9:30 PM EST
U.S. BUYING INTO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
This move, announced today, is absolute confirmation for me that this is an intentioned shut down of the economy. Each bank or financial institution that the Treasury buys into will give it (and Goldman Sachs) the power to shut each bank down and to decide when it shuts down. It couldn't be more transparent. They're going to turn out the lights in an orderly fashion and it's obviously an attempt at a controlled fast crash. They've only got three months left in office. That would essentially make Barack Obama an economic janitor employed by the same firm. I can just hear Bush and Cheney cracking a joke about it.
MCR
c. 5 P.M. EST
UNDERSTANDING FRIDAY, Oct. 10th, 2008 -- NO CAPITULATION AND WORRIES ABOUT THE ELECTION
[DISCLAIMER:
From here on out I will write under the assumption that those who read me are familiar with Rubicon, the FTW site and its archives, and my videotapes. I'll assume that you already know what GATA is and that you understand all of my/our previous work on gold, intelligence agencies and economics. The reason for that is that I am, and will always be, most loyal and responsive to the thousands --perhaps tens of thousands -- who have been with me and the FTW gang for years. I cannot and will not go back and rewrite what I spent years writing and waste the time or focus of those who just need/want to hear what my inisghts are today. We just don't have time to waste. For those willing to do a little homework, the FTW acrhives are there and available. The easiest thing to do is to go to the FTW search engine (not a great one) and, under Search Options select "Find exact phrase". Then enter whatever terms or subjects that we use here andyou will find a quick-study course to help bring you up to speed. --MCR]
Bear in mind that everything that happened today happened in absolute silence about Citigroup. The latest there is that there is supposed to be a court hearing next week about a suit Citi may bring against Wells and Wachovia. Meantime, Citigroup has waived all claims to acquiring any of Wachovia's assets (cash deposits). My suspicion is that out of fear Citi is hanging back for any kind of discussion about its stability. Then again, they just might be waiting for the right moment to break the bad news to achieve the worst effect: capitulation. Citigroup is in a worse position than it was two weeks ago. It is still heavily weighed by bad mortgage debt and "bailout options" are becoming an endangered species, especially when Citigroup would be the biggest bailout ever -- by a wide margin. The seemingly blessed AIGwas/is nowhere near as big, especially in terms of impact.
VOLATILITY --
I have never seen such a volatile market as I saw today. I saw (maybe there were more) no less than eight swings back and forth between positive and negative in the Dow. Five of them were in the last hour of trading. Up by a hundred then down 800. Then back up to even. Then back down again to -600. And then back and forth by 200-300 pts five times. A key moment, when the Dow was down by 600+ was a sudden drop in the price of gold by around $50 an ounce -- out of nowehere. When that happened, the 600 point loss evaporated to 128 or so points. The continuing blatant manipulation in gold prices is so obvious as to be ludicrous. It is sucking the last bits of cash out there into the markets. GATA has been right all along and I have said so consistently for many years. The panicked sheep who have been"looking at" gold (late, but not too late) will hesitate and leave their money in stocks, blindly believing we have hit the bottom on Wall Street.
There is no bottom until there is CAPITULATION. Today's volatility was anything but CAPITULATION. It looks to me like the violent, last-gasp throes before death which I have seen before in real life.
Capitulation is when the market hits a bottom and just stays there...for days and weeks. When there are no signs of struggle or life. No heartbeat. No thrashing.
When the Citigoup bomb is going to drop is anybody's guess but I just don't see how we can go through next week without major media starting to ask questions on the air and in print.
I repeat that the U.S. government is doing everything it can to step on the economy like a cockroach. Every move by the Executive or the Fed has not helped, but hurt share prices. This is deliberate.
Christ, I'm tired. We all must be. And now I must sound a warning about something else. I am worried about the election. I am not predicting anything but I am worried.
Let me sum it up. Yesterday, I went to the dog park with Rags and we ran into a friend, an accomplished musician with a house and 401k and a pension plan. He stopped me and he said, "Mike, they can take my house, They can wipe out my stocks. I can sleep in my car. But please tell me that there will be an election, that it will be fair, and that there will be an inauguration." -- I looked at him and said, "I can't." I don't believe Obama's going to save us but no one will cry a bigger cry of gratitude and relief than I will on January 20th when someone else becomes president. It is clear that it should be Barack Obama. And it is about time that all the Goldwater/Dirksen Republicans started saying Bush and Cheney ain't any kind of Republicans we know." I'm starting to hear that a lot.
