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mamboni
15th April 2010, 09:08 PM
Trillions Pumped In And Little to Show For It

Posted: April 14 2010

Retirement in the worst depression in 60 years, deflation is coming, unemployed face worst odds in over 50 years, IMF specializes in austerity, banks cut lending in anticipation of conditions, Financial Crisis Commission a travesty, a setback for Poland, Florida real estate woes, Greece crisis sparks investor panic,

Those of you 60 years old and older will spend the next 25 years struggling to survive one of the worst depressions in history or doing whatever you can to support your children and grandchildren.

The move toward eventual deflation is underway. It won’t happen tomorrow, but it is underway. The situation regarding the credit crisis has never been solved, unless you want to keep two sets of books in perpetuity and mark-to-model until the end of time. De-leveraging is in part still in process. The banks have a long way to go. In fact, one has made toxic garbage attractive to banks and bottom fishers. Banks and investment houses as owners and buyers will get taken off the hook by government via loans. This program is supposed to take underwater homeowners on to dry land, when in fact it’s another banking and Wall Street giveaway you will get to pay for. This will be another bailout similar to Bear Stearns that the Fed has finally admitted too. They used tens of billions of dollars to assure JPMorgan Chase would be protected as it took over Bear’s assets, including their large short silver position, which just happened to be naked. They did the same thing at AIG prior to its bailout as well. Incidentally, the taxpayer gets to pay for all this. The Fed still does what it pleases for the financial sector whether you like it or not. All the elitist cronies have to be bailed out before the world economy is taken under.

The last 9 years were losers. Trillions of dollars were forced into the economy and officially all we had to show for it was 2% growth. The price for that was an inflationary/recession/depression. In that process millions of businesses and individuals lost everything they had worked a lifetime for. Even those in the stock market and bonds lost money on a net basis. The only winners were those who sold their homes near the top of the market and those invested in gold and silver related assets.

Based on both earnings and dividends the outlook for the stock market is not very appealing at today’s levels. We are still in a credit crisis and will be for the next couple of years, but it is only a matter of time before the debt crisis begins. The Fed cannot spend its way out of this one, just as they couldn’t in the late 1930s. There is no chance the budget deficit can be brought back into balance and as a matter of fact it will worsen. We have GDP growth based on inventory growth and bogus statistics. What does Washington do after the stimulus ends this month? Inject in more like they just did with HIRE, some $17 billion or add another $500 billion, which is what the economy needs before it collapses. Then will the Fed that is withdrawing funds throw in another $500 billion? Companies are protecting themselves, their earnings and their existence. They won’t stop laying off until they believe that the depression is over. Last week’s survey showed that medium-to-small business doesn’t see any kind of revival for 14 to 18 months. They voted 92% that way.
If the Fed bought 80% of treasury and Agency paper last year will they do that again this year? Who else will buy this paper; our retirement plans?

The probability of someone out of work finding a job is now at the lowest level since 1948. Last month half the jobs created came from bogus birth/death ratio and almost all the rest from census jobs, which will be wiped out in a few months. In reality, no real growth. Remember the easiest way to cut expenses is to lay people off and cut all those benefits. They make up 70 to 75 percent of corporate costs. When we were young we all had what was called pet peeves. Our pet peeve is writers who know the U3, 9.7% unemployment, is a scam and they still quote it and even sometimes in the same breath mention U6. Again they want to be accepted or they are under government pressure. We have never seen such lying in 50 years. These people should be ashamed of themselves. We expect it from Wall Street, banking and government, but not from journalists. Incidentally, we need 125,000 new jobs a month that under present circumstances is a joke. That is even after two stimulus programs and trillions from the Fed. Don’t you find it a little odd that after all that money and credit the economy can’t stage a real rally? Back to unemployment – we see writers who deliberately misquote the actual U6 number and make excuses that it includes part timers, as a sop to the government and to be accepted. How about the bogus birth/death ratio?

If it wasn’t bad enough that the big hitter Illuminists were getting all the bailout money now small businesses are going to get hit with big tax increases.

