the Truth

The rats are finally leaving the vampire squid

2012-03-15T20:35:00.001-07:00

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs

By GREG SMITH

Published: March 14, 2012

TODAY is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.

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Victor Kerlow

Times Topic: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
A Public Exit From Goldman Sachs Hits at a Wounded Wall Street (March 15, 2012)
Goldman Sachs Responds

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To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money. Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s largest and most important investment banks and it is too integral to global finance to continue to act this way. The firm has veered so far from the place I joined right out of college that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for.

It might sound surprising to a skeptical public, but culture was always a vital part of Goldman Sachs’s success. It revolved around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always doing right by our clients. The culture was the secret sauce that made this place great and allowed us to earn our clients’ trust for 143 years. It wasn’t just about making money; this alone will not sustain a firm for so long. It had something to do with pride and belief in the organization. I am sad to say that I look around today and see virtually no trace of the culture that made me love working for this firm for many years. I no longer have the pride, or the belief.

But this was not always the case. For more than a decade I recruited and mentored candidates through our grueling interview process. I was selected as one of 10 people (out of a firm of more than 30,000) to appear on our recruiting video, which is played on every college campus we visit around the world. In 2006 I managed the summer intern program in sales and trading in New York for the 80 college students who made the cut, out of the thousands who applied.

I knew it was time to leave when I realized I could no longer look students in the eye and tell them what a great place this was to work.

When the history books are written about Goldman Sachs, they may reflect that the current chief executive officer, Lloyd C. Blankfein, and the president, Gary D. Cohn, lost hold of the firm’s culture on their watch. I truly believe that this decline in the firm’s moral fiber represents the single most serious threat to its long-run survival.

Over the course of my career I have had the privilege of advising two of the largest hedge funds on the planet, five of the largest asset managers in the United States, and three of the most prominent sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia. My clients have a total asset base of more than a trillion dollars. I have always taken a lot of pride in advising my clients to do what I believe is right for them, even if it means less money for the firm. This view is becoming increasingly unpopular at Goldman Sachs. Another sign that it was time to leave.

How did we get here? The firm changed the way it thought about leadership. Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence.

What are three quick ways to become a leader? a) Execute on the firm’s “axes,” which is Goldman-speak for persuading your clients to invest in the stocks or other products that we are trying to get rid of because they are not seen as having a lot of potential profit. b) “Hunt Elephants.” In English: get your clients — some of whom are sophisticated, and some of whom aren’t — to trade whatever will bring the biggest profit to Goldman. Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t like selling my clients a product that is wrong for them. c) Find yourself sitting in a seat where your job is to trade any illiquid, opaque product with a three-letter acronym.
more here

another whistleblower letter?

2012-03-15T20:15:00.001-07:00

This could be a hoax, we shall see as there is nothing here that readers of this site, zerohedge, Max keiser and TF metals report didn't already know but its worth documenting here as I am sure it won't stay there long.

see link below

comments.cftc.gov/PublicComments/ViewComment.aspx?id=57019&SearchText

COMMENT FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION COLLECTION 77 FR 8817

View all comments for 77 FR 8817
From: Z A N
Organization(s):JPMorgan Chase
Comment No: 57019
Date: 3/14/2012
Comment Text:
Dear CFTC Staff,

Hello, I am a current JPMorgan Chase employee. This is an open letter to all commissioners and regulators. I am emailing you today b/c I know of insider information that will be damning at best for JPMorgan Chase. I have decided to play the role of whistleblower b/c I no longer have faith and belief that what we are doing for society is bringing value to people. I am now under the opinion that we are actually putting hard working Americans unaware of what lays ahead at extreme market risk. This risk is unnecessary and will lead to wide-scale market collapse if not handled properly. With the release of Mr. Smith’s open letter to Goldman, I too would like to set the record straight for JPM as well. I have seen the disruptive behavior of superiors and no longer can say that I look up to employees at the ED/MD level here at JPM. Their smug exuberance and arrogance permeates the air just as pungently as rotting vegetables. They all know too well of the backdoor crony connections they share intimately with elected officials and with other institutions. It is apparent in everything they do, from the meager attempts to manipulate LIBOR, therefore controlling how almost all derivatives are priced to the inherit and fraudulent commodities manipulation. They too may have one day stood for something in the past in the client-employee relationship. Does anyone in today’s market really care about the protection of their client? From the ruthless and scandalous treatment of MF Global client asset funds to the excessive bonuses paid by companies with burgeoning liabilities. Yes, we at JPMorgan that are in the know are fearful of a cascading credit event being triggered in Greece as they have hidden derivatives in excess of $1 Trillion USD. We at JPMorgan own enough of these through counterparty risk and outright prop trading that our entire IB EDG space could be annihilated within a few short days. The last ten years has been market by inflexion point after inflexion point with the most notable coming in 2008 after the acquisition of Bear.

I wish to remain anonymous as of now as fear of termination mounts from what I am about to reveal. Robert Gottlieb is not my real name; however he is a trader that is involved in a lawsuit for manipulative trading while working with JPMorgan Chase. He was acquired during our Bear Stearns acquisition and is known to be the notorious person shorting in the silver future market from his trading space, along with Blythe Masters, his IB Global boss. However, with that said, we are manipulating the silver futures market and playing a smaller (but still massively manipulative) role in manipulating the gold futures market. We have a little over a 25% (give or take a percentage) position in the short market for silver futures and by your definition this denotes a larger position than for speculative purposes or for hedging and is beyond the line of manipulation.

