Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Citigroup Posts Loss Amidst Credit Costs

THE DAY OF THE LAST DEBATE

Pump and dump. Pump and dump. The heart beats its last few beats. Blood hemorrhages. Today the Dow lost more than 700 points. Again. Each time it goes up that is fresh money going in. Each time it sinks again that is the fresh money going out.

There has been no capitulation.

The economy of the United States is being destroyed beyond redemption. -- Good.

Only an entirely new kind of economy can emerge in the face of Peak Oil.

Last week I was flipping through the channels and I stumbled across George Soros (gag!) being interviewed by Bill Moyers (gag!). Soros was right when he said it was going to be a bad depression. He was also correct when he said that it was far from over and that this was the end of an era.

However, he was quite wrong when he held up a copy of his new book "A New Paradigm" and then described basically the same one we have now. We -- those who understand the issue -- will not permit a prince of the old paradigm to be the architect of, or perhaps a king in, the new. I called for a New Paradigm two and a half years ago in a speech on the same stage where Abraham Lincoln once spoke; at New York's Cooper Union... Years before that I was out-and-out plagiarized by Gore Vidal when he slapped his name on the original research and writing I had done on Zbig's book "The Grand Chessboard". I can live with that. But we will all be damned if we allow George Soros to define the next epoch of human history for us.

-- What in the World Is Happening With the Global Drug Trade?

Over the last few months I have tracked major seizures of cocaine bothin the Pacific and the Gulf. Three separate seizures involved semi-submersibles of small submarines that don't go under the water but sink flush with it to eliminate radar signatures. (Doesn't work well for satellite surveilance.) Each of those seizures was 3,000 metric tons or more. Then I found that the DEA had recorded earlier seizures this year totaling more than 4,000 tons. The last time I checked (2000), the U.S. was consuming only 6,000 metric tons of cocaine a year. What gives? There is no evidence I know of to suggest that consumption has grown. It's counterintuitive. I don't have the contacts I used to but I can tell you that in L.A. there is virtually no powdered cocaine to be found and it's been that way for months. There is a litle crack out there but I suspect that may be crystal meth -- "crank". Meantime Mexico has errupted into a virtual drug-defined civil war with hundreds, if not thousands, murdered.

Then today Matt Savinar sends me this story about how the world's heroin supply is disappearing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2008/10/map_of_the_week_the_mystery_of.html. Someone is stockpiling heroin. Heroin is the base drug of morphine. The opium poppy, papaver somniferum, is the source of opium, the most commonly used, and most effective natural pain killer in man's history. Heroin is made from opium. I fear that opium and heroin have become new hot commodities and there is no way that that much opium/heroin could be intended for "recreational" use -- or even to supply addicts. It seems that someone is banking heavily on a lot of people being in a lot of physical pain. -- Good job Matt, as usual. I can't explain what's happening wth cocaine. Is it being hoarded until the price goes up? Not likely, because no one will have money tobuy it in just a few short months. But then again, if it's dirt cheap,say $75 a gram...

I repeat that by itself, all the cash from the global drug trade is not relevant to the current economic crisis. I last estimated all cash generated by illegal drugs at aruound $600 billion a year. By itself, the Lehman bankruptcy was $750 billion or so. Then came the bailouts and the trillions in equity that has been destroyed.

I don't have time to do the research but I'm sure we'll find out what it means soon enough I suspect. This all smells so... , so... BUSH.

Maybe we'll see all the drugs turn up right after the markets bottom. That could squeeze a few final dollars out of the corpse.

-- The Last Debate

Thank God it's over. No major changes. McCain reminded me of Joe McCarthy when he attacked. McCain's face is saved. It was his best performance. Both men lied about energy. It's over.

Now all we have to do is to get to, and through, the election.

MCR

P.S. - Where, oh where is Citigroup? I see that they're in for a chunk of the bailout but the silence is deafening.

-- MCR

23 comments:

matt said...

You will hear from Citigroup tomorrow...they report earnings. Should be interesting!

matt said...

We will all hear from citigroup tomorrow when they report earnings.
even a guy on CNBC today said they may have up to 2 trillion in debt.

But there are new rules that for-go mark to market accounting, (basically, they can value some assets at whatever value they want) so I believe that these earnings might not look "too bad", even though they are actually terrible, no way they can't be.

agape wins said...

You don't understand Program Trading,

I was active in Mutual Fund trading
in the 70,s, & 80's, when Program
Trading was just starting to be used.
The programs have advanced so much
that buy/sell transactions can be
broken up into small lots, thousands
of which appear to be taking place!
This will work with any market, from
Real Estate, to Derivatives!

This has become a Fun game for
those working the system, it drags
out the Shock, it looks as if there
is hope, AND Money can be made even
in a falling market!
With everything else going on who
has the time to put all these
(Trade's) together?