The hate levels are rising way too fast. The McCain campaign and the Bushes behind it are lighting matches under dry piles of bigotry, stupidity and viciousness. In the midst of this, the ACORN scandal erupts with the same kind of force that should have been used to focus on the 2000 and 2004 races. What the Republicans did then was orders of magnitude worse. But any attempt, by anybody, to mess with a free and fair vote should be pretty close to a capital offense. The Obama campaign is not doing what it should be doing, which is to take the lead on that story, get in front of it, and denounce ACORN with all the fire it has. The Democratic Party must stake out the ground that it protects the right to free and fair votes. But how often has the Democratic Party done what it should have done over the last eight years?
Last night I saw a video clip where Congressman Brad Sherman said, on the House floor, that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson threatened martial law if the bailout bill was not passed last week. I repeat that martial law, as we have conceived it is not possible. There are not enough troops, badges and guns to impose it. Yet the citizenry may come to ask for it. Now my worry is that civil unrest will erupt under any of a half dozen scenarios: Election with harrassment and voters turned away. Election with eletronic votes stolen (which thepeople will not cave over this time) and Obama does not win: Further economic crises or just the impacts of the last two weeks reaching Main Street. Obama wins, things go south and Bush (Cheney) suspend the inauguration. Write your own...
There is nothing to do but wait and ride it out. Today presented a great opportunity to buy gold for those who haven't.
My plans for the weekend are to go out to dinner with a very exciting and fun person, play with my dog, take a long walk and work on my book.
I remember a line from a Robert Ludlum spy novel. "Rest is a weapon. Use it."
-- MCR
Friday, October 10, 2008
Thursday, October 09, 2008
CITIGROUP UPDATE
CITI CAPITULATES
Michael C. Ruppert
Their pledge that although they are not seeking an injunction they intend to sue Wells Fargo and Wachovia "on behalf of shareholders"means the shareholders are going to take the fall. If you thought today -- when short selling came back -- was bad...
Citigroup's demise may not happen tomorrow but here's a clue. I tried to acess this story at the Reuters news site one minute after it was published at 6:06 PM EDT. The story was getting so much traffic that it took me two minutes to get a download and another two minutes to save it. The sell orders, shorts and puts must be flying off the screens at breathtaking numbers. Make money on the way up; make money on the way down.
All spotlights are turning to Citigroup. The perception that it may fail is already out there like fresh blood in the water. How much time they have is unknown but I'm convinced they're going down.
Like I said, this will remove all traces of hope. A real, global capaitulation in the Dow 5000s is now possible. I don't know anymore whether it would be better in the five or six thousands. But if we don't get down there, the capitulation hasn't happened yet.
Look, if you haven't got the nerve or skill to talk about Rubicon orFTW, then at least just go out and tell people that there's a guy, backed up by many wonderful people including the magnificent Jenna Orkin, who is predicting things with scary accuracy. He's been doing it for years. Citigroup is easy, quick proof. Go back and look at when I predicted this. You will be helping people and the more we help, the sooner -- the better prepared we are to start building a new post-petroleum/post industrial economy.
Just send them to the blog. They can find FTW and Rubicon from there.
MCR
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49892U20081009?sp=true
Michael C. Ruppert
Their pledge that although they are not seeking an injunction they intend to sue Wells Fargo and Wachovia "on behalf of shareholders"means the shareholders are going to take the fall. If you thought today -- when short selling came back -- was bad...
Citigroup's demise may not happen tomorrow but here's a clue. I tried to acess this story at the Reuters news site one minute after it was published at 6:06 PM EDT. The story was getting so much traffic that it took me two minutes to get a download and another two minutes to save it. The sell orders, shorts and puts must be flying off the screens at breathtaking numbers. Make money on the way up; make money on the way down.
All spotlights are turning to Citigroup. The perception that it may fail is already out there like fresh blood in the water. How much time they have is unknown but I'm convinced they're going down.
Like I said, this will remove all traces of hope. A real, global capaitulation in the Dow 5000s is now possible. I don't know anymore whether it would be better in the five or six thousands. But if we don't get down there, the capitulation hasn't happened yet.
Look, if you haven't got the nerve or skill to talk about Rubicon orFTW, then at least just go out and tell people that there's a guy, backed up by many wonderful people including the magnificent Jenna Orkin, who is predicting things with scary accuracy. He's been doing it for years. Citigroup is easy, quick proof. Go back and look at when I predicted this. You will be helping people and the more we help, the sooner -- the better prepared we are to start building a new post-petroleum/post industrial economy.
Just send them to the blog. They can find FTW and Rubicon from there.
MCR
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49892U20081009?sp=true
A WONDERFUL SIGN OF HOPE
Are we all worn out yet? After the events of this week and the debate, I felt like I'd just come through a war. Many are looking as if in shell shock. We're all just sitting back now and waiting for the economic bottom to spring from the uncertainty below us. We are waiting for the real trickle-down economics to do their brutal work. Yeah folks, this is what "Trickle Down" really means. (Tip of the hat to David Stockman.)--
Rest up people.
