think so.
You can't make an economy healthy when you have robbed 30 million jobs and reduced the income and benefits on existing jobs. You simply lack the capacity to recover. Do not think for an instant that equity prices- having tacked on a 90% gain since Mar of '09- can stand on their own.
I still do not believe that they can end QE2 without a QE3. The bulk of treasury re-financing occurs this year and next in the five year horizon. Debt will have to be re-financed into higher rates. If they do, I see a stampede for the exits. As of today, I am changing my stock market implosion line from a 20% chance to a 25% chance.
Could the media be trying to stop commodity markets' rise and the plunging dollar? Oh yea. Is talk of ending QE2 bullshit? Yes. This is going to get interesting and fast. Very odd, all of this pollyanna happiness this morning. Seems orchestrated. This is the bullshit you must wade through when President Obama buys a network by making Jeffrey Immelt a czar. Government controlled media, the Frankenstein version.
Fed's Lockhart now calling for QE3. I've been reading your mail, pricks. http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/07/news/economy/Lockhart_Fed_QE3/index.htm
You can't make an economy healthy when you have robbed 30 million jobs and reduced the income and benefits on existing jobs. You simply lack the capacity to recover. Do not think for an instant that equity prices- having tacked on a 90% gain since Mar of '09- can stand on their own.
I still do not believe that they can end QE2 without a QE3. The bulk of treasury re-financing occurs this year and next in the five year horizon. Debt will have to be re-financed into higher rates. If they do, I see a stampede for the exits. As of today, I am changing my stock market implosion line from a 20% chance to a 25% chance.
Could the media be trying to stop commodity markets' rise and the plunging dollar? Oh yea. Is talk of ending QE2 bullshit? Yes. This is going to get interesting and fast. Very odd, all of this pollyanna happiness this morning. Seems orchestrated. This is the bullshit you must wade through when President Obama buys a network by making Jeffrey Immelt a czar. Government controlled media, the Frankenstein version.
Fed's Lockhart now calling for QE3. I've been reading your mail, pricks. http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/07/news/economy/Lockhart_Fed_QE3/index.htm
The Transfer of Wealth Continues
Came across this article today. Who's buying homes? Well the rich and wealthy are. http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/07/real_estate/million_dollar_homes/index.htm
When I was down in Bullhead City, Az. earlier this year- I noted a rich guy buying up homes everywhere and paying cash. The fifteen homes he bought will net him him a cool 10k a month. I noted then as now, that the transfer of this nation's wealth continues. From the Fed to their Wall St. cronies. From working stiffs with 500 credit scores to lawyers' with big inheritances.
Kind of hard to buy a house with no job or having a "new age" job making twelve bucks an hr.
I would rather live in a tent than make some rich bastards' monthly nut. That's just me.
When I was down in Bullhead City, Az. earlier this year- I noted a rich guy buying up homes everywhere and paying cash. The fifteen homes he bought will net him him a cool 10k a month. I noted then as now, that the transfer of this nation's wealth continues. From the Fed to their Wall St. cronies. From working stiffs with 500 credit scores to lawyers' with big inheritances.
Kind of hard to buy a house with no job or having a "new age" job making twelve bucks an hr.
I would rather live in a tent than make some rich bastards' monthly nut. That's just me.
Chicago Fed President Evans Carrying the Water
Watching Evans right now on CNBC with Steve Liesman. Liesman has some four dollar tie on and his shirt is so small- and his neck is so big- that the collar has all but disappeared.
They must have some secret school where all of these central bankers go. They teach them how to bullshit us with finesse. Come off like rational people that know what they are doing. I essentially gleaned very little from the interview. I did note however that President Evans said that his 23 year old daughter calls him every day and tells him what gas prices are. This was very interesting since ZeroHedge commenters have been talking about this lately. You get the feeling that Evans might be reading ZeroHedge. I did.
Good boy Evans. The Bernank will be proud of you this morning. Especially that part about QE2's 600 billion being the right figure. Good boys' get ahead in the Fed's scheme of things- but I guess you already knew that.
They must have some secret school where all of these central bankers go. They teach them how to bullshit us with finesse. Come off like rational people that know what they are doing. I essentially gleaned very little from the interview. I did note however that President Evans said that his 23 year old daughter calls him every day and tells him what gas prices are. This was very interesting since ZeroHedge commenters have been talking about this lately. You get the feeling that Evans might be reading ZeroHedge. I did.
Good boy Evans. The Bernank will be proud of you this morning. Especially that part about QE2's 600 billion being the right figure. Good boys' get ahead in the Fed's scheme of things- but I guess you already knew that.
Up, Up, and Away... in My Silver Balloon
Egypt's stock market fails to open as promised. Yields backing up on bonds. Libya still in chaos. Gold's up 10 bucks in overnight markets...silver up almost a buck again- past 36.20.
Gosh, what a head scratcher. Poor Bernanke. Seems more and more people would rather invest in something of tangible value rather than billions of unbacked counterfeit paper. Odd, eh? Yea.
http://www.allamericanindex.com/commodityfutures/Metals
Gosh, what a head scratcher. Poor Bernanke. Seems more and more people would rather invest in something of tangible value rather than billions of unbacked counterfeit paper. Odd, eh? Yea.
http://www.allamericanindex.com/commodityfutures/Metals
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