Even though the Fed has been withdrawing money and credit from the system they know if they do not pour money back into the system it will not only have a double dip recession/depression, we will probably have a deflationary collapse. The big question is when will the elitists pull the plug?
Next year we will see higher taxes and continued government increases in spending. A continued crowding out by government pushing interest rates higher. Ongoing increases in money and credit and more monetization by the Fed. That will give us higher inflation for the next 21 months. That is at least a real 14%. We will also find out whether Greece was a planned or unplanned event. Will the powers that be opt for a deflationary depression?
All of the above events are negative for both stocks and bonds. As interest rates edge upward, especially on the long end, bonds will fall in value. That includes government, corporate and municipals. Stocks will fall and at least test 6,500 on the Dow. Commodities and gold and silver will continue their bull markets. Unemployment will rise and consumption as a percentage will move from 69.5% toward the long-term mean of 64.5%. Overall the outlook generally is bad, and it could be disastrous. All of you who are contemplating retirement put it off and continue to work. Whether we have inflation or deflation we will have less purchasing power. You will need your job to help support your children and grandchildren. Whatever you have in savings and investments you have to preserve and the best way to do that is with gold and silver related assets. The world economy will be in great turmoil and there is the distinct possibility of another war. If you look at history you will find each time there is severe economic or financial problems another war is arranged. The years ahead are not going to be a piece of cake.

The operative word is austerity something the IMF has specialized in for control of governments and economies. That is what we will be practiced on America. You are seeing that reflected in unemployment as business increases profits and throws away employees like used dishrags, especially the longer-term employees. Now government will soon unveil its first version of guaranteed annuities, or it might also be called another tax to fund the unpayable debts of a bankrupt government. All this while banking, Wall Street and insurance prosper, as well as selective other transnational conglomerates. It is all about control and economic and financial enslavement. Banks and Wall Street will ride roughshod over America collecting more and more wealth. Fiscal responsibility is not going to be imposed on Washington, but upon the American people. How else can the system continue as it is? Someone has to pay for it and it is not going to be the rich who own your congressmen and senators. Wall Street and Madison Avenue can’t allow government to be blamed for debt; its consequences have to be laid onto consumers. It has to be understood that consumers caused all this due to their profligate spending, so it is only natural that they should be the ones to pay the debt.

The banks and Wall Street know the above is on the way. That is why lending to small businesses and individuals has been reduced by 20%. Many of these entities are going to fail and the lenders do not want to have to write off the bad debt. Banks, investment banks and brokerage houses are in need of more securitization of debt. That is how they make fabulous amounts of money. They simply package debt and sell it to other professionals, who supposedly know what they are doing and buying. We refer you back to CDOs, ABS and MBS, which got us into the credit crisis nightmare we are still in the midst of. Lenders are saying not us. Either we syndicate or we cut back on lending. Banks and brokerage houses still are leveraged 40 to 1 and they are still bankrupt. The BIS and the FASB, with the concurrence of government and the powers behind government, that they are to continue to be allowed to keep two sets of books and mark their balance sheets to fantasy. They value investments at whatever they wish. You cannot do that you would go to jail if you did. It is called fraud. It’s despicable, disgraceful and total moral capitulation. Overvaluation of assets as we are finding out is 50 to 97 percent of underlying assets. Look at some of the recent bank failures and what is left of there books. Overstatement of assets is going to get worse and, of course, the operators of these institutions are held civilly and criminally blameless. Can you imagine taking over a bank or brokerage house and finding that 40% or less of the assets are salvageable. This is what is going on and the public knows little about it. This is why there are loss-sharing agreements between the FDIC and those who take the sick banks over.

