FIRST, LET'S ASK OURSELVES... DO HIGH OIL AND GAS PRICES HELP AVERAGE AMERICANS?
IS IT GOOD FOR AVERAGE AMERICAN TO PAY MORE AT THE PUMP, PAY MORE FOR HEATING FUEL, PAY MORE FOR GOODS AND SERVICE WHEN THE PRICE OF CRUDE, AND, THEREFORE, GASOLINE SKYROCKETS?
IS IT GOOD FOR MOST AMERICANS THAT THE HIGH PRICES FOR OIL AND GAS THAT THE OIL AND GAS COMPANIES LIKE GO BACK UP YET AGAIN?
Oil price plunge: Main St. loves it, Wall St. hates it - Jan. 7, 2015
WHO REALLY BENEFITS FROM SKY-HIGH OIL AND GAS PRICES?
NOT THE TRUCKING COMPANIES WHO DELIVER MOST OF OUR GOODS.
SOME OF THOSE GUYS WENT OUT OF BUSINESS BACK DURING THE LAST BIG RISE IN GASOLINE AND DIESEL, AND THEY ADMIT, PRICES AT THE PUMPS CREATE HARDSHIPS FOR THEM.
NOT THE FARMERS OR RANCHERS WHO HAVE TO PAY MORE FOR FUEL FOR FARM/RANCH EQUIPMENT, MORE FOR ENERGY TO RUN THEIR BUSINESSES, MORE FOR FEED, SEED, EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO KEEP AMERICA SUPPLIED WITH FOOD.
NOT THE AVERAGE WORKING MAN OR WOMAN WHO HAVE TO PAY FOR THE FUEL IT TAKES TO GET TO WORK AND BACK, THEN PAY FOR WHATEVER IT TAKES TO RUN THEIR HOUSEHOLDS WITH THEIR MANY ENERGY-CONSUMING APPLIANCES AND LIGHTS AND....
WELL, DO YOU SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING?
NOBODY BENEFITS FROM HIGH GASOLINE PRICES, HIGH OIL PRICES, HIGH NATURAL GAS/PROPANE PRICES EXCEPT THOSE WHO MAKE THEIR MONEY FROM SELLING THOSE THINGS TO AMERICANS.
AND CONGRESS.
CONGRESS MAKES MONEY WHEN OIL/GAS GOES HIGH BECAUSE THEIR BIGGEST "FANS" ARE OIL AND GAS, AND COAL, AND BANKERS, WALL STREET, COLLECTIVELY, AND NOT AVERAGE CITIZENS.
AVERAGE CITIZEN CANNOT SHELL OUT ENOUGH CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS TO BE A CONCERN TO CONGRESS.
WHOM WOULD CONGRESS RATHER MAKE HAPPY, THE BIGGEST CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS OR LOWLY AVERAGE CITIZEN?
A RARE FEW IN THAT ONEROUS CONGRESS HAVE TRIED TO TELL AMERICANS THE TRUTH OF IT ALL...OLD RON PAUL, ALAN GRAYSON, EVEN BERNIE SANDERS COME IMMEDIATELY TO MIND...BUT THE CHIEF WHORES ON THE HILL SIMPLY RIDICULED THEM AND DENIED THE FACTS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS FELL FOR THEIR TWO-FACED, BARE-FACED LIES AGAIN, AS ALWAYS, AND THE FEW WHO HANDED US THE FACTS WERE BRANDED AS "NUTCASES", THOUGH EVEN THE MEDIA SOMETIMES AGREED WITH WHAT THOSE FEW WERE SAYING.
Wall Street greed fueling high gas prices - CNN
How Wall Street Is Raising the Price of Gas - ABC News
How Wall Street and Washington Conspired to Spike Gas Prices
SURE, THOSE WHO WANT US TO AGREE TO BE GOUGED AT THE PUMPS AND EVERYWHERE ELSE WILL MAKE THAT WORN-OUT, WORTHLESS SPIEL THAT HIGH ENERGY COSTS MEANS A BETTER ECONOMY, BUT THEIR REASONING IS ABOUT AS RATIONAL AS TAKING A HAMMER AND HITTING ONESELF IN THE FACE.