Somewhere back around 2002 I wrote something where I recall quoting an expert as saying that the Dow would be properly valued at around 6000. I agreed. Now, I have no confidence that 6000 will be a bottom. I justdon't know. But if Citigroup goes soon, I predict pretty much that the whole world will capitulate. That would be a really fast crash and very messy. The Great Depression was a series of capitulations from 1929 to 1932. The last capitulation was the most brutal as I recall. I may be wrong on that. I hear analysts talking about how this is much different because of all the post-Depression regulatory infrastructure. Bullshit! The post-Depression regulatory infrastructure is what was used to turn a serious-but-treatable infection into terminal cancer.
Human nature hasn't evolved much at all in eighty years either.
Sheriff Takes on Bankers
So here's something wonderful to cheer you up while you're catching your breath. It's about a really good cop; the kind that I tried to be. It's about a cop whose job it is to protect innocent people. It's about a cop who is refusing to evict tenants from foreclosed properties who are not behind in their rents. There are hundreds in his county, and he is THE Sheriff. He is the face of the law. His, the boots on the ground. This is a constitutional issue of enormous importance. A local sheriff is refusing to enforce state and federal laws. Can you imagine what would happen if the dagblasted FBI tried togo in and evict? (I know too many FBI jokes. -- They're all true.) Can you picture what would happen if armed sate police went up against armed county sheriffs? ...if the county sheriffs had the entire population of the county behind them? This is not hyperbole on my part. Read the last paragraph and connect the dots. They are on our map. TPTB are scared spitless by this, as well they should be. The Sheriff's holding all the aces and this might be as big as Lexington and Concord. It will be very interesting to see how the majors play this, or don't.
And now the corporations will have to crack the whip, stand up and say, I'm sorry, we run things around here. The ugly head rears.
Or maybe they will back down. Oh, how I wish a thousand county sheriffs would do this.
This is a sign that relocalization is already underway on many levels. This is a deep shift in public and political consciousness. The new era is springing up as we speak.
Yes, I predicted this too when I wrote years ago that people should not think of all badges the same way. As I saw collapse developing I saw a disintegration of top-down authority. I said that the local cops would protect the locals, even if it meant breaking the law to do it. That's why I came home for this part of the"transition". Local police have no choice. It's where they live too. Mark my words, no one will be able to back Sheriff Tom Dart down. And we just may have found a real hero. This could be a shot heard round the world. This is why I have always known that real martial law would be impossible as most people conceive it.
I remember an old Jeff Bridges alien-visitation movie. Don't recall the title. It was good though. In it, Bridges (the alien) looked at his human love interest and said regarding us humans, "You are at your best when things are worst." How true. How true.
Lawdy, let the cream keep rising!
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/08/chicago.evictions/index.html
I think this story should get spread as far and wide as possible. Imean FAR AND WIDE.
MCR
Rest up people.
Somewhere back around 2002 I wrote something where I recall quoting an expert as saying that the Dow would be properly valued at around 6000. I agreed. Now, I have no confidence that 6000 will be a bottom. I justdon't know. But if Citigroup goes soon, I predict pretty much that the whole world will capitulate. That would be a really fast crash and very messy. The Great Depression was a series of capitulations from 1929 to 1932. The last capitulation was the most brutal as I recall. I may be wrong on that. I hear analysts talking about how this is much different because of all the post-Depression regulatory infrastructure. Bullshit! The post-Depression regulatory infrastructure is what was used to turn a serious-but-treatable infection into terminal cancer.
Human nature hasn't evolved much at all in eighty years either.
Sheriff Takes on Bankers
So here's something wonderful to cheer you up while you're catching your breath. It's about a really good cop; the kind that I tried to be. It's about a cop whose job it is to protect innocent people. It's about a cop who is refusing to evict tenants from foreclosed properties who are not behind in their rents. There are hundreds in his county, and he is THE Sheriff. He is the face of the law. His, the boots on the ground. This is a constitutional issue of enormous importance. A local sheriff is refusing to enforce state and federal laws. Can you imagine what would happen if the dagblasted FBI tried togo in and evict? (I know too many FBI jokes. -- They're all true.) Can you picture what would happen if armed sate police went up against armed county sheriffs? ...if the county sheriffs had the entire population of the county behind them? This is not hyperbole on my part. Read the last paragraph and connect the dots. They are on our map. TPTB are scared spitless by this, as well they should be. The Sheriff's holding all the aces and this might be as big as Lexington and Concord. It will be very interesting to see how the majors play this, or don't.