On a side note, I do not work directly with accounts that would have been directly impacted by the MF Global fiasco but I have heard through other colleagues that we have involvement in the hiding of client assets from MF Global. This is another fraudulent effort on our part and constitutes theft. I urge you to forward that part of the investigation on to the respective authorities.

There is something else that you may find strange. During month-end December, we were all told by our managers that this was going to be a dismal year in terms of earnings and that we should not expect any bonuses or pay raises. Then come mid-late January it is made known that everyone received a pay raise and/or bonus, which is interesting b/c just a few weeks ago we were told that this was not likely and expected to be paid nothing in addition to base salary. January is right around the time we started increasing our short positions quite significantly again and this most recent crash in gold and silver during Bernanke's speech on February 29th is of notable importance, as we along with 4 other major institutions, orchestrated the violent $100 drop in Gold and subsequent drops in silver.

As regulators of the free people of this country, I ask you to uphold the most important job in the world right now. That job is judge and overseer of all that is justice in the most sensitive of commodity markets. There are many middle-income people that invest in the physical assets of silver, gold, as well as mining stocks that are being financially impacted in a negative way b/c of our unscrupulous shorts in the precious metals commodity sector. If you read the COT with intent you will find that commercials (even though we have no business being in the commercial sector, which should be reserved for companies that truly produce the metal) are net short by a long shot in not only silver, but gold.

It is rather surprising that what should be well known liabilities on our balance sheet have not erupted into wider scale scrutinization. I call all honest and courageous JPMorgan employees to step up and fight the cronyism and wide-scale manipulation by reporting the truth. We are only helping reality come to light therefore allowing a real valuation of our banking industry which will give investors a chance to properly adjust without being totally wiped out. I will be contacting a lawyer shortly about this matter, as I believe no other whistleblower at JPMorgan has come forward yet. Our deepest secrets lie within the hands of honest employees and can be revealed through honest regulators that are willing to take a look inside one of America's best kept secrets. Please do not allow this to turn into another Enron.

Kind Regards,
-The 1st Whistleblower of Many

What more evidence do you need of a rigged absurd market than the action today?

2012-02-29T09:09:00.001-08:00

Todays action saw a broad sell off of "risk" assets all because Bennie didn't print.
Yet if one can believe it the economic reports out of the US were rosy.
So the economy does well but without more free money and additional leverage the market sells off.
Says it all really.

Gold and silver smack down

2012-02-29T08:45:00.001-08:00

Gold and silver got whacked today.

Personally I am using this as a buying opportunity.
This wreaks of a coordinated attack as the dump started right after Bernanke hinted that there would be
no more QE with his speech. Anyone who thinks QE will stop any time soon is in for a rude awakening.
I am buying the f*cking dip.
I am going to include a video I have just viewed where Lyndsey Williams a supposed insider of the elites talks about what his insiders have told him about what is coming down the road. He has been quite accurate in the past about what is coming. Some of his comments about Abiotic oil and divine manifestations may be a bit off the mark, who knows but certainly in regards to the economy and geopolitical events he has been accurate.
In this video you will see how important holding precious metals may indeed be.
It holds with my own view that you keep PMs to transfer into any new currency or system after this one dies.
Take from it what you will

It is rather long and if you search under YOU tube you can find it split into shorter segments.
I also attach this interview he did

I have also attached the script he references here.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2002/20021121/default.htm

I am not saying that what he says is true that the FED will devalue the US dollar by 40 percent but I think its a strong possibility

Another must listen

2012-02-01T05:08:00.001-08:00

Excellent report from Jim Sinclair aka "Santa"

I agree 100 percent with what he says and that why I hold Gold
I believe currency collapses/hyperinflation in the current system can happen when there is a total loss of confidence in the system and that is what is happening and regardless of QE I believe that holding equities is dangerous at this time. What we have is basically a sovereign debt bubble which was transferred from private debts in 2008. When it bursts the entire system goes with it and that will take down currencies and equities.
The only thing left standing will be phyical assets such as gold, debt free property and debt free land

Excellent one of the most uncanny movies of our time

2011-12-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

If you havn't seen They Live then I suggest you do.
Its uncanny how close to our own reality the movie is.
Am I saying we have aliens in our midst who pose as leaders?
Who knows, but when I watch Obama, and most of the worlds so called leaders I cannot feel that if I had those glasses..............
One thing is for sure they are not human. Not human in regards to most humans having empathy with others and morals. These are narcisstic sociopaths who only serve their clients, BIG banks and big corporations!!!
No they do not serve YOU

Unelected Technocrats

2011-12-05T05:35:00.000-08:00

Its over Folks.
Democracy or even the thin veneer we had has gone, at least for the people of Italy and Greece it has.
Unelected technocrats rule the roost.
Oh and it sheer coincidence that the unelected Pms here just happen to
have connections to Goldman Sachs.
Yep just coincidence and also just coincidence that sacks of Gold would also be one of the biggest losers if Italy and Greece do default.
I think its safe to say that Goldman Sachs do run the world.

Again why is this man not our prime Minister

2011-11-18T10:41:00.000-08:00

Instead of this voice of reason we have someone whose own life experience is giving sexual favors to future bankers behind the bike sheds of Eton.