THERE IS NO HARD, COLD LOGIC INVOLVED WHEN CONGRESS OR WALL STREET SAYS HIGH PRICES ARE GOOD FOR AMERICA.
LIARS!
HIGH PRICES ARE ONLY GOOD FOR WALL STREET, ESPECIALLY THE BIGGEST NAMES ON WALL STREET, WHO IN TURN MAKE IT LUCRATIVE FOR THOSE WHO "LEGISLATE" FOR HIGHER PRICES...GOOD OLD CONGRESS.
WHAT A TEAM, AND CRIMINALS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE AND ON THE MARKET'S FLOOR!
10 OF THE BIGGEST WALL STREET 'BUSTS' OF ALL TIME
AUG. 29, 2015
"There have been hundreds if not thousands of Wall Street criminals over the years, their misdeeds ranging from simple insider trading to massive Ponzi schemes, perpetrated over several years. The recent financial crisis also saw its genesis on Wall Street, where only a handful of white collar criminals were able to bring the entire country to its knees.
Here we take a look at ten of the more notorious Wall Street criminals of all time. Their crimes range in magnitude and severity, and some are noteworthy simply because of who perpetrated them. Some names are well-known, others will be new to most people. But they all have one thing in common: they used the markets to game the system."
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES, MAY OF LAST YEAR, 2015:
"On Wednesday, four large global banks — Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland — pleaded guilty to a series of federal crimes over a scheme to manipulate the value of the world’s currencies. The Justice Department accused the banks of collusion in one of the largest and yet least regulated markets, noting that at one bank one trader remarked “the less competition the better.
That lack of oversight, coupled with the pressure to squeeze profits from a relatively middling business, set the stage for this scandal, one that unfolded nearly every day for five years. The crimes described on Wednesday also painted the portrait of something more systemic: a Wall Street culture that enabled many big banks to break the law even after years of regulatory black marks after the crisis.
“If you aint cheating, you aint trying,” one trader at Barclays wrote in an online chat room..."
IN CASE YOU'VE MISSED THIS YEAR'S ROUND OF ESCALATING WHIMPERING, WHINING, WEEPING, WAILING AND GNASHING OF TEETH, AND ALL THE BUTT-KISSING AND BOOT-LICKING THAT HAS GONE ON FROM WALL STREET, CONGRESS, THE OVAL OFFICE IN THEIR ONGOING BOWING TO AND BEGGING THE OPEC NATIONS FOR THE PAST YEAR OR SO IN ATTEMPTS TO JACK OIL PRICES BACK UP AGAIN, HERE'S A SHORT REFRESHER FROM TIMES PAST...
FROM ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST, 2011.
"FIRST, the American people have a right to know why oil prices are artificially high.
The CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) report proved that when oil prices climbed in 2008 to more than $140 a barrel, Wall Street speculators dominated the oil futures market.
Goldman Sachs alone bought and sold more than 860 million barrels of oil in the summer of 2008 with no intention of using a drop for any purpose other than to make a quick buck.
Wall Street, of course, wants to hide this information.
They don’t want the American people to know the extent to which speculators keep oil prices artificially high and the great damage that does to our economy.
After the information became public, it was suggested that some on Wall Street may stop trading in the oil futures market. Good!
SECOND: The Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation required the CFTC to eliminate, prevent or diminish excessive oil speculation by Jan. 17, 2011. Months after that deadline, the commission still has failed to enforce the law, and speculators still are making out like bandits.
