Ares
13th January 2015, 08:37 AM
How could trillions of dollars be laundered from the Wash DC regime to Saudi Arabia? Why, through Citigroup, of course.
A clever reader with probably more knowledge of the Middle East than they would care to have put before me a very interesting question. Is the US laundering money to Saudi Arabia through Citigroup in order to “hedge” against, or compensate Saudi Arabia for the drop in oil prices?
Well, it sure as hell looks like it.
I recently tweeted the reportage on the massive derivatives position being accumulated by Citigroup (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-05/citi-next-aig-70-trillion-reasons-why-citigroup-and-congress-scrambled-pass-swaps-pu) (the parent Holding Company) and Citibank (the bank held by Citigroup HoldCo) – $135 TRILLION. Citi is adding roughly $10 TRILLION PER QUARTER, and the bank is now holding MORE derivatives than the parent HoldCo, which is unprecedented and shocking. Even worse, the bank – the derivatives holdings of which are now “guaranteed” by the FDIC, which is to say the US TAXPAYERS, thanks to the Cromnibus bill – is where the exposure is being added – $9 TRILLION was added to the Citibank portfolio within the third quarter of 2014 alone – the latest available data. Citi is the only big bank that is INCREASING its derivatives position, all the other big banks have modestly reduced their derivatives exposure in the same time period. But Citi is piling it on as hard and fast as it can – NINE TRILLION $ IN ONE QUARTER!!
Do you know who the largest private shareholder of Citigroup is?
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud. Mister Saudi Arabia.
So, I’m going to indulge in a little dot connecting here. I don’t think this is terribly far-fetched.
I hypothesize that the Washington DC regime is providing Saudi Arabia with a “laundered short hedge” on oil prices through Citi. Citi “borrows” money from the Federal Reserve at next to zero percent, plows it into swaps (a form of highly leveraged derivative wherein cashflows, not assets, are the underlying “commodity”) at this stunning clip because all swaps are held “off balance sheet”. Remember that term from MF Global?
The position is such that it makes money when oil prices drop, thus “hedging” Saudi Arabia. If the poop hits the fan, thanks to the Cromnibus, 100% of Citibank’s derivatives portfolio is now under the umbrella of the FDIC, which we all know means the Federal Reserve printing dollars to bail out their friends. The FDIC is only sitting on a few billion in assets. It’s a joke.
So, the Washington DC regime has essentially posted YOU AND SEVERAL GENERATIONS OF YOUR PROGENY as the collateral guaranteeing a short hedge on oil prices that it is providing for Saudi Arabia through its ownership of Citigroup. In other words, MONEY LAUNDERING, EXCEPT ON A MULTI-GENERATIONAL, CIVILIZATIONAL SCALE.
Lee Greenwood could not be reached for comment.
http://www.barnhardt.biz/2015/01/09/how-could-trillions-of-dollars-be-laundered-from-the-wash-dc-regime-to-saudi-arabia-why-through-citigroup-of-course/
A clever reader with probably more knowledge of the Middle East than they would care to have put before me a very interesting question. Is the US laundering money to Saudi Arabia through Citigroup in order to “hedge” against, or compensate Saudi Arabia for the drop in oil prices?
Well, it sure as hell looks like it.
I recently tweeted the reportage on the massive derivatives position being accumulated by Citigroup (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-05/citi-next-aig-70-trillion-reasons-why-citigroup-and-congress-scrambled-pass-swaps-pu) (the parent Holding Company) and Citibank (the bank held by Citigroup HoldCo) – $135 TRILLION. Citi is adding roughly $10 TRILLION PER QUARTER, and the bank is now holding MORE derivatives than the parent HoldCo, which is unprecedented and shocking. Even worse, the bank – the derivatives holdings of which are now “guaranteed” by the FDIC, which is to say the US TAXPAYERS, thanks to the Cromnibus bill – is where the exposure is being added – $9 TRILLION was added to the Citibank portfolio within the third quarter of 2014 alone – the latest available data. Citi is the only big bank that is INCREASING its derivatives position, all the other big banks have modestly reduced their derivatives exposure in the same time period. But Citi is piling it on as hard and fast as it can – NINE TRILLION $ IN ONE QUARTER!!
Do you know who the largest private shareholder of Citigroup is?
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud. Mister Saudi Arabia.
So, I’m going to indulge in a little dot connecting here. I don’t think this is terribly far-fetched.
I hypothesize that the Washington DC regime is providing Saudi Arabia with a “laundered short hedge” on oil prices through Citi. Citi “borrows” money from the Federal Reserve at next to zero percent, plows it into swaps (a form of highly leveraged derivative wherein cashflows, not assets, are the underlying “commodity”) at this stunning clip because all swaps are held “off balance sheet”. Remember that term from MF Global?
The position is such that it makes money when oil prices drop, thus “hedging” Saudi Arabia. If the poop hits the fan, thanks to the Cromnibus, 100% of Citibank’s derivatives portfolio is now under the umbrella of the FDIC, which we all know means the Federal Reserve printing dollars to bail out their friends. The FDIC is only sitting on a few billion in assets. It’s a joke.
So, the Washington DC regime has essentially posted YOU AND SEVERAL GENERATIONS OF YOUR PROGENY as the collateral guaranteeing a short hedge on oil prices that it is providing for Saudi Arabia through its ownership of Citigroup. In other words, MONEY LAUNDERING, EXCEPT ON A MULTI-GENERATIONAL, CIVILIZATIONAL SCALE.
Lee Greenwood could not be reached for comment.
http://www.barnhardt.biz/2015/01/09/how-could-trillions-of-dollars-be-laundered-from-the-wash-dc-regime-to-saudi-arabia-why-through-citigroup-of-course/