We have been duped like the US
We wanted change and have ended up with the same bullshit, a puppet who bows down to special interests.
Cameron is indeed a slight improvement over Brown and Blair but then who wouldn't be.
An Amoebae with brain damage could have done a better job.
Its a disgrace that we have only got one adult willing to speak the truth in the whole country or even the entire world it seems
Its time now that people need to choose which side they are on.
The side of common sense and decency like Farrage or the side of the voodoo Keynesians who think they can cure debt with more debt and money printing who are nothing more than lackeys for bansters.
Mervyn King and the money printers will do well to read this for it is their heads that will end up on the ends of pitchforks when this does blow sky high
I'll say this again so EVERYONE gets it
The system in its present form requires exponential growth to function. We have reached the limits of that growth on a finite planet. We need an adult who is willing to face up to this not a retard who clamors about the need for more growth on a finite planet.
Indeed that is our environmental problem right there, not C02 clap trap but a system that grows for growth sakes.
Thats why most of the world is now a concrete building site in our incessant need for more "growth".
An alien from another planet who came here would find it quite strange that we built things just to keep us busy and to keep bankers in bonus.
We are a stupid race if we do not face up to this and like other stupid species we will fail if we do not stop this bullshit, but tragically we will take the entire planet with us

Mike Maloney explaining our money system again

2011-10-25T20:10:00.000-07:00

In frequent conversations with other people I try to convince them that all money ise debt Ie its loaned into existence. They refuse to believe it thinking I am just a conspiracy theorist.
Its abhorrent but its the truth. Currency is first issued with a bond a debt instrument.
I truly believe that is why JFK was assassinated, he wanted to create debt free money issued directly by the government

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/michael-maloney-we-pay-tax-privilege-have-currency

OUTRAGEOUS: Banks think they are above the law, make their own laws up

2011-10-17T03:51:00.000-07:00

People arrested for closing accounts? Fascist police officers on the side of the big banks.
I had no idea closing an account was illegal and they were not conspiring to organize a run on the bank
they just individually wanted to close their account.
WHO DO THESE SUITS THINK THEY ARE?
They act worse than loan shark mafioso
This is unreal, please circulate far and wide

EMERGENCY APPEAL TO EVERY UK CITIZEN TO OCCUPY BANK OF ENGLAND NOW

2011-10-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

I expect everyone has heard there will be more QE.
This is nothing but a backdoor bailout for banks again. The money will not make it into the wide economy but will merely be used by the big banks to drive up stock prices, in this case primarily their own. It is a devaluing of our currency just to give banks a sugar rush. With inflation already at 5 percent the recent decision to print more is INSANITY. Indeed Einstein said that the definition of insanity
is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Printing money has NEVER worked. The US has had QE for the last few years and when it stops we are back to where we started. It is just a temporary fix but makes the problem way worse in the long run. Worse is we risk a complete collapse of our currency as a result. To put it into perspective the amount we have printed is more than the US in percentage terms. 275 billion is the same as the US printing 1.4 trillion.
EVERYONE MUST TRY AND PUT A STOP TO THIS MADNESS

The Truth hurts

2011-09-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

I have no idea why this video is generating such heated discussion when all that was being said was the truth. Its obvious to anyone with an IQ above 50 that
Goldman Sachs and the too big to fails DO RUN the world and governments are only their lackeys. After all that, has happened over the last three years, (and still is with the EURO rescue packages being dreamt up, that merely save FRENCH and German BANKS) it must be obvious to anyone with a pulse that the entire western world is run by big banks with the Federal Reserve and other central banks playing the godfather to them all.
If people do not get It then they need to and fast.
As for his talk of collapse, again he was entirely correct. It is mathematically impossible for it not to collapse when we have a debt based system that has reached the limit of debt that a functional economy can service.
It is truly amazing that more people do not get it. These figures are made public every day such as the 14 trillion or so owed by the US and just about every other nations debt approaching 100 percent of GDP, how to people imagine that the system can survive with this debt load? Debt is either repaid or defaulted on. Those are the only options. What has been going on since 2008 to somehow stop defaults is just a shell game, moving debt from one place to another and hoping it will go away, well guess what, it can't and it won't.
The debt HAS to be cleared one way or another. The market Will get its pound of flesh, you can be sure of that. Can they delay it? Sure they can try and kick the can further down the road with more bailouts but that just makes the situation worse in the long run as we are seeing now.
IMHO we are on the verge of the big deflationary collapse now, how will it end and how bad will it get? I do not know. I think the best we can hope for is a 1930's type depression. I think that really is the best we can hope for. At the worst it would be like Mad max with a complete breakdown. For those that say
it won't happen and that the governments wouldn't allow it think agaikn. Its due to the actiosn of said governmenst that the system is collapsing. Do not expect an arsonist to save you from a fire. Apart from that there is NOTHING they can do. Thye should have stopped spending money they didn't have and prevented credit bubbles reaching the levels they diod years ago. Once a bubble is burst its too late. My advice, make sure you have small amounts of cash in a lot of different banks. Make sure you have enough cash put aside outside the banks
just in case there are bank holidays. make sure you have enough food to last a month or more. Tins of Tuna, pasta, rice, tinned veg and frozen goods. make sure you have some physical gold and silver somewhere and possibly soem gold and silver coins on your person.
I think the dollar will rally to new highs and stocks will eventually find their bottom BELOW the lows of 2009. After that I think they willk print money and paper currencies will collpase and gold will soar to unimginable highs. I cannot give you a time frame but it will not be 2015 before we see this IMHO. I think the s and P will be below 1000 by year end.

It seems that we cannot learn our lesson as there is still talk of "saving" Greece

2011-09-22T04:30:00.000-07:00

You cannot save a bankrupt entity be it sovereign, individual or a company by giving them more debt. Even a 5 year old can see this but it seems to escape the ECB, IMF , Merkel and all these other clowns. Listen up and listen good.
Greece is like a gangrenous leg. You either cut if off leaving the host ie the rest of europe alive or you let it fester and kill the entire patient. Lose a leg or die thats the choice. It amazes me they talk about contagion IF Greece the gangrenous leg IS cut off but the reality is the opposite. With Gangrene you either remove it or it spreads. Again why is that so hard to understand

Can this be the start of people waking up to the reality that Keynesain economics is a load of voodoo bullshit?