[TEA ROOM NOTE: THIS PIECE FAILS TO MENTION THAT MANY IN CONGRESS DON'T WANT THE DODD-FRANK 'LEGISLATION' AT ALL. SEE How Wall Street Killed Financial Reform
AND READ In New Congress, Wall St. Pushes to Undermine Dodd-Frank AND ALSO GO SEE WHICH CONS IN CONGRESS HAVE FOUGHT AGAINST THAT ALL THE WAY AND HAVE SOUGHT TO PROTECT THOSE WHO REFUSE TO COMPLY WITH IT.]
THIRD: Third, the commodity regulators’ [ false] claim that they cannot end excessive oil speculation because they lack sufficient data is nonsense. As the information I released makes clear, the commission has been collecting this information for more than three years. The time for studying is over. It is time for action.
The American people are angry and disillusioned because they see our government act boldly to protect Wall Street CEOs but not ordinary Americans. When Wall Street needed a $700 billion bailout, the government was there for them. When working families need an end to excessive oil speculation and real relief at the gas pump, the government has failed to act.
The same Dodd-Frank bill that required commodity regulators to limit speculators included my amendment calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve from Dec. 1, 2007, to July 21, 2010, the period of the financial crisis.
What we learned was that the Fed provided $16 trillion in secret, low-interest loans to every major American financial institution and to other central banks, large corporations and wealthy individuals.
The audit provision was vigorously opposed by the Federal Reserve chairman.
It was right, however, that the veil of secrecy at the Fed was lifted and the American people learned about its actions.
Now it is appropriate to lift the veil of secrecy in the oil futures market. The American people have a right to know how much excessive speculation has driven up oil prices and which Wall Street firms are doing it."
WOW, DID THAT ARTICLE LEAVE A LOT OUT!
IF THE AUTHOR'S INTENTION WAS TO REVEAL EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, HE FAILED, CONSIDERABLY SO.
TRY THESE...
Ron Paul on CNN: How Wall Street Corrupted The Government
Ron Paul Testimony Before the Senate Banking Committee
IT WAS A THING OF BEAUTY TO WATCH PAUL WIPE THE SMIRK OFF OLD BENNY BERNANKE'S FACE AND REDUCE HIM TO TREMBLING ANGER TIME AND TIME AGAIN.
WHY HAS IT TAKEN SO LONG FOR WALL STREET TO GET THEIR WISH FOR HIGHER OIL/GAS PRICES?
EVERYONE THOUGHT A NEW "WAR" IN SYRIA WOULD MAYBE CUT OFF SOME SUPPLY ROUTES, RAISE CRUDE PRICES...NOPE.
THEY THOUGHT RUSSIA BEING INVOLVED IN SYRIA AND THE HIGH COSTS OF THAT WOULD MEAN RUSSIA MIGHT WANT TO CURTAIL A BIT OF DRILLING TO MAKE SOME SERIOUS MONEY OFF HIGHER CRUDE PRICES.... NOPE.
WELL, ACTUALLY, RUSSIA AND OPEC ARE BOTH ABOUT TO COMPLY WITH WALL STREET'S WISHES, AS WE'LL SEE BELOW.
SURELY, IF AMERICA PUT A FEW HUNDRED NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON RUSSIA'S BORDERS, BOMBED THE BEJEEBUS OUT OF YEMEN FOR SAUDI ARABIA, ARMED EVERYBODY AND THEIR 'DOGS' IN SYRIA, HAD A FEW RUN-INS WITH IRAN IN THAT GULF OF HORMUZ AND WITH CHINA IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AND BEGAN A NEW PUSH BACK INTO IRAQ, WELL, DAMN IT, THAT ALL OUGHT TO DO IT, RIGHT?
NOPE.
BIG O (OBAMA) STOPPED THE KEYSTONE PIPELINE THINKING THAT'LL DO IT.
NOPE.
ALL THAT DID WAS MAKE THE GOP SCREAM LOUDER FOR BURNING HIM AT THE STAKE.