And now the corporations will have to crack the whip, stand up and say, I'm sorry, we run things around here. The ugly head rears.
Or maybe they will back down. Oh, how I wish a thousand county sheriffs would do this.
This is a sign that relocalization is already underway on many levels. This is a deep shift in public and political consciousness. The new era is springing up as we speak.
Yes, I predicted this too when I wrote years ago that people should not think of all badges the same way. As I saw collapse developing I saw a disintegration of top-down authority. I said that the local cops would protect the locals, even if it meant breaking the law to do it. That's why I came home for this part of the"transition". Local police have no choice. It's where they live too. Mark my words, no one will be able to back Sheriff Tom Dart down. And we just may have found a real hero. This could be a shot heard round the world. This is why I have always known that real martial law would be impossible as most people conceive it.
I remember an old Jeff Bridges alien-visitation movie. Don't recall the title. It was good though. In it, Bridges (the alien) looked at his human love interest and said regarding us humans, "You are at your best when things are worst." How true. How true.
Lawdy, let the cream keep rising!
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/08/chicago.evictions/index.html
I think this story should get spread as far and wide as possible. Imean FAR AND WIDE.
MCR
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
This story speaks for itself.
We started hearing the "C" word today. Capitulation.
It hasn't happened yet.
Yet.
--MCR
...which is an indication of just how far apart our two candidates are. Then again, even MCR said he wouldn't bet against Buffett these days. (Granted, 'betting against' and appointing to the head of the Treasury aren't exactly the same thing.)
--JO
Monday, October 06, 2008
UPDATE OCTOBER 6, 2008 -- OPEN WIDE THE JAWS
The Republicans are throwing the election to the Democrats like it was a flaming bobcat on meth. I shudder to contemplate what might be left of the economy by January. I repeat that this is all good. It is leaving functioning infrastructure intact. But the speed with this is unravelling has made me worry about the possibility of civil unrest before the election. I do not think it likely, but it is remotely possible. Civil unrest before the election -- if serious enough --might give Bush the pretext to go CoG. CoG means continuity of government and the suspension of virtually every right we thought we had. Simple mathematics argues against this likelihood however. There are nowhere near enough troops inside the country to impose martial law. The military is stretched beyond belief and the combat veterans are worn out from multiple deployments and Stop Gap. The soldiers and Marines are not in a good mood. They want to go home to take care of their families. Martial law won't fly; not with 270 million firearms in private hands. Hell, probably two thirds of all law enforcement personnel in the country have just seen their pensions cut in half or worse.
I think about the martial law possibility about the same way that I have always viewed the likelihood of a U.S. attack on Iran. It isn't going to happen. And just as with a U.S. attack on Iran, the consequences could possibly be world-ending. So if civil unrest really does occur, then stand back and get out of the way because it might not be predictable or controllable. Chaos is a great way to escape from a crowded murder scene. Start a ballroom brawl so that the sheriff is too distracted to round up a posse.
What did we see today? Exactly what I anticipated. The global markets are melting down and we need to wait just a short time before the tsunami travels all the way around the world and lands back here again. There is so much great history if one studies the Great Depression. That map seems to be working here, except faster and with harder hitting shocks. Ain't progress grand?
CITIGROUP
A very short clock is totally on the side of Wells Fargo. The value of Wachovia evaporates every day as depositors close accounts in panic. Citigroup is hoping to avert its death by getting its hands on those deposits. When minutes matter, both sides have agreed to suspend litigation until Wednesday; litigation which had Citi lawyers banging at a Connecticut judge's front door on a weekend. Now let me see: Wells Fargo is a California company; Citigroup is New York and Wachovia is in North Carolina. Does that sound like a Supreme Court case to you?
If this litigates, both Wachovia and Citigroup are doomed. Wachovia becomes worthless and Citigroup implodes. I have written much about Citigroup and its alliances and history. It's on the web site. For this and all discussions I will assume that you, the reader, have read Crossing the Rubicon, much of the FTW site, and seen my videos "Truth and Lies of 9-11", "Denial Stops Here", and "The Paradigm is the Enemy". If you haven't, you should. Not only will that answer almost all of the questions I see appearing on this blog. It will give you answers to questions you haven't even asked yet. Rubicon is moving back up the Amazon best-seller list. Consider that Amazon ranks well over 400,000 books we're doing great. "Rubicon" has been at or near the #1 spot in Public Affairs/Administration all year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49546820081006?sp=true
Post Script
Now that the crisis has taken a global hold I suspect that we will see George Soros moving in the currency markets. How is anybody's guess and I won't have time to follow it. I have a great books that's almost finished.
For God's sake buy gold! Do it now.