2011-09-22T04:18:00.000-07:00

I hope so
I have been saying for years since 2008 that the crash back then was just a warm up
the policy of trying to bail out bankrupt banks just shifted the debts onto sovereign nations, so instead of banks going under we would have entire countries going under and everything would crash again only this time there would be nothing anyone can do to mitigate it.
If they had allowed the free market to work 3 years ago and banks that should have gone under, went under, we would have had a severe recession/depression but we would of been recovering now with currencies still in tact.
Now we will enter a great depression with currencies failing as well.
Only the naive and stupid could not have seen this coming, its pure common sense that you cannot solve an insolvency problem with liquidity and more debt.
Thats the keynesian response and whilst total debt levels are low it works but when you reach debt saturation as we have now when both the state and the individual is bankrupt it only creates a bigger mess.
We had the choice to take our medicine 3 years ago. We chose 3 more years of
living off the credit card and this is the result.; It was akin to a herion addict wanting one last hit. Well we had it and this last hit has nearly killed us.
It may indeed kill us . This crash is just getting started IMHO
We will retest the lows of March 2009 at some point and stay there and this is all due to not letting bankrupt companies and individuals go broke as capitalism states they should have in a free market. We bailed out the speculators at the expense of savers and in the process destroyed capitalism. You cannot have capitalism with no capital ,but when you artificially force rates lower there is no incentive to form capital. We blew it and allowed unelected officials at the FED and central banks to blow it for us. I was considered crazy when I questioned the Keynesian response years ago , and said it cannot possibly work.
I was told if we hadn't of saved the banks and payed the bankstas their bonuses the system would collapse. On the contrary its BECAUSE of said bailouts that the system WILL COLLAPSE. This is basic maths that seems to escape most people. Sad but true

Symbol	Name	Last Trade	Change	Related Info
^ATX	ATX	1,897.00 6:39AM EDT	97.00 (4.86%)	Components, Chart, More
^BFX	BEL-20	2,020.04 6:58AM EDT	95.83 (4.53%)	Components, Chart, More
^FCHI	CAC 40	2,790.44 6:58AM EDT	145.38 (4.95%)	Components, Chart, More
^GDAXI	DAX	5,207.09 6:43AM EDT	226.71 (4.17%)	Components, Chart, More
^AEX	AEX General	266.22 6:43AM EDT	9.46 (3.43%)	Components, Chart, More
^OSEAX	OSE All Share	396.90 6:43AM EDT	15.08 (3.66%)	Components, Chart, More
^OMXSPI	Stockholm General	274.29 6:58AM EDT	11.33 (3.97%)	Components, Chart, More
^SSMI	Swiss Market	5,331.30 6:41AM EDT	144.04 (2.63%)	Components, Chart, More
^FTSE	FTSE 100	5,043.64 6:43AM EDT	244.77 (4.63%)	Components, Chart, More
FPXAA.PR	PX Index	903.10 6:58AM EDT	25.90 (2.79%)	Chart, More
ESI500000000.MA	IGBM	795.55 6:30AM EDT	32.43 (3.92%)	Components, Chart, More
MICEXINDEXCF.ME	MICEX Index	1,416.74 6:58AM EDT	90.51 (6.00%)	Chart, More
GD.AT	Athex Composite Share Price Index	833.35 6:41AM EDT	22.64 (2.64%)	Chart, More

Excellent post from Illargi over at automatic earth today

2011-09-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

This is an excellent blog even if they are dollar bulls and gold bears
who knows maybe they are right though even on that count

September 21 2011: Reckless Abandon

National Photo Co. Smokeboat September 1918
"Fire at Washington docks of Norfolk & Washington Steamboat Co."

Ilargi: I'm not even sure if it's right to claim that it's unique to our societies, but it's certainly something like a token sign. We do a lot of stupid and useless things, but this one is right up there with the cream of the crop of them.

For days now, the entire financial world seems to be holding its breath waiting for Ben Bernanke to issue a statement on what his Federal Reserve aims to do next, a statement to be delivered today, Wednesday, around 2.15 PM EDT.

What makes this so remarkable is that it should be clear to anyone with a pulse and some control of any of their senses left, that Bernanke's upcoming speech is completely inconsequential for more than a very short and fleeting moment in time. The Fed can't save our economies or banks from the upcoming recession slash depression anymore than it can send a rocketship to Andromeda.

The Federal Reserve is impotent when it comes to saving the economy, even if it tries with all its might not to show it. It flaunts its fictional capacity and ability to come up with new and creative well-calculated measures to influence everything from A to Z like once upon a time the emperor flaunted his new clothes. And no matter how badly any and all of its previous measures have failed, the vast majority among us still praises the subtly elegant materials and their dream-provoking shine. We don't want reality, we want to believe.

Oh, but you say, the Fed did succeed at times: didn't QE1 saved the economy?! No, I say, it did nothing of the kind. One might argue that it saved the day, perhaps, but all it really accomplished was to make the crisis more opaque. And granted, that may well be what it was designed for. So in that light, yes, one can argue that the Fed has been highly successful.

But that is not what we are looking for in a central bank. What we are looking for is for it to, indeed, save the economy, in order that, in the case of the Federal Reserve, ordinary Americans can look forward to decent paychecks, and homes they can keep living in, and bright futures for their kids.