This past week the Dow gained 0.6%; S&P 1.4%; the Russell 2000 2.8% and the Nasdaq 100 1.8%. Banks rose 5.5%; broker/dealers 3.6%; cyclicals 2.2%; transports 2.6%; consumers 0.9%; utilities 4%; high tech 1.6%; semis 2.4%; Internets 2.7% and biotechs 0.4%. Gold bullion rose $41.00, the HUI rose 5% and the USDX fell 0.3% to 80.90.
The yield on the 2-year T-bill declined 4 bps to 0.98%, the 10-year notes fell 6 bps to 3.88%, as the 10-year German bund rose 8 bps to 3.16%.
The Freddie Mac 30-year fixed rate mortgage rates rose 13 bps to 5.21%. The 15’s rose 13 bps to 4.52%, the one-year ARMs rose 9 bps to 4.14% and the 30-year jumbos jumped 12 bps to 5.95%.
Fed credit fell $0.6 billion up 10.6% year-on-year. Fed foreign holdings of Treasuries and Agency debt increased $4.8 billion to a record $3.025 trillion. Custody holdings for foreign central banks have increased $69.2 billion year-to-date, with a one-year rise of $403 billion, or by 15.4%.
M2 narrow money supply fell $11.7 billion to $8,491 trillion. Total money market fund assets fell $18.4 billion to $2.964 trillion. In the first 14 weeks of the year assets have fallen $329 billion, with a 1-year decline of $882 billion, or 22.9%.
Total commercial paper fell $19.6 billion to $1.090 trillion. CP has declined $80.4 billion, or 25.5% ytd, and is off $444 billion, or 29% yoy. This proves one thing and that is the credit crisis is not over.
The recent House hearings called The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission were at best a travesty. The likes of Robert Rubin and Sir Alan Greenspan would have us believe that what transpired during the creation of MBS, CDOs and ABS was normal. No one ever expected the collapse in that market and the rating agencies. Yes, those agencies were to blame. It is a matter of public record the banks, investment banks and brokerage houses conspired to rate securities as AAA, which should have had a far lower rating. This was done to qualify them so that institutions could buy them and get buried in them. All the people and firms involved should have been and still should be charged with criminal fraud. Then the elitists on Wall Street never seem to get charged, nor do they go to jail. The fine is paid by shareholders and they go right back to doing what they did before.
The Commission got nowhere in the hearings, because Wall Street, banking and insurance provide the funds for them to get reelected. They are bought and paid for. The failure of these mortgage instruments was preordained. Very simply the garbage was dumped on professional investors who believed the ratings. After it was obvious what was happening the Fed supplied endless amounts of liquidity, so central banks, particularly in Europe, could bail the buyers out. This is how the credit crisis was created and funded.
The US budget deficit for March was $65.39 billion.
The April IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Report was 48.4 versus 45.4 in March.
The big banks, Morgan, Goldman and Citi have sold their longs and are now short the dollar.
Please note the following: Poland was among the chief opponents of the old USSR in their bid to break free from the Iron Curtain. Poland had agreed to sponsor some of the Bush Administrations missile/anti-missile installations for its proposed Eastern Europe missile defense system, which Marxist Obama ("The Joker") abandoned as fellow Marxist Putin of Russia assisted his masters in the NWO in taking out Poland's leadership. Poland was the second last country to sign on to the euro and to join the European Union. Poland was the only country in the EU to have an economy with positive growth. Poland had one of the few major economies and banking systems that steered clear of the Illuminist banking fraud derivative orgy and even had the audacity to offer the IMF a loan when the IMF was gunning for more victims to enslave, with Poland conspicuously missing from the IMF's victim list.
Florida remains ground zero of the housing bust with an amazing 19.39% delinquency rate. The Tampa Bay area has a delinquency rate of 17%.