All of this has been planned for years.. I warned you it was coming. What I want now is for all of you to read the same map I am reading --the one that I and the people at FTW made -- and to move it forward together. No one is as smart as all of us. Not even Rice Farmer. --;-)
-- MCR
I think about the martial law possibility about the same way that I have always viewed the likelihood of a U.S. attack on Iran. It isn't going to happen. And just as with a U.S. attack on Iran, the consequences could possibly be world-ending. So if civil unrest really does occur, then stand back and get out of the way because it might not be predictable or controllable. Chaos is a great way to escape from a crowded murder scene. Start a ballroom brawl so that the sheriff is too distracted to round up a posse.
What did we see today? Exactly what I anticipated. The global markets are melting down and we need to wait just a short time before the tsunami travels all the way around the world and lands back here again. There is so much great history if one studies the Great Depression. That map seems to be working here, except faster and with harder hitting shocks. Ain't progress grand?
CITIGROUP
A very short clock is totally on the side of Wells Fargo. The value of Wachovia evaporates every day as depositors close accounts in panic. Citigroup is hoping to avert its death by getting its hands on those deposits. When minutes matter, both sides have agreed to suspend litigation until Wednesday; litigation which had Citi lawyers banging at a Connecticut judge's front door on a weekend. Now let me see: Wells Fargo is a California company; Citigroup is New York and Wachovia is in North Carolina. Does that sound like a Supreme Court case to you?
If this litigates, both Wachovia and Citigroup are doomed. Wachovia becomes worthless and Citigroup implodes. I have written much about Citigroup and its alliances and history. It's on the web site. For this and all discussions I will assume that you, the reader, have read Crossing the Rubicon, much of the FTW site, and seen my videos "Truth and Lies of 9-11", "Denial Stops Here", and "The Paradigm is the Enemy". If you haven't, you should. Not only will that answer almost all of the questions I see appearing on this blog. It will give you answers to questions you haven't even asked yet. Rubicon is moving back up the Amazon best-seller list. Consider that Amazon ranks well over 400,000 books we're doing great. "Rubicon" has been at or near the #1 spot in Public Affairs/Administration all year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49546820081006?sp=true
Post Script
Now that the crisis has taken a global hold I suspect that we will see George Soros moving in the currency markets. How is anybody's guess and I won't have time to follow it. I have a great books that's almost finished.
For God's sake buy gold! Do it now.
All of this has been planned for years.. I warned you it was coming. What I want now is for all of you to read the same map I am reading --the one that I and the people at FTW made -- and to move it forward together. No one is as smart as all of us. Not even Rice Farmer. --;-)
-- MCR
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Delta Force Officer Recalls Foiled Efforts to Find Bin Laden
Readers of Crossing the Rubicon will experience deja vu listening to this Sixty Minutes report on earnest efforts by the elite Delta Force to capture or kill Bin Laden after 9/11. A soulmate of Dave Frasca must have been behind the consistent denials of permission to act on intelligence and get the job done. Then, too, the order to rely on Afghan "allies" only sealed the failure of the mission:
"The Mujahideen would go up, get into a skirmish, firefight, lose a guy or two, maybe kill an al Qaeda guy or two, and then they leave," reports "Dalton Fury," author of a new book on the fiasco.
"It was almost like it was an agreement, an understanding between the two forces fighting each other. Almost put on a good show and then leave."
..."Osama Bin Laden is [to] many a Muslim’s hero," Fury says. "These guys in my opinion were more in awe of Osama Bin Laden than they were willing to kill him."
...And then something extraordinary happened: Fury's Afghan allies announced they had negotiated a cease fire with al Qaeda, something the Americans had no interest in. When Fury's team advanced anyway, his Afghan partners drew their weapons on Delta. It took 12 hours to end the bogus cease fire, precious time for al Qaeda to move.
A Look at Wall Street's Shadow Market
Steve Kroft's sputteringly outraged report on the financial meltdown officially inaugurated this week. The interview with, or should I say "performance by," Robert Pickle, CEO of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, is a lesson in the use of the raised eyebrow as a response to a pointed question. You know you're dealing with an arch-villain when he embarks on a lecture on "lessons learned" so such a disaster can never happen again.
Buffett Invests in Nuclear Weapons Security
Buffett's associate mentioned in this article, Pete Peterson, took out a full two-page ad in today's New York Times concerning the national debt.
- JO
Readers of Crossing the Rubicon will experience deja vu listening to this Sixty Minutes report on earnest efforts by the elite Delta Force to capture or kill Bin Laden after 9/11. A soulmate of Dave Frasca must have been behind the consistent denials of permission to act on intelligence and get the job done. Then, too, the order to rely on Afghan "allies" only sealed the failure of the mission:
"The Mujahideen would go up, get into a skirmish, firefight, lose a guy or two, maybe kill an al Qaeda guy or two, and then they leave," reports "Dalton Fury," author of a new book on the fiasco.