Well, neither QE1, nor for that matter any other of the Fed's measures of the past few years, have done anything at all to stop housing prices from plunging, to make sure people get hired again, or to make our children's futures look less bleak. And it has failed to accomplish all of this while spending on and lending to the global financial system some $10-$20 trillion in American "wealth", public funds.

It’s simply not true that with different policy decisions, the day could be saved. The choices lie elsewhere: are we going to use the people's money to "save the financial system", or will we use it to alleviate the misery of the people themselves? To date, the choice Washington, Brussels et al have opted for is abundantly clear: not one choice has been made based on what is best for the people. Instead, the people are told that it’s in their best interest if their money is used to prop up failed and bankrupt institutions. And so far, the people buy this baloney.

entire article

A fitting video for the 9/11 anniversary

2011-09-11T18:06:00.000-07:00

To all those who believe in the official story given by the media nd the government i have one thing to say

GROW THE F*CK UP.

Anyo0ne who believes the official story is a grade AAA moron

from this video remember that the hijackers PASSPPORT WAS FOUND A FEW BLOCKS FROM THE WTC.

So an fire which obliterated three buildings, somehow spared a paper passport, that just so happened to belong to one of the hijackers

Oh please

An excellent piece by Karl Denninger

2011-09-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

Basically sums up what I have said right from the start that the speculators were being wiped out at the expense of the savers.
A recipe for a disaster as its the prudent ones with capital that need to be protected so capitalism can work in the manner its intended and not a government s; sponsored leveraged Crony capitalist system.
As Ludwid von mises said there is no remedy for fixing a collpased bubble other than to let its run its course other wise the currency itself will collapse. We are seeing the result of this now. I disagree with Denninger though
metals will in the end be the only place to preserve wealth, that and food and maybe guns.
This nis serious stuff and the only way out is to let the market work free of manipulation
yes that means people who borrowed too much and the lenders will be wiped out, but so what
thats the way the system is supposed to work, the prudent get to buy the assets of the imprudent and the system starts again from a more sustainable base ands lenders and people who got leveraged too much learn not to do it again

Jobless Claims: Stinks Again (414k)

Gee, where are the jobs? We know where they're not - in the US.

In the week ending September 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 414,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 412,000. The 4-week moving average was 414,750, an increase of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average of 411,000.

That's nice. You don't need the DOL report to know there are no jobs, you only need to get outside of the damned Washington DC beltway to discover this.
The futures, after tanking some on the Euro rate decision, dropped another half-percent on this release.
The simple fact of the matter is that this is not about tax cuts (for the rich or otherwise) or any such thing.
The problem is that zero interest rates have destroyed capital formation, destroyed reasonable returns for prudent people who have actually saved their entire life and thus collapsed their income, and as a consequence spending from surplus output and new business formation has collapsed, transferring the only remaining factor for consumer spending to Ponzi-style government deficit spending and credit used for consumption and speculation, none of which is capable of producing prosperity.
more here

There is a god after all: Come on Irene

2011-08-26T02:23:00.000-07:00

Irene is heading for the worlds biggest criminals and terrorists in wall street and washington
We can but hope
Of course Bernanke etc are in Jackson Hole
lets hope freak weather strikes there and destroys their homes. A direct hit on the FEds offices and Goldmans would be nice
Please god we pray for some biblical justice.
If you are reading this lets all pray together that this hits the criminals homes and offices HARD
and if some of them do stay I hope you drown or preferably get decapitated by some flying sheet metal
That way we will not have to buy too many guillotines.
Have a NICE DAY Bankstas

Another must see interview

2011-08-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

Gets very interesting at about 18 minutes when katherine Austin Fitts says that the threat of physical violence is prevalent to anyone who gets in the way of the bankstas agenda

Paul Krugman once again proving he is the dumbest clown on the planet right now

2011-08-24T01:46:00.000-07:00

When the collapse happens and these clowns have no protection It would take great restraint not to remove from Gods gene pool imbeciles like this. How can a moron like this be called a Professor?
Is he a professor of Moronicology?
He says he has a PHD in economics but is proving he knows less about economics than a stray alley cat.
I need to get this off my chest
paul Krugman you are a Moron and a disgrace of a Human being
You do not know ANYTHING about economics and have no clue about the real world
You are a parasite and I can only assume by these latest comments of yours that yoiu are trying to be a Comedian. Are you? If so you are a better comedian than an economist but i f I were you I would still kill myself by being an utterly worthless parasite who serves no purpose to society what so ever.

comment 1 only aliens can save us

Comment 2 : its shame the earthquake in Washington wasn't worse

I agree it IS a shame , not because as this brain dead muppet thinks that it will help the economy but it may have taken out the gene pool , idiots like this as well as all the cretins in the White House and Wall

Street. So I guess in that sense it would also help the economy

earthquake would help the economy

Zerohedge is not confirmin g this statement is by him but it could have ONLY have come from him

Noone else (even Tim Geitner) is that stupid

When is it enough for these Keynesian scumbags to admit defeat.Japan has had two lost KEYNESIAN decades and after the earthquake has not rebounded as idiots like this said it would.

Their whole argument is based on WW2 which bought us out of a depression

They fail to recognize that the economy had been in a slump for over 10 years anyway and so may have rebounded anyway but my feeling is that the US back then was a creditor nation and not the worlds biggest DEBTOR nation and so prospered when they helped the rest of the world rebuild but one can hardly say that war is good. Asking the people at that time if they would prefer a low stock market or a world war and i am sure a low stock market would have been the better option.