The St. Petersburg Times has the details in Nearly 17 percent of Tampa homeowners three months behind on mortgage. Nearly 17 percent of Tampa Bay homeowners haven't paid their mortgages for at least three months.
The February report by First American CoreLogic shows mortgage delinquencies rising steadily for more than a year. From February 2009 to February 2010, delinquencies increased from 10.84 percent to 16.96 percent of all residential mortgages, making mincemeat of such government anti-foreclosure measures as Making Home Affordable.
Florida's 90-day delinquency rate was even worse at 19.39 percent. The U.S. rate was 8.78 percent.
Credit markets have staged a comeback. Now, too, it seems some of the exotic securities that were hallmarks of the credit bubble are having a small renaissance of their own. The rally in the corporate-bond market and a steady supply of easy money courtesy of the Federal Reserve are encouraging investors to take more risks. And Wall Street bankers and companies are taking advantage where they can. Some of the riskier borrowing practices that flourished at the height of the bubble have begun to find buyers. Among them: so-called pay-in-kind bonds that enable companies issue more debt as interest payments, rather than pay cash. Companies are also issuing bonds to pay big dividends to their owners…. Some firms are also trying to pull together bonds backed by mortgages that aren’t guaranteed by the government. [These people did not learn anything.]
High-yield, high-risk bonds make up the biggest share of corporate debt sales on record as investors wagering on a robust economic recovery snap up securities from even first-time issuers. Global sales of junk bonds total about $91 billion this year, or 12% of issuance, almost double last year’s share.
U.S. apartment rents dropped in the first quarter and the vacancy rate remained at a record as unemployment near a 26-year high limited tenant demand. Actual rents paid by tenants… declined 1.5% from a year earlier, Reis Inc. said. Vacancies were unchanged at 8%, the highest level since 1980.
Office vacancies in the U.S. rose to the highest level since 1994 in the first quarter as economic weakness reduced demand for commercial real estate space, according to Reis Inc. The vacancy rate climbed to 17.2% from 15.2% a year earlier.
nymous firm in New York, says she's not just concerned but confused. "Why is the market going up?" she asks. "You usually don't see advances without volume. [Could it be they have discovered the markets are rigged by the government?]
Since July, Bennie Mae has monetized enormous amounts of MBS during expiration week to supply ample juice for market manipulators. This practice ended on March 31. It will be interesting to see if the Fed provides juice by other ways & means.
A group of 18 banks—which includes Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc.—understated the debt levels used to fund securities trades by lowering them an average of 42% at the end of each of the past five quarterly periods, the data show. The banks, which publicly release debt data each quarter, then boosted the debt levels in the middle of successive quarters.
That practice, while legal, can give investors a skewed impression of the level of risk that financial firms are taking the vast majority of the time…
According to the data, the banks' outstanding net repo borrowings at the end of each of the past five quarters were on average 42% below their peak in net borrowings in the same quarters. Though the repo market represents just a slice of banks' overall activities, it provides a window into the risks that financial institutions take to trade.
Why didn’t Street bank analysts report this chicanery? How can anyone know how to value large banks?

more at http://theinternationalforecaster.com/International_Forecaster_Weekly/Trillions_Pumped_In_And_Little_to_Show_For_It

Apparition
15th April 2010, 09:12 PM
And with this in mind, I'm sure CONgress will think that a few more trillion-dollar stimulus packages will just solve everything.

Why not? They've consistently been passing billion-dollars stimuli over the past few months.

Isn't it amazing that fruitless policies can justify repeating the same fruitless policies in goverment?

Jewboo
16th January 2018, 07:00 PM
https://media.8ch.net/file_store/24cf4401030129965b06952c350cb9d234523c0c067955fa66 1ef44708ee87a4.jpg

Jewboo
15th January 2019, 10:16 AM
https://i.4pcdn.org/pol/1537643207246.png

C.Martel
12th September 2019, 09:04 PM
https://i.4pcdn.org/pol/1537643207246.png


The Negro-Jewish alliance to get whitey. The Republicans service the jew. Democrats service the nigger, nigress and niglets. Obama served both. But neither party takes away anything given to the negro-jewish alliance in the previous sessions of congress.

This is why I like 2 terms, less new free stuff to jews and niggers. I am starting to want the Dems to lose, not that I want trump to win. But I will be happy with a Dem loss.

keehah
17th April 2021, 10:14 AM
The US budget deficit for March [2010] was $65.39 billion.

WSJ: U.S. Budget Deficit Widened to a Record $1.7 Trillion for Six Months, as Stimulus Checks Fueled Spending (https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-budget-deficit-widened-454-in-march-as-latest-stimulus-money-flowed-11618250412)
Gap broadened to $660 billion in March alone as spending surged amid payouts..

The deficit was $660 billion last month, 454% wider than it was in the same month a year ago. Revenue rose 13% to $268 billion, while spending increased 161% to $927 billion—the third-highest total on record, after June and April of last year.


This may not be sustainable.

ziero0
17th April 2021, 11:13 AM
This may not be sustainable.