MAYBE HAVE A FEW FIRES AND OTHER CATASTROPHES HERE AND THERE AT REFINERIES, PORTS, AND A RAILWAY DISASTER AND PIPELINE RUPTURE OR THREE TO SHUT DOWN DELIVERY OF OIL/GASOLINE, MAYBE A HACK OR TWO AGAINST OUR "INFRASTRUCTURE" AND SOME JUICY CYBER-DRAMA?
NOPE.
WHAT ARE GREEDY BASTARDS LIKE WALL STREET AND CONGRESS TO DO WHEN NOTHING WORKS?
IN EACH OF THOSE INSTANCES I JUST LISTED ABOVE, IF/WHEN OIL PRICES EVEN SLIGHTLY "REBOUNDED", WENT UP EVEN A FEW CENTS PER BARREL, DIDN'T YOU NOTICE HOW ELATED, HOW CONFIDENT THE OLD 'MARKET' GOT, WHEN IT 'RALLIED', WHEN THERE WAS DANCING IN THE STREETS BY WALL STREET AND CONGRESS?
$$$$$$ KA-CHING, KA-CHING! $$$$$$
BUT THEN, HORROR OF HORRORS, PRICES DROPPED AGAIN.
AND WE WERE TOLD AMERICA IS DOOMED, DOOMED, DAMMIT!
IF WE CAN'T GET THINGS BACK TO AT LEAST $5.00 A GALLON FOR GAS, WE'RE GOING TO SEE JOBS LOST, THE ECONOMY TANK, AND SANTA CLAUS WILL NOT BE COMING TO AMERICA THIS YEAR.
THAT THREAT OF JOBS LOST, YEAH, THAT KEEPS AMERICAN WORKERS, AMERICANS IN GENERAL IN SUFFICIENT FEAR TO NOT QUESTION THE FAULTY LOGIC OF THEIR DEMIGODS, THEIR JOB-GIVERS, THEIR MASTERS, RIGHT?
"I WOULDN'T MIND $3 A GALLON GAS," SOME FRIGHTENED CITIZENS SAID, "MAYBE EVEN $4."
"I WOULD PAY AN EXTRA $5 OR $10 FOR A SHOPPING BASKET OF FOOD IF IT HELPS OUR ECONOMY," OTHERS SAID, HUMBLY.
AND WHEN GAS DOES GO BACK INTO THAT $5 A GALLON RANGE AND ALL THE EMPLOYERS SAY, WITH CROCODILE TEARS RUNNING DOWN THEIR SMIRKING FACES, "THANKS GUYS, BUT THESE HIGH GAS AND ENERGY PRICES, WELL, GEE, SORRY TO TELL YOU, BUT IT MEANS WE HAVE TO LAY A FEW PEOPLE OFF, AND NO BONUSES, NO WAGE INCREASE, AND WE MAY HAVE TO GO TO PART-TIME ONLY BECAUSE, WELL, WE CAN'T AFFORD TO STAY OPEN ANY OTHER WAY, DAMN THESE HIGH OIL PRICES."
AND THE GOOD SERFS WILL JUST ACCEPT THAT AND THEIR MASTERS WILL LAUGH ALL THE WAY TO THE MUCH DELIGHTED BANKS.
AVERAGE AMERICAN WORKER WILL WORK EVEN HARDER TO KEEP THOSE JOBS, EVEN IF THERE ARE CUTS IN PAY AND/OR 'BENEFITS', WHATEVER, BECAUSE THEY'RE CONDITIONED TO DO SO.
THE CYCLE WILL BE COMPLETE, ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL FOR WALL STREET AND ITS WHORES ON THE HILL...AND IN THAT OVAL OFFICE.
OPEC NATIONS WILL ALSO DANCE IN THEIR STREETS, MAYBE NOT AS HAPPY A DANCE AS MOST DID AFTER AMERICA'S 9/11, BUT DANCE THEY WILL.