Scary thing is , that the policy makers WILL take Krugmans advice and START a war just to get the stock market up

I am predicting that along with Gerald Celente

A must watch/listen interview of Gerald Celente

2011-08-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Just remember that this guys trends/predictions are legendary, a modern Nostradamus

The magic number has now been breached

2011-08-18T04:41:00.000-07:00

Who would you rather trust? A gold and silver expert who has made a fortune from trading said metals
or Bernanke whose only real life experience has been gained from being a rent boy for the worlds banksters
oh and of course economic text books, which are really useful of course seeing said books teach you
all about KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS AND OTHER BULLSHIT

hmm could it be this that has sent gold soaring and anything priced in paper funny money tanking?

2011-08-18T04:19:00.000-07:00

Chavez Orders $11 Billion of Gold Home From Vaults Including Scotiabank’s

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered the central bank to repatriate $11 billion of gold reserves held in developed nations’ institutions such as the Bank of England as the metal rises to record levels behind a weakening U.S. dollar.

Venezuela, which holds 211 tons of its 365 tons of gold reserves in U.S., European, Canadian and Swiss institutions, will progressively return the bars to the central bank’s vault, Chavez said yesterday.JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Barclays Plc (BARC), Standard Chartered Plc (STAN) and the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) also hold Venezuelan gold, the president said.

“We’ve held 99 tons of gold at the Bank of England since 1980. I agree with bringing that home,” Chavez said yesterday on state television. “It’s a healthy decision.”

more here

Probably, that and the fact that the entire FIAT system is at its end game, with most of the world bankrupt, and with a debt based system, only default can sort that situation out

and that alone would of course implode the entire house of cards

The system is well and truelly f*cked

The insiders have known it for years, when will the people realize it?
I'd say now is the time. With 84 percent here saying they ahve lost faith in the ability of leaders
to tackle the situation
http://www.cnn.com/

Jeez what took them so long?
I could have told them that 3 years ago or longer
As we have an entirely FAITH based system I would say the fat lady is about to sing on our KEYNESIAN , FIAT BASED EXPERIMENT OF THE LAST 40 YEARS OR SO.
GOLD IS TELLING US THAT
Of course when it happens it will be totally unexpected and noone could have seen it happen.
Noone with an IQ below 10 of course or our leaders totally in the pockets of said system

BUY ALLOCATED PHYSICAL (not ETFs) GOLD and SILVER and have FAITH in the only non dilute-able asset, with no counter party risk left on the planet before its too late

www.bullionvault.com

The problem with the world.. too many Olivers

2011-08-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

Salvation Island
(Money Myth Exploded - The Financial enigma resolved - A debt money system)

1. Shipwreck survivors

An explosion had blown their ship apart. Each one grasped the first bit of wreckage that came to hand. And when it was over, there were five left, five huddled on a raft which the waves carried along at their will. As for the other victims of the disaster, there was no sign of them.

Hour after long hour their eyes searched the horizon. Would some passing ship sight them ? Would their make-shift raft finds its way to some friendly shore ?

Suddenly a cry rang out: "Land ! Look ! Over there, in the direction the waves are carrying us !"

And as the vague silhouette proved itself to be, in fact, the outline of a shore, the figures on the raft danced with joy.

They were five, five Canadians, as in the picture opposite. There was Frank, the carpenter, big and energetic. It was he who had first cried, "Land !".

Then Paul, a farmer. You can see him, front and left in the picture, on his knees, one hand against the floor, the other gripping the mast of the raft.

Next is Jim, an animal breeder; he's the one in the striped pants, kneeling and gazing in the direction of land.

Then there is Harry, an agriculturist, a little on the stout side, seated on a trunk salvaged from the wreck.

And finally Tom, a prospector and a mineralogist; he is the merry fellow standing in the rear of the picture with his hand on the carpenter's shoulder.

2. A Providential island

To our five men, setting foot on land was like returning to life from the grave.

When they had dried and warmed themselves their first impulse was to explore this little island on to which they had been cast, far from civilization.

A quick survey was sufficient to raise their spirit. The island was not a barren rock. True enough, they were the only men on it at the moment. But judging from the herds of semi-domesticated animals they encountered, there must have been men here at some time before them. Jim, the animal breeder, was sure he could completely domesticate them and put them to good service.

Paul found the island's soil, for the most part, to be quite suitable for cultivation.

Harry discovered some fruit trees which, if properly tended, would give good harvests.

Most important were the large stands of timber embracing many types of wood. Frank, without too much difficulty, would be able to build houses for the little community.

As for Tom, the prospector, well, the rock formations of the island showed signs of rich mineral deposits. Lacking the tools, Tom still felt his ingenuity and initiative could produce metals from the ores.

So each could serve the common good with his special talent. All agreed to call the place Salvation Island. All gave thanks to Providence for the reasonably happy ending to what could have been stark tragedy.

3. True wealth

Here are the men at work.

The carpenter builds houses and makes furniture. At first they find their food where they can. But soon the fields are tilled and seeded, and the farmer has his crops.

As season followed season this island, this heritage of the five men, Salvation Island, became richer and richer.

Its wealth was not that of gold or of paper bank notes, but one of true value; a wealth of food and clothing and shelter, of all the things to meet human needs.

Each man worked at his own trade. Whatever surpluses he might have of his own produce, he exchanged for the surplus products of the others.

Life wasn't always as smooth and complete as they could have wished it to be. They lacked many of the things to which they had been accustomed in civilization. But their lot could have been a great deal worse.

Besides, all had experienced the depression in Canada. They still remembered the empty bellies side by side with stores crammed with food.

At least, on Salvation Island, they weren't forced to see the things they needed rot before their eyes. Taxes were unknown here. Nor did they go in constant fear of seizure by the bailiff. They worked hard but at least they could enjoy the fruits of their toil.