When the turkey is done a practical policy is to remove it from the oven. Stick a fork in it.

mamboni
17th April 2021, 12:08 PM
WSJ: U.S. Budget Deficit Widened to a Record $1.7 Trillion for Six Months, as Stimulus Checks Fueled Spending (https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-budget-deficit-widened-454-in-march-as-latest-stimulus-money-flowed-11618250412)

This may not be sustainable.It's sustainable as long as the dollar is held and used abroad as a reserve. Recently, dollar reserves have been declining. If the dollar share dips below 50% then watch out below. One thing seems certain: the monetary inflation will continue and accelerate. Deficits in the $trillions are baked in the cake.

keehah
26th April 2021, 11:12 AM
And this is just the debt from one layer of government!

thecentersquare.com: Truth in Accounting: U.S. national debt closer to $123 trillion, nearly $796,000 per household (https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/truth-in-accounting-u-s-national-debt-closer-to-123-trillion-nearly-796-000-per/article_60e10fcc-a1f8-11eb-8dc7-ff790d87d9ee.html)

Apr 25, 2021
The U.S. national debt is closer to $123 trillion, more than four times what the Treasury Department is reporting, Chicago-based Truth in Accounting [pdf] (https://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/Financial-State-of-the-Union-2020.pdf) calculates in its new annual analysis of the nation’s finances.

The federal government has $5.95 trillion in assets and $129.06 trillion worth of bills resulting in a $123.11 trillion shortfall, or a debt burden of $796,000 per U.S. household.

Because of this massive amount of debt and repeatedly poor financial decisions made by lawmakers, TIA gave the U.S. government an “F” grade for its financial condition.

The analysis, “Financial State of the Union 2021” is based on the latest available audited Financial Report of the U.S. Government for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2020. According to the federal report, assuming that current laws and policies don’t change, increase in future debt will grow faster than GDP.

TIA found that the federal government’s overall financial condition worsened by $9.84 trillion in 2020, resulting from stimulus funding and costs imposed on state and local governments by lockdowns.

The official Treasury Department figure of $28 trillion doesn’t account for the short- and long-term economic costs of state shutdowns in 2020 or those that are still ongoing, TIA notes. It also doesn’t include the amount the government owes in unfunded Social Security and Medicare benefits.

“Elected and non-elected officials have made repeated financial decisions that have left the federal government with a debt burden of $123.11 trillion, including unfunded Social Security and Medicare promises,” the report states.

TIA’s total federal debt calculation includes $55.12 trillion in unfunded Medicare benefits and $41.20 trillion in unfunded Social Security benefits...

After Medicare and Social Security, the next greatest debts the government owes are publicly held debt ($21 trillion), military and civilian retirement benefits ($9.4 trillion) and other liabilities ($2.25 trillion).

Eighty percent of the government’s revenue comes from individual income and withholding taxes. Excise, estate, gift and other taxes account for 11% of revenue and corporate taxes account for 9%.

Federal spending by specific category includes 23% on Defense and Veteran’s Affairs, [19]% on Health and Human Services (Medicare/Medicaid), 16% on Social Security, 5% on interest on the national debt, and 2% on education.

woodman
6th May 2021, 07:13 PM
Wasn't sure where to put this but it is a good vid from Maloney at Gold Silver:
Silver Spiking & Trading Armageddon (goldsilver.com) (https://goldsilver.com/blog/silver-spiking-trading-armageddon/?utm_campaign=2021054_Mike_Video_Newsletter_Silver _Spiking_Armageddon&utm_content=touchpoint_1_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=zaius)

Of course the big discussion is always the Inflation/Deflation conundrum and timing is always the most critical aspect. Everything is going up in price right now; severely. It's not hyperinflation, but when even the Fed says to be prepared for 'Transitory' hyperinflation, this gives one pause. The markets are so over bought that it is a given that they will crash, at least in most opinions. I suppose it is possible that everything simply rockets skyward on the road of hyper-inflation. That is not how it works though because there comes a point where everyone suddenly realizes they have been investing in air because everyone else was too and making money in the process. Suddenly the game of musical chairs gets real.

Will there be one last deflationary scare when investors try to meet margins? If and when it comes, will real assets like metals be available even though their price has fallen dramatically? Maybe it's a good idea to make sure you are close to your investment goal? Mention is made of an upcoming conference with such heavies as Lacy Hunt. I would like to hear his take on things.

What to do with cash? I dunno.....

keehah
8th November 2021, 06:48 AM
marketwatch.com: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq end at all-time highs, extending win streak as traders wait for outcome of Federal Reserve policy meeting (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-stock-futures-pause-at-record-highs-as-fed-decision-looms-11635845377)

Nov. 2, 2021
U.S. stock indexes ended at fresh peaks Tuesday, with all three major benchmarks notching all-time highs for a third straight trading session for the first time since December 2019, according to Dow Jones Market Data...