The time frame has been set,but
not everything is under control,
they have to make it look somewhat
normal!
I would not be in the market, ANY,
Market, even Drugs, at this time--
& any normal Trader must feel the
same!!
Keep your Powder dry,cover your
Backside, & protect those you Love!

Watch the Movie "Lars and the Real
Girl", for 1.5 Hr. of lightness, &
insight into how others see us!
The "Third Act" reveals the way out of our Insanity.
Amae, the emotion of feeling!

Amanda said...

Mr.Ruppert,
Im a Texas girl living in France, married a frenchman and mother of 5 great kids. My husband baught your book by chance. After reading we couldnt help but THINK. We were so numb back then.. We were living in Singapour(the hollywood of Asia) at the time. How I miss my philipino maid and laksa! We were renting a great house and financially we were doing quite well. My husband was in the rat race and I was shopping.
My husband read Crossing and then it was my turn. We are different people now. Because of your writing, effort and sacrifice our growing family is learning the right "stuff".
My husband changed industries , we are in the south of France, we have livestock and the girls are pretty good at finding mushrooms and the boys are good shots. We know now whats important and are having a great time learning. I cried when the first chicken was killed and cried some more when I had to clean it!!!! My husband and the kids still laugh about that! From a gal who can no longer wear her gucci shoes while picking berries to make jam , thanks. Good luck in all your future endeavors. Best regards to all who worked on from the wilderness. By the way, the french media are a bunch of liars like in the states; thaugh its sound nicer in French ha ha . Good luck to everybody .

Olivier N said...

Well, about the drug trade, Cocaine might be missing in the US, but I can tell you that part of it is circulating at rock bottom price in Europe, and more specifically in Belgium right now.
Been around DJ's and nigtlife for years now, and I have never seen so much coke running around the place. And it seems that the quality of the product has also risen.
Maybe they just changed the destination of delivery. Do not know, but what's sure is that I've nerver seen that many cocaine in the hands of youngsters in my country, and as cheap as 40 to 50 euros a gram !!!

Unknown said...

Hello world

We in the developed and spoiled part of the world could easily reduce our way of living by let say 30-40 %.

WE eat to much ..
( and often wrong kind of stuff).

WE drink to much ..
( ..dito..)

WE consume to much..
(..dito..)

So this might be the wakeup call that would do us all some good in the end..

So dont be afraid for whats comming

I beleave this is somehow ment to be..

Mike2

martypantsROK said...

maybe they're bogarting all for the dope for when there's no money. That would keep all the people stupid and happy at the same time.

One of the more popular posters and t-shirts I remember seeing in the head shops was one that said:

"Its better to dope and no money than to have money and no dope."

cornsilk said...

Mike...

You've always aid that nothing will be different until we change the way money works.

I realize that money is taking different avenues than it has in the past with all the bailouts and crony-ism. But I see the same forces (5 or 6 families, big names, anacronyms, etc.) in play. These are the ones who "do their best work in the tall grass."

Do you mean to say that unless those few who pull the strings are no longer pulling, that we're doomed to keep re-running this sitcom?

*sigh* I'm so tired of it.

Anonymous said...

There is a litle crack out there but I suspect that may be crystal meth -- "crank".

Your suspicions are correct. As Carol Marshall exposed in her manuscript The Last Circle, the CIA was using Native American reservations for the manufacture of methamphetamine, among other crimes. Crystal meth is far more destructive to the body and mind than cocaine; it's cheaper; it's a drug of control, addicts controlled by their addictions, and communities destroyed by the impact of meth use.

Now just ask the right questions.

1. Does anyone think the CIA got out of the meth trade Marshall wrote about two decades ago?

2. Why import cocaine from 7000 miles away, when it can be replaced by crystal meth cooked right here in the USA?

3. Where in the USA is the greatest abuse of crystal meth? Hint: pick up any newspaper published on Native American reservations, and the number one narcotic destroying their communities and tribal culture is crystal meth.

4. Is all of the meth used in the USA really being shipped across the border from Mexico by the Mexican Mafia, getting past Homeland Security, as is commonly reported in the media? Or could it be that some is being cooked right here in the USA on Native American reservations, the trade overseen by CIA assets, just as in Marshall's The Last Circle?

5. What is one common way to launder narcotics money? Answer: Casinos. And a huge number of casinos exist on Native American reservations in the U.S.

There are well-known meth manufacture and trafficking operations running out of the Clear Lake area of N. California, as well as several labs hidden in the mountains along the Klamath River. These operations appear nearly identical to the ones described in The Last Circle, with Mexican Mafia members financing the meth production with huge marijuana farms on public lands, protected by compromised law enforcement officers addicted to the drug themselves, some product being distributed by Hell's Angels members. Ask around the meth impacted communites of Arcata CA, Eureka CA, Yreka CA, Ashland OR, Medford OR, and Grants Pass OR, and it's fairly common knowledge that the meth is being manufactured up in the mountains of nearby National Forests.