So they developed the island, thanking God and hoping for the day of reunion with their families, still in possession of life and health, those two greatest of blessings.

4. A serious inconvenience

Our men often got together to talk over their affairs.

Under the simple economic system which had developed, one thing was beginning to bother then more and more; they had no form of money. Barter, the direct exchange of goods for goods, had its drawbacks. The products to be exchanged were not always at hand when a trade was discussed. For example, wood delivered to the farmer in winter could not be paid for in potatoes until six months later.

Sometimes one man might have an article of considerable size which he wished to exchange for a number of smaller articles produced by different men at different times.

All this complicated business and laid a heavy burden on the memory. With a monetary system, however, each one could sell his products to the others for money. With this money he could buy from the others the things he wanted, when he wished and when they were available.

It was agreed that a system of money would indeed be very convenient. But none of them knew how to set up such a system. They knew how to produce true wealth - goods. But how to produce money, the symbol of this wealth, was something quite beyond them. They were ignorant of the origin of money, and needing it they didn't know how to produce it. Certainly, many men of education would have been in the same boat; all our governments were in that predicament during the ten years prior to the war. The only thing the country lacked at that time was money, and the governments apparently didn't know what to do to get it.

5. Arrival of a refugee

One evening, when our boys were sitting on the beach going over their problem for the hundredth time. they suddenly saw approaching, a small boat with a solitary man at the oars.

They learned that he was a refugee from war-torn, central Europe. Along with other emigrants he had boarded a ship bound for Australia. A storm had driven their ship on to a reef. He was the only survivor of the wreck. His name, Oliver Glucksterlingmann. They could remember only his first name.

Delighted to have a new companion, they provide him with the best they had and took him on an inspection tour of the colony.

"Even though we're lost and cut off from the rest of the world," they told him, "we haven't too much to complain about. The earth and the forest are good to us. We lack only one thing - money. That would make it easier for us to exchange our products."

"Well, you can thank Providence," replied Oliver, ''because I am a banker and in no time at all I'll set up a system of money guaranteed to satisfy you. Then you'll have everything that people in civilization have.

A banker!... A BANKER ! ... An angel coming down out of the clouds couldn't have inspired more reverence and respect in our men. For, after all, are we not accustomed, we people in civilization, to genuflect before bankers, those men who control the life-blood of finance ?

6. Civilization's god

Mr. Oliver, as our banker, your only occupation on this island will be to look after our money; no manual labour."

"I shall, like every other banker, carry out to complete satisfaction my task of forging the community's prosperity."

"Mr. Oliver, we're going to build you a house that will be in keeping with your dignity as a banker. But in the meantime, do you mind if we lodge you in the building we use for our get-togethers ?"

"That will suit me, my friends. But first of all, unload the boat. There's paper, and a printing press complete with ink and type; and there's a little barrel which I exhort you to treat with the greatest care."

They unloaded everything. The small barrel aroused intense curiosity in our good fellows.

"This barrel, Oliver announced, "contains treasure beyond dreams. It is full of . . . gold!"

Full of gold ! The five all but swooned. The god of civilization here on Salvation Island ! The yellow god, always hidden, yet terrible in its power; whose presence or absence or slightest caprice could decide the very fate of all the civilized nations !

"Gold ! Mr. Oliver, you are indeed a great banker !"

"Oh august majesty ! oh honorable Oliver ! great high priest of the god, gold ! accept our humble homage and receive our oaths of fealty !"

"Yes, my friends, gold enough for a continent. But gold is not for circulation. Gold must be hidden. Gold is the soul of healthy money, and the soul is always invisible. But I'll explain all that when you receive your first supply of money.".

7. The secret burial

Before they went their separate ways for the night, Oliver asked them one last question.

"How much money will you need to begin with in order to facilitate trading ?"

They looked at one another then deferentially towards the banker. After a bit of calculation and with the advice of the kindly financier, they decided that $200 each would do.

The men parted, exchanging enthusiastic comments. And in spite of the late hour, they spent most of the night lying awake, their imaginations excited by the picture of gold. It was morning before they slept.

As for Oliver, he wasted not a moment. Fatigue was forgotten in the interests of his future as a banker. By dawn's first light he dug a pit into which he rolled the barrel. He then filled it in, transplanting a small shrub to the spot about which he carefully arranged sod. It was well hidden.

Then he went to work with his little press to turn out a thousand $1 bills. Watching the clean new banknotes come from his press, the emigrant turned banker, thought to himself:

"My ! how simple it is to make money. All its value come from the products it will buy. Without produce these bills are worthless. My five naive customers don't realize that. They actually think that this new money derives its value from gold ! Their very ignorance makes me their master."

And as evening drew on, the five came to Oliver - on the run.

8. Who owns the new money

Five bundles of new banknotes were sitting on the table.

"Before distributing the money," said the banker, "I would like your attention.
"Now, the basis of all money is gold. And the gold stored away in the vault of my bank is my gold. Consequently, the money is my money. Oh ! don't look so discouraged. I'm going to lend you this money and you're going to use it as you see fit. However, you'll have to pay interest. Considering that money is scarce here, I don't think 8% is unreasonable."

"Oh, that's quite reasonable, Mr. Oliver."

"One last point, my friends. Business is business, even between pals. Before you get the money, each of you is going to sign a paper. By it you will bind yourselves to pay both interest and capital under penalty of confiscation of property by me. Oh ! this is a mere formality. Your property is of no interest to me. I'm satisfied with money. And I feel sure I'll get my money and that you'll keep your property."