"It was almost like it was an agreement, an understanding between the two forces fighting each other. Almost put on a good show and then leave."
..."Osama Bin Laden is [to] many a Muslim’s hero," Fury says. "These guys in my opinion were more in awe of Osama Bin Laden than they were willing to kill him."
...And then something extraordinary happened: Fury's Afghan allies announced they had negotiated a cease fire with al Qaeda, something the Americans had no interest in. When Fury's team advanced anyway, his Afghan partners drew their weapons on Delta. It took 12 hours to end the bogus cease fire, precious time for al Qaeda to move.
A Look at Wall Street's Shadow Market
Steve Kroft's sputteringly outraged report on the financial meltdown officially inaugurated this week. The interview with, or should I say "performance by," Robert Pickle, CEO of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, is a lesson in the use of the raised eyebrow as a response to a pointed question. You know you're dealing with an arch-villain when he embarks on a lecture on "lessons learned" so such a disaster can never happen again.
Buffett Invests in Nuclear Weapons Security
Buffett's associate mentioned in this article, Pete Peterson, took out a full two-page ad in today's New York Times concerning the national debt.
- JO
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Citi Girds for Wachovia Takeover Battle with Wells Fargo
I am pretty well convinced that if Citi doesn't get Wachovia's cash deposits it's only a matter of time for them. IMHO the FDIC approved the Citi/Wachovia deal because it couldn't let Citi and Wachovia both fail. It looks like Buffet has decided that Citi needs to fail. FTW did much reporting on Citigroup and drug money laundering, plus its close and historical relationships with intelligence services like CIA. But I think that Citi is part of a faction that is losing out in the game of musical chairs. I would not bet a penny against anything Buffet tries to do at this moment.
MCR
I am pretty well convinced that if Citi doesn't get Wachovia's cash deposits it's only a matter of time for them. IMHO the FDIC approved the Citi/Wachovia deal because it couldn't let Citi and Wachovia both fail. It looks like Buffet has decided that Citi needs to fail. FTW did much reporting on Citigroup and drug money laundering, plus its close and historical relationships with intelligence services like CIA. But I think that Citi is part of a faction that is losing out in the game of musical chairs. I would not bet a penny against anything Buffet tries to do at this moment.
MCR
Friday, October 03, 2008
THE BAILOUT
Well, I think the verdict on the bailout is in. Everyone seems to know it's going to fail already. The Dow fell like a brick after it passed. That gives credence to what I was saying that the Repubs intend to step on this economy like a cockroach. This bill was a steamroller on rocket fuel. Many Dems went along. P olitics didn't allow many members not to vote yes. The rock and the hard places.
Are you watching Citigroup? Today it was announced that Wells Fargoway outbid Citigroup to buy Wachovia. Citigroup thought they had it in the bag. Citigroup is saying they had a deal. Citigroup needs Wachovia's deposits desperately. It's up in the air, but my money is on -- and in -- Wells Fargo which almost totally avoided the real estate market all along. Boy were they smart.
Now California is ready to collapse.
And who was Ahnold's big financial guru? Warren Buffett.
Who is a major stockholder in Wells Fargo? Warren Buffet.
Who bought heavily into a bailed-out AIG? Warren Buffet.
Who bought out Constellation Energy? Warren Buffet.
The big guys are starting to show their cards. That means this is it.
Now I am interested in what Jackson Stephens and Alltel are doing but that would be much harder to see. Even harder to see into Carlyle or Blackstone.
A few days ago I asked if the rest of the world would go quietly down while the US partied on.
Today I ask if 49 states would go down while America's largest and most consumptive economy; the "Hollywood" image of consumption, thrived. California may fail within a month, bringing unforseeable consequences. I just watched my old Congressman Brad Sherman raise the obviuous question. "We just spent all our money on this bailout. So what's California going to do?" Then he essentially said that California is out of luck. Sherman is an accountant and financial expert who was one of FTW's many congressional subscribers.
So, why am I in California?
I am home.
This is coming to pass for all of us in short order. I'm glad to be in a place I know, with people I know, now that it's here. I can function here. -- Jenna and I used to talk about an old 1960s movie with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner called "On the Beach". Great movie. Don't get the newer one with Armand Assante. It sucks.
The sooner all this happens, the sooner we can start fixing things. Let the old paradigm acknowledge and achieve its death quickly. A new paradigm is being born. We are already in the new era.