Here are a few more specifics: 14 March 2003, DID ILLEGAL DRUG RESIDUE & OR WATER TEMPERATURE KILL KLAMATH FISH?

Two intriguing new elements are being suggested as suspects behind the deaths of 33,000 salmon and steelhead trout in the Klamath River last September. One is the discovery of an illegal crytal-meth (methamphetamine) cooking equipment dump on the Ohpah Creek, a tributary of the Klamath. The other is a possible warming of the Klamath waters due to a diversion of cooler water from the Trinity River away from the Klamath and into the Sacramento river. The California Department of Game and Fish blamed the Bush Administration for releasing too much water last Spring for farming and not leaving enough for the fish. The DGF own actions in the fish kill controversy only increased the credibility of the two new theories. The DGF did not test for toxic substances in the river’s waters until seven days after the die-off. Nor did they take water temperature measurements. A few degrees of too much water warmth can be critical to the fish.

The methamphetamine dump was located one mile north of the origination point of the die-off. Among the toxic substances used in producing the illegal drug are toluene, ether, drain cleaner (sulphuric acid), car batteries (lithium), lye or sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, white gas, laundry soap, and diesel fuel. Law enforcement officials know of five meth labs in the area but suspect the number could be as high as 50.

Unknown said...

What´s your opinion on foreign central banks now buing American securities again ..

probably treasures ????

Dow Jones rally ... ...

Have they found a way out of it?

agape wins said...

In case it was overlooked in Mike's
posting, here is Citigroup.

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE49F3XD20081016?sp=true

As expected it reads like any other
financial report, they hide as much
as they can, & even try to make the negative sound like something to
be proud of!

Sharon in Mississippi said...

Here are a couple more possible reasons why heroin is being stockpiled:

1. The threat (real or perceived) of forthcoming military or political action which could severely reduce next year's opium poppy supply.

Governor of Afghan Opium Capital Pushes for Crop Replacement

2. If (when) the dollar crashes, opium derivatives (unlike the stock market variety) could become a viable currency in some areas and the preferred "black market" medium of exchange.

The Afghan village that uses opium as its currency

And opium poppies have been successfully grown for millenia without the aid of petroleum-based fertilizers...

Jenna Orkin said...

MCR (mike ruppert) wrote:

Hallelujah. We have found another map maker! Brilliant!

I met Carol Marshall years ago and I still have many documents she
gave me. Solid investigation and research on her part. Another piece
falls into place on the map.

MCR

Jenna Orkin said...

MCR (mike ruppert) wrote:

Hallelujah. We have found another map maker! Brilliant!

I met Carol Marshall years ago and I still have many documents she
gave me. Solid investigation and research on her part. Another piece
falls into place on the map.

MCR

NB Patton said...

I'm tired of it too cornsilk. And I have found recently that a not so surprisingly large number of others are too. Remember, "The Revolution won't be televised."

Just go to youtube and type in "Anti NWO", or "NWO Resistance". Domestic Terrorists? Or Sons of Liberty? We are not alone! Do you remember Ron Paul's "Rally for the Republic?" There were thousands of people all chanting "End The Fed!!" You can look that up on youtube as well.

What can we do?
I'm not sure but I have a couple Ideas.
Throw your proverbial tea into the harbor by not paying income taxes.
+
http://ronpaul.meetup.com/
+
Spread the word,
And prepare yourself;
If you aren't armed, arm yourself and become proficient!
Stay out of the way of any disorganized craziness until hopefully there is a genuine revolution you can get behind!

I can't believe I am saying these things, I never thought it would come to this. I am a otherwise mild mannered man with 2 kids and a wife and steady job right smack in the middle class... But how much blatant disregard for everything we hold sacred as U.S. Citizens, or just as HUMANS do we accept before we wake up and say ENOUGH! Time to use more than the banners, ribbons, rally's and forums to effect our change!

I have put much thought into the idea of revolution, when is it "justified".
I believe when it becomes obvious that the system in place to effect the change that is needed to stop tyranny is no longer functioning,... It is not merely justified; but it becomes our divine DUTY to rise up against the tyranny that is causing it!

With that said, I hold our elected officials DIRECTLY responsible... It may be that "The Bank" is the true root of the evil, but they have no allegiance or duty to us, no oath, no social contract. Our Government DOES, they have a sworn duty to protect us from that evil and they have gone beyond failing, they are even hard to tell apart at all!!

Jefferson says it better than I;

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

Am I alone on this forum with these convictions?

moonshine said...