"That makes sense, Mr. Oliver. We're going to work harder than ever in order to pay you back."

"That's the spirit. And any time you have a problem, come and see me. Your banker is your best friend. Now, here's two hundred dollars for each of you."

And our five brave fellows went away, their hands full of dollar bills, their heads swimming with the ecstasy of having money.

9. A problem in arithmetic

And so Oliver's money went into circulation on the island. Trade, simplified by money, doubled. Everybody was happy.

And the banker was always greeted with unfailing respect and gratitude.

But now, let's see... Why does Tom, the prospector, look so grave as he sits busily figuring with a pencil and paper ? It is because Tom, like the others, has signed an agreement to repay Oliver, in one year's time, the $200 plus $16 interest. But Tom has only a few dollars in his pocket and the date of payment is near.

For a long time he wrestled with the problem from his own personal point of view, without success. Finally he looked at it from the angle of the little community as a whole.

"Taking into consideration everyone on the island, as a whole, he mused, "are we capable of meeting our obligations ? Oliver turned out a total of $1000. He's asking in return $1080. But even if we bring him his every dollar bill on the island we'll still be $80 short. Nobody made the extra $80. We turn out produce, not dollar bills. So Oliver can take over the entire island since all the inhabitants together can't pay him back the total amount of capital and interest.

"Even if a few, without any thought for the others, were able to do so, those others would fall. And the turn of the first spared would come eventually. The banker will have everything. We'd better hold a meeting right away and decide what to do about it."

Tom, with his figures in his hand, had no difficulty in proving the situation. All agreed they had been duped by the kindly banker. They decided upon a meeting at Oliver's.

10 .The benevolent banker

Oliver guessed what was on their minds but put up his best front. While he listened, the impetuous Frank stated the case for the group.

"How can we pay you $1080 when there is only $1000 on the entire island ?"

"That's the interest, my friends. Hasn't your rate of production increased ?"

"Sure, but the money hasn't. And it's money you're asking for, not our products. You are the only one who can make money. You've made only $1000 and yet you ask; $1080. That's an impossibility !"

"Now listen. fellows. Bankers, for the greater good of community, always adapt themselves to the conditions of the times. I'm going to require only the interest. Only $80. You will go on holding the capital.''

"Bless you, Mr. Oliver ! Are you going, to cancel the $200 each of us owes you ?"

"Oh no ! I'm sorry, but a banker never cancels a debt. You still owe me all the money you borrowed. But you'll pay me, each year, only the interest. If you meet the interest payments faithfully each year I won't push for the capital. Maybe some won't be able to repay even the interest because of the money changing hands among you. Well, organize yourselves like a nation. Set up a system of money contributions, what we call taxes. Those who have more money will be taxed more: the poor will pay less. See to it that you bring me, in one lump sum, the total of the amount of interest and I'll be satisfied. And your little nation will
thrive."

So our boys left, somewhat pacified but still dubious.

11. Oliver Glucksterlingmann exults

Oliver is alone. He is deep in reflection. His thoughts run thus:

"Business is good. These boys are good workers, but stupid. Their ignorance and naivety is my strength. They ask for money and I give them chains of bondage. They give me orchids and I pick their pockets.

"True enough, they could mutiny and throw me into the sea. But pshaw ! I have their signatures. They're good Christians. They're honest. They'll honor their pledges. Honest, hardworking people were put into this world to serve the financiers.

"Oh great Rothchild ! I feel your banking genius coursing through my entire being ! Oh, illustrious master ! how right you were when you said: "Give me control of a nation's money and I won't mind who makes its laws." I am the master of Salvation Island because I control its money.

"My soul is drunk with enthusiasm and ambition. I feel I could rule the universe. What I, Oliver Glucksterlingmann, have done here, I can do throughout the entire world. Oh ! if only I could get off this island ! I know how I could govern the world without wearing a crown.

My supreme delight would instill my philosophy in the mind of those who lead society; bankers, industrialists, politicians, reformers, teachers, journalists, - all would be my servants. The masses are content to live in slavery when the elite from among them are constitute their overseers."

And so the entire philosophy of banking, that spawn of Rothschild, was summed up in this ecstasy of Oliver Glucksterlingmann.

12. The cost of living unbearable

Meanwhile things went from bad to worse on Salvation Island. Production was up, bartering had dropped to a minimum. Oliver collected his interest regularly. The others had to think of setting money aside for him. Thus, money tended to clot instead of circulating freely.

Those who paid the most in taxes complained against those who paid less. They raised the prices of their goods to compensate for this loss. The unfortunate poor who paid no taxes lamented the high cost of living and bought less.

If one took a salaried job with another he was continually demanding increases in salary in order to meet the mounting cost of living.

Morale was low. The joy went out of living. No one took an interest in his work. Why should he ? Produce sold poorly. When they made a sale they had to pay taxes to Oliver. They went without things. It was a real crisis. And they accused one another of wanting in charity and of being the cause of the high cost of living.

One day, Harry, sitting in his orchard, pondered over the situation. He finally arrived at the conclusion that this "progress", born of a refugee's monetary system, had spoiled everything on the island. Unquestionably all five had their faults; but Oliver's system seemed to have been specifically designed to bring out the worst in human nature.

Harry decided to demonstrate this to his friends and to unite them for action. He started with Jim, who was not hard to convince. "I'm no genius", he said, "but for a long time now there's been a bad smell about this foreigner's system."

One by one they came to the same conclusion and ended by deciding upon another conference with Oliver. more here

Its ok its all under control..........

2011-08-07T06:57:00.000-07:00