The Federal Reserve is “arguably the most dovish central bank in the world,”

Good comment from ZeroHedge last week. Seems fiscally much of the west is off the cliff, in free fall, with record gains for the fiscal casino gamblers and the pain of significant inflation for non-gambling citizens just starting to bite. Actual policy has not been to correct the economy, improve productivity and long term living standards, but rather to continue to deindustrialize the west, now with ever more emphasis on destroying the west's energy supply whilst keeping the financial casino afloat. This is worse than incompetence.

"Many seem to forget that only last year that the stock market was on the verge of collapse. In the week ending March 20, 2020 the Dow lost 17%. The month before, the S&P dropped 32%. These were declines not seen since 2008. It was not until March 24, 2020 that Congress agreed to the multi-trillion dollar COVID bailout/stimulus. That same day, the Dow rose 11%, its highest percentage gain in 90 years.

With all countries and all world leaders immediately jumping on the BS COVID hysteria bandwagon, the farce was revealed for what it truly is: A desperate, worldwide money-grab by broke nations/economies through the fraudulent lens of central bank money-printing to stave off, if only for a short time, a complete global economic collapse."-i

theweek.com: The Great Recession never ended (https://theweek.com/articles/714423/great-recession-never-ended)

July 27, 2017
In the first few years after the 2008 economic crisis, a great deal of political attention and energy was focused on continuing economic problems. The Obama stimulus was too small, and it was followed by tons of austerity after Republicans swept the 2010 midterms, so unemployment came down with grinding slowness. But as unemployment has finally reached something like normal levels — and as the ongoing catastrophe of the Trump presidency has consumed everyone's attention — possible economic under-performance has faded from view.


But the problems are still there — indeed, in some ways things are actually getting worse. The Great Recession never fully ended.

Economic Policy Institute: epi.org: Why a fiscal stimulus that is big and fast is so necessary—and why it should continue so long as the economy is weak (https://www.epi.org/blog/how-the-federal-government-should-buffer-the-economic-shock-of-covid-19-pass-a-large-fiscal-stimulus-package-including-sending-cash-payments-to-households-and-paying-for-states-medicare/)

March 13, 2020
...even after targeted interventions are undertaken, quick-acting and large economic stimulus will be needed.

What specifically needs to be done? Send cash payments to households and have the federal government take on states’ Medicaid spending for a year. Crucially, each of these should also include triggers to keep them going if economic conditions warrant...

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, stimulus needs to have provisions that carry on if economic conditions warrant. Passing a stimulus that gets us to the end of the year and then creates a sharp “fiscal cliff” would be a disaster.

yahoo.com: Treasury says plans to borrow $1.02 trillion this quarter (https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/treasury-says-plans-borrow-1-193350317.html)

November 1, 2021
The $1.02 trillion in borrowing for the current quarter is the largest borrowing amount since the government borrowed $2.75 trillion in March 2020...

The current borrowing limit stands at $28.88 trillion after the $480 billion increase approved by Congress last month. The debt subject to that limit is currently $25 million below the limit. But Yellen can use a variety of bookkeeping maneuvers to remove investments from various government employee pension funds to allow for further borrowing for a limited period of time.

keehah
5th February 2022, 10:25 AM
When the Fed has inflated the biggest and most unsustainable financial bubble in history and perhaps the world's largest misallocation of resources to take from all US citizens (and all who use the US dollar; currency devaluation) to award mostly the already richest few percent of people in the world trillions more in US currency.

Then in the Fed's desperation to delay reality and consequence of their economic folly and disaster, the previous normal and free-market discovery required behavior of shorting seems to be getting redefined as terrorism.

From ZH (https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/doj-crackdown-activist-short-sellers-has-expanded-target-more-30-firms):

bloomberg.com: Vast DOJ Probe Looks at Almost 30 Short-Selling Firms and Allies (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-04/vast-doj-probe-looks-at-almost-30-short-selling-firms-and-allies?sref=i4qXzk6d)

February 4, 2022
The Justice Department is collecting a trove of information on dozens of investment firms and researchers engaged in short selling as part of a sweeping U.S. hunt for potential trading abuses, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized computers from the home of prominent short seller Andrew Left, the founder of Citron Research, in early 2021, some of the people said. In more recent months, the Justice Department subpoenaed certain market participants seeking communications, calendars and other records relating to almost 30 investment and research firms, as well as three dozen individuals associated with them, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential inquiries...

