I have a question, but I don't think it will ever be answered in my lifetime-- When are the people in control going to be honest? Now, by the people in control, I am referring to our government representatives, who I am totally disgusted with.
I am also talking about the people that control our financial markets.
I keep talking about market manipulation from time to time, and it seems that this year the manipulation theory is the strongest and the longest ongoing that I can remember.
Of course, it is my belief that whenever 80% of any market is handled by a relatively small group, you are going to see manipulation, or at least attempts at manipulation.
Remember history - and I love history.
History does repeat itself.
So, go back nearly 40 years when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market.
There is was.
Manipulation drove the price of silver up to around $50/oz..
And when the scheme was brought to light, the price collapsed and never got back to that price level until this year! That's what can happen and how long it can take to get back to a previous level.
We are in the process of paying for another manipulated market - the mortgage market.
A small group of people thought up another controlled situation that was highly manipulated.
And in part, this small group of people were indirectly spurred on by careless government programs in place at the time.
There is a lot of demand for less regulation, but that can be a two-edged sword: and was, in the case of mortgages.
Regulations were repealed, allowing the financial institutions to do what they couldn't do before.
So, what happened? - just the greatest total threat to financial collapse on a worldwide basis that we have ever seen! If extraordinary steps had not been taken, I think it was obvious that the whole financial system would have collapsed.
However, the treatment hasn't come up with a cure yet.
The world is still struggling to find answers and at present we are just keeping things afloat.
Where does manipulation come in now that we know the problem? Manipulation is being carried on, in my opinion, because the stock markets are being traded in a range that is not explainable.
Lately we have seen lots of violent market action due to the financial situations in Europe.
Here's where the manipulation comes in.
One day the market sees a big rise and the explanation is that the European situation is not as bad as was thought.
Why? A vague answer comes.
The markets go to the upper end of the range and then suddenly there is a steep drop.
The reason given for the steep drop is that the European situation is not as good as they thought it was.
In reality, nothing in the European situation has changed at all.
There is a real mess over there, but you can't say one day that Greece isn't very important and then the next day say that Greece influences major financial institutions around the world and the risk of a domino affect to Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Spain, etc.
is possible.
One of the key problems is that the financial institutions will not release what their real position is.
The same thing is true of situations here in the US.
Banks are allowed to carry items on their balance sheets that do NOT have to have the true value posted.
To get a much truer position, you would have to have what they call "mark to market", meaning that they would have to post the current value of the assets that they are carrying on their books.
Think of it this way - You want a loan, so you go to the bank and they want to know the value of your assets, in order to determine your financial situation at the time you want the loan.
Try telling them that you paid $400,000 for your house that is now worth $250,000, but you say you should be allowed to state that the house is still worth $400,000 because that is what you paid for it, and someday real estate values will rise again as they always have.
If the bank only just laughs in your face instead of kicking you out the door, consider yourself lucky.
But for them, our leaders have found it in their best interests to allow the financial institutions to do just that - not report the current value of their assets.
That is manipulation in my book.
There are many other examples of how small groups manipulate markets so that the vast majority do not get a fair shake.
Here in California the consumers were manipulated in the electricity rate business.
Again, regulations were changed, so that rates were not regulated any more.
So what happened? The few that bid on rates sold to each other and each sale resulted in a rise in our rates.
Then the rates were sold by the 2nd party back to the first and rates went up again.
I don't know how many times this happened, but it was all proven to be true.
Then what happened? Did they unravel this and make the greedy people pay for their crime by getting settlements that could be passed back to the consumer? No way - it never happened.
The vast majority paid for it in all ways.
So much for doing away with regulations that really protect.
Granted, there are regulations that stall and even prevent needed projects.
But, my thought is that the lobbyists get around that point eventually by seeing to it that the people in control are taken care of first, in the form of campaign contributions.
So much for manipulation! We the people get manipulated time and time again, with the small controlling group profiting by their actions.
Hey, we haven't forgotten about something being rotten in Denmark - oops, no, not Denmark, but right here in the US - again.
The scandal that appears to be on the verge of being exposed is gathering steam, and we will continue to follow it and have more to say about it shortly - I'm talking about Solar-Gate! In the meantime, stay tuned, for you know by now, for sure, that...
these are interesting times.
(We pay through the nose, but we do get interesting times.