MCR
*************************************************************************************
Congress Passes Bailout; Focus Shifts to Fallout
Article informing portions of Mike's analysis above.
Note the fallout already unfolding in Europe:
Dutch-Belgian banking and insurance giant Fortis was broken up on national lines, with the Dutch government taking over its operations in the Netherlands, after an earlier rescue effort and asset sale failed.
In Switzerland, UBS AG, hardest hit among European banks by its exposure to subprime holdings, said it would cut 2,000 investment banking jobs.
Divisions have emerged within Europe over the past week, with Ireland offering guarantees on bank deposits, prompting a flight of capital from British lenders to Irish banks.
After Several Dark Years, Amtrak Does Well in Congress
Former Treasury Secretary Calls Bailout Plan 'Crazy'
JP Morgan Advanced $138 Billion to Lehman
Debbie Cook, Mayor of Huntington County, Candidate for Congress
One of the bright lights of the ASPO Conference last week - JO
New Ecuador Constitution Would Give Nature Inalienable Rights
Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making
Report on pros and cons.
"Some participatory processes have functioned as a political tactic to divert the energy of the public away from engaging in dissent on important differences and into activities that are considered safer by an agency.... This use of public participation is counterproductive in the long run," the report said.
[Government] Secrecy Film
The Trade Secret Defense: Voter Tampering
Total Information Awareness in France
Bobcats Live in Foreclosed Home in LA
Where Have I Seen Sarah Palin Before?
Insights from an immigrant from Iran
--JO
Are you watching Citigroup? Today it was announced that Wells Fargoway outbid Citigroup to buy Wachovia. Citigroup thought they had it in the bag. Citigroup is saying they had a deal. Citigroup needs Wachovia's deposits desperately. It's up in the air, but my money is on -- and in -- Wells Fargo which almost totally avoided the real estate market all along. Boy were they smart.
Now California is ready to collapse.
And who was Ahnold's big financial guru? Warren Buffett.
Who is a major stockholder in Wells Fargo? Warren Buffet.
Who bought heavily into a bailed-out AIG? Warren Buffet.
Who bought out Constellation Energy? Warren Buffet.
The big guys are starting to show their cards. That means this is it.
Now I am interested in what Jackson Stephens and Alltel are doing but that would be much harder to see. Even harder to see into Carlyle or Blackstone.
A few days ago I asked if the rest of the world would go quietly down while the US partied on.
Today I ask if 49 states would go down while America's largest and most consumptive economy; the "Hollywood" image of consumption, thrived. California may fail within a month, bringing unforseeable consequences. I just watched my old Congressman Brad Sherman raise the obviuous question. "We just spent all our money on this bailout. So what's California going to do?" Then he essentially said that California is out of luck. Sherman is an accountant and financial expert who was one of FTW's many congressional subscribers.
So, why am I in California?
I am home.
This is coming to pass for all of us in short order. I'm glad to be in a place I know, with people I know, now that it's here. I can function here. -- Jenna and I used to talk about an old 1960s movie with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner called "On the Beach". Great movie. Don't get the newer one with Armand Assante. It sucks.
The sooner all this happens, the sooner we can start fixing things. Let the old paradigm acknowledge and achieve its death quickly. A new paradigm is being born. We are already in the new era.
MCR
*************************************************************************************
Congress Passes Bailout; Focus Shifts to Fallout
Article informing portions of Mike's analysis above.
Note the fallout already unfolding in Europe:
Dutch-Belgian banking and insurance giant Fortis was broken up on national lines, with the Dutch government taking over its operations in the Netherlands, after an earlier rescue effort and asset sale failed.
In Switzerland, UBS AG, hardest hit among European banks by its exposure to subprime holdings, said it would cut 2,000 investment banking jobs.
Divisions have emerged within Europe over the past week, with Ireland offering guarantees on bank deposits, prompting a flight of capital from British lenders to Irish banks.
After Several Dark Years, Amtrak Does Well in Congress
Former Treasury Secretary Calls Bailout Plan 'Crazy'
JP Morgan Advanced $138 Billion to Lehman
Debbie Cook, Mayor of Huntington County, Candidate for Congress
One of the bright lights of the ASPO Conference last week - JO
New Ecuador Constitution Would Give Nature Inalienable Rights
Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making
Report on pros and cons.
"Some participatory processes have functioned as a political tactic to divert the energy of the public away from engaging in dissent on important differences and into activities that are considered safer by an agency.... This use of public participation is counterproductive in the long run," the report said.
[Government] Secrecy Film
The Trade Secret Defense: Voter Tampering
Total Information Awareness in France
Bobcats Live in Foreclosed Home in LA
Where Have I Seen Sarah Palin Before?