FINALLY, OH, FINALLY, BIG BEAR RUSSIA AND ALL THE OPEC NATIONS HAVE JUST ABOUT REACHED AN AGREEMENT TO CUT OIL PRODUCTION, ALL BUT IRAQ WHO WANTS TO PUMP HARDER AND IRAN WHO IS BAT-GUANO INSANE ANYWAY.
SCORE! SCORE!
SCORE A WIN FOR EVERYBODY BUT AVERAGE AMERICAN CITIZEN.
THOSE WITH STOCK IN "ENERGY" COMPANIES, BIG OIL, ETC, WILL ALSO BE SMILING, RELIEVED, CONTENT.
THE FEDERAL RESERVE WILL CALL FOR THE PRINTING OF "MO' MONEY" TO SHORE UP THE AMERICAN CURRENCY ABROAD, IN ORDER TO KEEP IT THE CURRENCY THAT DRIVES THE WHEELS OF, UMMM, INDUSTRY AND ON WE GO.
SURELY THE FED WILL RAISE INTEREST RATES AFTER THIS 'VICTORY', BEING IN THE PROFIT-MAKING BUSINESS THEMSELVES, AFTER ALL.
I CAME ACROSS A QUITE INTERESTING READ AND IT OPENED UP SOME NEW TERRITORY FOR ME, SO MAYBE YOU'LL GET A BIT OF AN EDUCATION FROM WHAT FOLLOWS AS I DID AND SEE WHAT ELSE WE'RE UP AGAINST REGARDING THE DARK SIDE OF OLD WALL STREET AND ALL WHO FEED IT.
DEEP DARK SECRETS OF WALL STREET
"Illegal naked shorting and stock manipulation are two of Wall Street's deep, dark secrets. These practices have been around for decades and have resulted in trillions of dollars being fleeced from the American public by Wall Street. In the process, many emerging companies have been put out of business. This report will explain the magnitude of this problem, how it happens, why it has been covered up and how short sellers attack a company. It will also show how all of the participants; the short hedge funds, the prime brokers and the Depository Trust Clearing Corp. (DTCC) — make unconscionable profits while the fleecing of the small American investor continues unabated.
...an article called Counterfeiting Stock (and a number of other articles on stock manipulation)....was essentially the one I would like to have written. I have decided to reproduce the article on my website in its entirety.
The catalyst for my changing my view was coming across a shocking You Tube commentary by Jim Cramer of CNBC fame. He explained in detail how as a hedge fund manager, he participated in schemes to manipulate stocks. If you haven’t seen this it is a must watch.
Why is This Important?
This problem affects the investing public. Whether invested directly in the stock market or in mutual funds, IRAs, retirement or pension plans that hold stock — it touches the majority of Americans. The participants in this fraud, which, when fully exposed, will make Enron look like child's play, have been very successful in maintaining a veil of secrecy and impenetrability. Congress and the SEC have unknowingly (?) helped keep the closet door closed. The public rarely knows when its pocket is being picked as unexplained drops in stock price get chalked up to “market forces” when they are often market manipulations.
The Cover Up
The securities industry, certain “respected” members of corporate America who like the profits from illegal shorting, certain criminal elements and our federal government do not want the public to become aware of this problem.
The reason for the cover up is money.
Everyone, including our elected officials, gets lots of money.
Consequently there is an active campaign to keep a lid on information. The denial about these illegal practices comes from the industry, the DTC, the SEC and certain members of Congress.
They are always delivered in blanket generalities.
If indeed there is no problem, as they claim, then why don't they show us the evidence instead of actively and aggressively fighting or deflecting every attempt at obtaining information that is easily accessible for them and impossible for companies and investors?
Accusers are counter attacked as being sour-grapes losers, lunatics or opportunistic lawyers trying to unjustly enrich themselves. Death threats are not an unheard of occurrence, although it doesn't appear that anyone has been “whacked” so far.
The securities industry counters with a campaign of misinformation. For example, they proudly pointed out that only one percent of the dollar volume of listed shares are fails-to-deliver.