) Today's Thought We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men and women who pervert the constitution.
- Abraham Lincoln
I am also talking about the people that control our financial markets.
I keep talking about market manipulation from time to time, and it seems that this year the manipulation theory is the strongest and the longest ongoing that I can remember.
Of course, it is my belief that whenever 80% of any market is handled by a relatively small group, you are going to see manipulation, or at least attempts at manipulation.
Remember history - and I love history.
History does repeat itself.
So, go back nearly 40 years when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market.
There is was.
Manipulation drove the price of silver up to around $50/oz..
And when the scheme was brought to light, the price collapsed and never got back to that price level until this year! That's what can happen and how long it can take to get back to a previous level.
We are in the process of paying for another manipulated market - the mortgage market.
A small group of people thought up another controlled situation that was highly manipulated.
And in part, this small group of people were indirectly spurred on by careless government programs in place at the time.
There is a lot of demand for less regulation, but that can be a two-edged sword: and was, in the case of mortgages.
Regulations were repealed, allowing the financial institutions to do what they couldn't do before.
So, what happened? - just the greatest total threat to financial collapse on a worldwide basis that we have ever seen! If extraordinary steps had not been taken, I think it was obvious that the whole financial system would have collapsed.
However, the treatment hasn't come up with a cure yet.
The world is still struggling to find answers and at present we are just keeping things afloat.
Where does manipulation come in now that we know the problem? Manipulation is being carried on, in my opinion, because the stock markets are being traded in a range that is not explainable.
Lately we have seen lots of violent market action due to the financial situations in Europe.
Here's where the manipulation comes in.
One day the market sees a big rise and the explanation is that the European situation is not as bad as was thought.
Why? A vague answer comes.
The markets go to the upper end of the range and then suddenly there is a steep drop.
The reason given for the steep drop is that the European situation is not as good as they thought it was.
In reality, nothing in the European situation has changed at all.
There is a real mess over there, but you can't say one day that Greece isn't very important and then the next day say that Greece influences major financial institutions around the world and the risk of a domino affect to Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Spain, etc.
is possible.
One of the key problems is that the financial institutions will not release what their real position is.
The same thing is true of situations here in the US.
Banks are allowed to carry items on their balance sheets that do NOT have to have the true value posted.
To get a much truer position, you would have to have what they call "mark to market", meaning that they would have to post the current value of the assets that they are carrying on their books.
Think of it this way - You want a loan, so you go to the bank and they want to know the value of your assets, in order to determine your financial situation at the time you want the loan.
Try telling them that you paid $400,000 for your house that is now worth $250,000, but you say you should be allowed to state that the house is still worth $400,000 because that is what you paid for it, and someday real estate values will rise again as they always have.
If the bank only just laughs in your face instead of kicking you out the door, consider yourself lucky.
But for them, our leaders have found it in their best interests to allow the financial institutions to do just that - not report the current value of their assets.
That is manipulation in my book.
There are many other examples of how small groups manipulate markets so that the vast majority do not get a fair shake.
Here in California the consumers were manipulated in the electricity rate business.
Again, regulations were changed, so that rates were not regulated any more.
So what happened? The few that bid on rates sold to each other and each sale resulted in a rise in our rates.
Then the rates were sold by the 2nd party back to the first and rates went up again.
I don't know how many times this happened, but it was all proven to be true.
Then what happened? Did they unravel this and make the greedy people pay for their crime by getting settlements that could be passed back to the consumer? No way - it never happened.
The vast majority paid for it in all ways.
So much for doing away with regulations that really protect.
Granted, there are regulations that stall and even prevent needed projects.
But, my thought is that the lobbyists get around that point eventually by seeing to it that the people in control are taken care of first, in the form of campaign contributions.
So much for manipulation! We the people get manipulated time and time again, with the small controlling group profiting by their actions.
Hey, we haven't forgotten about something being rotten in Denmark - oops, no, not Denmark, but right here in the US - again.
The scandal that appears to be on the verge of being exposed is gathering steam, and we will continue to follow it and have more to say about it shortly - I'm talking about Solar-Gate! In the meantime, stay tuned, for you know by now, for sure, that...
these are interesting times.
(We pay through the nose, but we do get interesting times.
) Today's Thought We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men and women who pervert the constitution.
- Abraham Lincoln