The long list of names underscores the breadth of the Justice Department investigation first described by Bloomberg in December and shows how authorities are trying to map out alliances and understand how short sellers handle research and arrange bets that stocks will fall. It remains unclear which, if any, of the names mentioned in subpoenas might be targets of the inquiry or merely have ties to other people or entities of interest...

The U.S. probe adds to a treacherous period for short sellers. Some bearish funds threw in the towel as government stimulus drove equity markets, a situation exacerbated during the pandemic. The pressure intensified during 2021’s meme-stock frenzy, when retail investors banded together to bid up shares of popular short targets, inflicting losses on hedge funds and other traders.

keehah
6th February 2022, 09:31 AM
In NWO Clown World, two year old satire start to become truff:

liputan6.nanyamulu.com (The Stonk Market): Federal Reserve Declares War on Short Sellers (https://liputan6.nanyamulu.com/ext-https-thestonkmarket.com/federal-reserve-declares-war-on-short-sellers/)

June 29, 2020
WASHINGTON – In an unprecedented move not seen by anyone, the Federal Reserve has officially declared all out war on short sellers.

“As a protector of America’s capital the Federal Reserve has decided it is time to declare war on all financial terrorists,” Powell said. “Anyone caught short selling will be executed.”

Short sellers across the nation scrambled to defend their portfolios as the Treasury Department dropped ten thousand dollar bills into the rigged market...

“We will take no prisoners,” Powell continued. “Short selling is worse than communism. The evil short sellers will be scrubbed off the face of this planet.”

Jim Chanos of Kynikos Associates, reiterated how Tesla was a classic short for the billionth time before being drowned to death in a pile of money that fell out of the sky...

To honor the beginning of The Great War Against Short Sellers, CNBC changed their name to Stocks Only Go Up! Furthermore, brokerage houses across the nation removed the sell button.

“We will continue to drop dollars from the sky until all short sellers are decimated. Stocks are only meant to go up.”

cnn.com: The world's 500 richest people became $1 trillion richer last year (https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/04/business/billionaires-gain-1-trillion-wealth/index.html)

January 4, 2022
The world's wealthiest people, whose fortunes already strained comprehension, collectively gained $1 trillion last year, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index...

For the gazillionth year in a row, 2021 was a good time to be rich. Time and again, Wall Street shrugged off concerns about inflation, supply chain bottlenecks and new Covid-19 variants to keep equity markets humming. On that front, the wealthy owe a big hat tip to the Federal Reserve, which plowed tens of billions of dollars into financial markets every month while keeping interest rates near zero — an ultra-loose monetary policy designed to keep cash moving in financial markets as the pandemic jolted the global economy in 2020. That stimulus effort fueled a stock bonanza in 2020 and 2021...

The S&P 500 gained nearly 27% last year, while the Dow gained about 19% and the Nasdaq ended the year up 21%.

Valuations on other assets such as cryptocurrencies, commodities and property also soared, further bolstering the uber-wealthy's coffers.

According to Bloomberg, the combined net worths of the 500 people in its billionaire index now exceeds $8.4 trillion. That's more than the gross domestic product of any single country on the planet except the United States and China.

Throughout the year, American lawmakers' proposals for a so-called billionaire tax were derided, rather unsurprisingly, by superbillionaires...

Since the pandemic began, America's billionaires have seen their collective fortunes soar more than 70% to more than $5 trillion, according to a report by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies Program on Inequality, which analyzed Forbes data.

keehah
10th March 2022, 09:31 AM
reuters.com: Food prices jump 20.7% yr/yr to hit record high in Feb, U.N. agency says (https://www.reuters.com/world/food-prices-hit-record-high-february-un-agency-says-2022-03-04/)

ROME, March 4 (Reuters) - (This March 4 story corrects to replace year-on-year pct change in headline and first paragraph to 20.7% from 24.1% after FAO issued an official correction)

World food prices hit a record high in February, led by a surge in vegetable oils and dairy products, to post a 20.7% increase year-on-year, the U.N. food agency said on Friday...

Data for the February report was mostly compiled before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.