Heroine is the opium of the people and the new gold.

How is this for a wild "connect the dots" theory? The US is selling the heroine in large quantities to privileged investors and storing it for them under US protection in Afghanistan. This way the elite can preserve their profits from the recent global plundering without having to buy gold, which is hard to liquidate fast without crashing the market and also is the smoke alarm that signals investors to run for the door. This keeps the drug banking system operating longer.

The economic crash creates a huge market for the heroine among the shell shocked masses, it puts some of the people to sleep, some on the payroll and overwhelms the rest with the chaos.

The heroine is traded for whatever currency survives, the beauty being the more you liquidate the greater the demand. The insiders can come out the other side of the downturn ready to buy cheap assets at the distressed prices of their making. Its Catherine Austin-Fitts' model of the crack- real estate scheme gone global on steroids.

In the near term the heroine shortage creates an opportunity for the chosen street operations, with product, to consolidate rival operations and create a
lean mean profit making machine,
the Walmartization of the drug trade.

Prepare for a drug/crime explosion and a well funded right wing religious backlash to the decadence and crime.

It's too pretty, somebody should write a book.

jspofford said...

nbpatton:

Just so you're not feeling alone: Ready for revolution in Portland, Maine. It's very much in the air here; a Thomas Paine 'Common Sense'-style pamphlet could get the ball moving - quickly.

Andrew_The_Fox said...

THE ONLY ECONOMY WE CAN HAVE AFTER THIS FUCKING DISASTER IS OVER IS A RESOURCE BASED ECONOMY IF WE WANT THE HUMAN RACE TO SURVIVE AND HAVE RIGHTS.

http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/
http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/
http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/
http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/
http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/
http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/

Unknown said...

The 600 trillion derivatives emergency meeting!

http://seekingalpha.com/article/99674-coming-soon-the-600-trillion-derivatives-emergency-meeting?source=email

The article is dated Oct 13th.

Anonymous said...

Here's my theory.

The Euro will win the battle for reserve currency status being waged as the "World wide financial crisis".

An earlier comment about the large amount of cocaine in Belgium points toward market making. Flood the Euro zone with good cheap dope and get everyone hooked. Pull back the inventory after the dollar collapses and charge higher prices in the new center of the world, the EU.

The US has been seizing incredible amounts of dope lately. I think the narco business leaders have seen the writing on the wall and started laundering their funds through Europe. Pissed of the US banks who sicced the federales on them to try to make them change their minds. Don't think that will work but the war on drugs gets some more points for budget time.

Great world we live in. Makes you proud.

agape wins said...

I Have not been able to find
even a whisper about program trading's effect on today's volitility, in the 1980's it was a scandal, see as an example:

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105972/It%27s-3-P.M.-on-Wall-Street.-The-Hungry-Bear-Is-on-the-Prowl

Here are 2 sites with insight into Investors thoughts.
Read the blogs following,Interesting, shades of ftw. The second covers Gold as a follow up.

ttp://tradermike.net/2008/10/should_the_nyse_bring_back_program
_trading_curbs/

http://seekingalpha.com/article/100159-program-trading-dark-pools-and-gold

NB Patton said...

Jspofford:
Thanks very much for the response. Sometimes I don't understand this community in general, they KNOW how corrupt the world is, they ARE THE AWAKENED! And yet many of them aren't ready to fight yet! I'm confused,... So then what? We KNOW and just take it? I don't know whats worse, being ignorant, or knowing and not acting. This revolution is 100% reliant on an awakening... Since the moment I have understood it enough to explain it to others, I have devoting myself to the dissemination of the map this community has laid out as far and as wide as I can.
I don't care if I offend anyone by saying this; The people that have awoken to the horror of our reality, and are not spreading the word are enablers of the evil an should be absolutely ashamed. They are Summertime soldiers and Sunshine Patriots! All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men to do nothing.
(-T.Paine, E.Burke)

I do feel very much alone in the area I am in, Sacramento CA. Still 99.9% of the pop is still blissfully slumbering along, oblivious to it all. And many that I inform do not WANT to know! They SERIOUSLY would rather not know! In the words of JS Mill, Those people are miserable creatures who have no hopes of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better people than themselves.

Keep on Fighting the good fight!

Bob of Tualatin said...

I met Mike Rupert briefly at the South Central Farm in LA before it's destruction. This was after I had read Crossing the Rubicon. Mike told me that I would be better off in a forest (Portland) than in a desert (L. A.). Myself and my family relocated to Portland two years ago.
We are doing better than if we had remained in LA. I love Oregon. I am preparing to survive the fast approaching collapse. Thank you for that conversation. It helped a lot.

Bob Pike

PS. I hope that you do survive the collapse. Your wisdom is needed.