What they don't mention:
--that the fails-to-deliver are concentrated in companies being attacked
for companies under attack, for every disclosed fail-to-deliver there maybe ten to forty times that number of undisclosed counterfeit shares
--companies under attack have seen their stock price depressed to a small fraction of the price of an average share, therefore the fails-to-deliver as a percentage of number of shares is considerably higher than as a percentage of dollar volume
--the examples cited are limited to listed companies, but much of the abuse occurs in the over the counter market, regional exchanges and on unregulated foreign exchanges that allow naked shorting of American companies, who are not even aware they are traded on the foreign exchanges."
THERE IT IS.
WE'VE BEEN INCESSANTLY 'HAD', AMERICA.
WE'VE BEEN HAD IN MORE WAYS THAN WE CAN COUNT IN A LIFETIME.
BUT LITTLE-BY-LITTLE WE ARE BEGINNING TO SEE IT ALL COME UNRAVELED.
WE'RE GETTING MORE AND MORE PEEKS BEHIND THAT 'WIZARD OF OZ CURTAIN' AND IF WE'RE SMART, WE'LL GET RID OF THE WIZARDS, ALL OF THEM, AND STAND UP AND SCREAM, "WE, THE PEOPLE, ARE MAD AS HELL AND WE WILL NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE!"
OR ELSE WE CAN JUST SIT DOWN, SHUT UP AND REMAIN THE SERFS AND THE SHEEPLE.
IS THERE REALLY A CHOICE?
BY THE WAY, INSIDER TRADING AND STOCK MANIPULATION IS NOT A NEW THING UNDER THE SUN.
THE SAME THINGS WERE NOT UNCOMMON BACK IN THE EARLY 1700s.
HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL CAN GIVE YOU THE SHORT VERSION OF WHAT HAPPENED REGARDING THE 'SOUTH SEAS TRADING COMPANY' AT
http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/ssb/history.html .
THEN, AS IN 2008, MANY PEOPLE LOST EVERYTHING BECAUSE THEY FELL FOR THAT SCAM.
AFTER 400+ YEARS, WE HAVEN'T LEARNED MUCH, HAVE WE?
HOW FAR WILL BIG COMPANIES GO TO MAKE THOSE PROFITS?
THEY'RE WILLING TO KILL FOR PROFIT.
JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF COMPANIES WHO WENT THE LIMIT AND, COLLECTIVELY, CAUSED THE DEATHS OF MILLIONS:
-THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY COVER-UP
-THE ASBESTOS COMPANIES COVER-UP
-THE MERCK PHARMACEUTICAL COVER-UP
ALSO SEE The Polio Vaccine Cancer Cover-up
-THE HALLIBURTON FIX
SEE ALSO Hurricane Halliburton: Conflict, Climate Change & Catastrophe
FOR A MORE EXTENSIVE LIST, BUT BY NO MEANS THE FULL LIST, <READ HERE>.
AND OUR 'GOVERNMENT AGENCIES' ARE NOT 'ABOVE THE LAW'...
-OPERATION MOCKINGBIRD
Operation Mockingbird was the result of the cooperation of the U.S. news media and the Central Intelligence Agency.
In an effort to create a propaganda network, the CIA recruited and then paid many prominent members of the media to report the stories the government wanted disseminated.
This was occurring during the 1950s and 60s, a time in which the Cold War was going from a simmer to a boil, and when lots of clandestine military activity was taking place that the military and defense department would rather not have anyone know about.
By having an active propaganda machine, the CIA was able to basically prepare press releases, hand them over to the media, and have those stories reported as news. The CIA did mention the project as a part of a 693-page release, now available for viewing from The Washington Post.
The willingness of the media to be completely subjugated by the government is troubling — but to imagine where we are now in relation to the state of the media is even more worrisome.
Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail? - Rolling Stone
GOOD QUESTION!
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