Insights from an immigrant from Iran
--JO
After Several Dark Years, Amtrak Does Well in Congress
Former Treasury Secretary Calls Bailout Plan 'Crazy'
JP Morgan Advanced $138 Billion to Lehman
Debbie Cook, Mayor of Huntington County, Candidate for Congress
One of the bright lights of the ASPO Conference last week - JO
New Ecuador Constitution Would Give Nature Inalienable Rights
Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making
Report on pros and cons.
"Some participatory processes have functioned as a political tactic to divert the energy of the public away from engaging in dissent on important differences and into activities that are considered safer by an agency.... This use of public participation is counterproductive in the long run," the report said.
[Government] Secrecy Film
The Trade Secret Defense: Voter Tampering
Total Information Awareness in France
Bobcats Live in Foreclosed Home in LA
Where Have I Seen Sarah Palin Before?
Insights from an immigrant from Iran
--JO
Former Treasury Secretary Calls Bailout Plan 'Crazy'
JP Morgan Advanced $138 Billion to Lehman
Debbie Cook, Mayor of Huntington County, Candidate for Congress
One of the bright lights of the ASPO Conference last week - JO
New Ecuador Constitution Would Give Nature Inalienable Rights
Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making
Report on pros and cons.
"Some participatory processes have functioned as a political tactic to divert the energy of the public away from engaging in dissent on important differences and into activities that are considered safer by an agency.... This use of public participation is counterproductive in the long run," the report said.
[Government] Secrecy Film
The Trade Secret Defense: Voter Tampering
Total Information Awareness in France
Bobcats Live in Foreclosed Home in LA
Where Have I Seen Sarah Palin Before?
Insights from an immigrant from Iran
--JO
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
THE DAY AFTER THE DAY AFTER
A flat market today probably scared a lot of yesterday's new buyers.It should have. But not to fear; with the Senate's passage of the bailout bill, tomorrow will bring more of the sideline money in. That will be the money that was waiting for the bailout bill. You know, the one that still has to go through the House. Many of the rest will enthusiastically interpret that as a "rally" and more of the last remaining cash will come in. It will pump again and it will later dump harder, like a heart exerting all its force to beat the last few times.
You have no idea how hard this is for me to watch.
I have been checking the comments to my recent postings. I am humbled. Thank you. The truth and accuracy of the work we did cannot go unacknowledged by the mainstream media for much longer. All anyone in the media needs to do is to read FTW's last economic alert -- the onethat came out 11 days before our computers were smashed. We were doing so many things then. FTW's Pat Tillman series was in midstream. On a daily basis we were analyzing global news in a way that made sense to people and provided accurate forecasts. Our subscription base was expanding rapidly.
Investigative journalism has passed for me and that is totally appropriate now. I can accomplish more, in less punishing ways. I am working to finish my new book but I have to just sit back for a few days and see what shakes out.
I want to repeat something I have said for six years on the subject of gold. Never buy paper gold. Never buy gold stocks or gold futures. Always buy only physical gold. There is five times more paper gold out there than there is gold out of the ground. Buy gold bullion in either coins or ingots. Keep it close to you and keep it safe. Do NOT close out your safe deposit boxes. They are OK for the foreseeable future. There is no need to deny ourselves things that are still working or to get hysterical. There is enough fear to go around right now.
MCR
Editor's note: Also when buying gold or silver coins, avoid numismatics whose value derives in part from the artistic value of the coin. You're just interested in the value of the metal. - JO
You have no idea how hard this is for me to watch.
I have been checking the comments to my recent postings. I am humbled. Thank you. The truth and accuracy of the work we did cannot go unacknowledged by the mainstream media for much longer. All anyone in the media needs to do is to read FTW's last economic alert -- the onethat came out 11 days before our computers were smashed. We were doing so many things then. FTW's Pat Tillman series was in midstream. On a daily basis we were analyzing global news in a way that made sense to people and provided accurate forecasts. Our subscription base was expanding rapidly.
Investigative journalism has passed for me and that is totally appropriate now. I can accomplish more, in less punishing ways. I am working to finish my new book but I have to just sit back for a few days and see what shakes out.
I want to repeat something I have said for six years on the subject of gold. Never buy paper gold. Never buy gold stocks or gold futures. Always buy only physical gold. There is five times more paper gold out there than there is gold out of the ground. Buy gold bullion in either coins or ingots. Keep it close to you and keep it safe. Do NOT close out your safe deposit boxes. They are OK for the foreseeable future. There is no need to deny ourselves things that are still working or to get hysterical. There is enough fear to go around right now.
MCR
Editor's note: Also when buying gold or silver coins, avoid numismatics whose value derives in part from the artistic value of the coin. You're just interested in the value of the metal. - JO
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