[cia-drugs] Fwd: Plunge Protection
-Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sun, 27 Jan 2008 11:48 pm Subject: Plunge Protection The Plunge Protection Team By Andrew Gause US Gold Coins.com 1-28-8 ?http://rense.com/general80/plunge.htm ? Those who share the "crash" mentality have often derided the notion of sustainability in this fiat, or unbacked monetary system. They insist that both doom and gloom are imminent. They cite the fact that every experiment with fiat money has failed and that empires crumbled in each instance. I suggest that none of the prior systems had the technology in use today. Even the very notion of money is radically different. Today over 92% of everything we call money is electronic. When the Roman Empire debased its money, the masses who controlled the actual debased coins alternately aggregated and dumped them, creating an ebb and flow similar to rocking a boat. As each wave occurred, the swings were wider until the water came over the side. Alas, if only the Romans had the Plunge Protection Team. They could have stopped the rocking with appropriate counter measures. The science of monetary policy has created a system of chattel slavery unlike any ever witnessed. Those in charge of this wildly profitable system have found a way to effectively harness the efforts of the populace with what we have dubbed the electronic chain. By converting the bulk of money to electronic form, they have eliminated the element of surprise that often caused the widespread panic inherent in a rocking boat. Prior to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 http://tinyurl.com/3b8fom,?pools were formed by prominent capitalists. The Government was rarely involved, not withstanding the 1869 Gold panic http://tinyurl.com/2uaucv offset by Treasury selling. J.P. Morgan himself organized a private pool to stem the Bank Panic of 1907 http://tinyurl.com/34kc43 . In 1929, Richard Whitney, acting head of the New York Stock Exchange, created demand by buying large blocks of stock for a pool which bolstered prices and restored confidence. Like the Morgan pool of 1907, both lacked the subs tance to be successful. The modern survivor to Morgan's famous pool is the "Working Group on Financial Markets." http://tinyurl.com/28gy65?? Created by Executive Order 12631 http://tinyurl.com/a8lrv , this action was largely the result of the crash of 1987 where a total collapse of the markets was narrowly averted?thanks to?concerted action.? This formal government entity is charged with "enhancing the orderliness of our Nation's financial markets and maintaining investor confidence." The first reference to this faction appeared in an article?in the Washington Post, by Brett Fromson. Many stories have circulated?about massive buying at precisely timed?moments to revive an otherwise sagging market. Unlike informal arrangements cobbled together at the onset of a panic, these efforts were massive by standards of reason. In the private pools it often took more money than the participants were willing to commit. These efforts necessarily failed. Many prominent economists cited this "lack of resources" as the only reason for failure. The problems of limited resources are now gone. The Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, have all picked a designee to act in concert with government and private parties, to prevent investor panics. The order also directs that, "The heads of Executive departments, agencies, and independent instrumentalities shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide the Working Group all such information as it may require for the purpose of carrying out this Order." And further, it says, "To the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of funds thereof, the Department of the Treasury shall provide the Working Group with such administrative and support services as may be necessary for the performance of its functions". With this one order, the entire financial system has been placed in the hands of 6 people?with a practically unlimited supply of money.? By law, only the President can authorize a shutdown of U.S. financial markets.?? No doubt such an event would shake investor confidence.? So this team sees to it that this is unnecessary.? Have they had an effect? There have been many instances since 1988, when the Major Market Index futures contracts were heavily bought, at just the right moment, by a few major firms.? This unusual buying boosted the Dow and rallied the markets.? The heavy buying of this one MMI contract raised the price.? The underlying securities were then at a discount to the index. This prompted regular marke
[cia-drugs] Fwd: "Plunge Protection Team" Keeping Dow Jones Afloat?
Begin forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: September 2, 2007 8:39:32 PM PDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: "Plunge Protection Team" Keeping Dow Jones Afloat? http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2007/8/20/did-the- white-house-rig-the-stock-market.html Did the White House Rig the Stock Market? By James Pethokoukis August 20, 2007 02:32 p.m. ET I don't have the storytelling chops of, say, Oliver Stone, but I'll do my best here: Last Thursday, the stock market was deep in the red all day, with the Dow trading down more than 300 points at its nadir because of investor fears about the mortgage credit crisis. Then, as the session drew to a close, the stocks staged an amazing comeback. That huge deficit was nearly erased as the market finished with a miniscule 16-point loss for the day. Then, on Friday, stocks soared after the Federal Reserve announced a surprise cut in the discount rate. Now, most traders attributed that Thursday comeback to rumors that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had seen enough and the central bank would take some action the next day. Others around the blogosphere had a different theory -- make that "conspiracy theory." The Adventures of Citizen X blog wondered if the comeback was "a result of investors working through their worries (in a couple of hours no less) or government intervention?" The blog at Greenback Consulting, a stock trading firm, was also full of questions: "All of a sudden, around 2:00 or 3:00 some buyers stepped in and started buying up everything in sight. Before long it was 4:00 and the Dow was in positive territory. Who was the mysterious buyer? Perhaps it was the Plunge Protection Team averting a financial disaster. It looks even more convincing in light of the Fed's actions the following morning. If anyone knew what the feds next move was going to be it would be the Plunge Protection Team. If this group really does exist, it would make me really reluctant to be a long term bear... Every time things get profitably bad (for the bears) some government dudes come in and ruin the party. History makes a pretty convincing circumstantial case for the Plunge Protection Team, but maybe its just a series of coincidences." Yes, the Plunge Protection Team is real, except its actual name is the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, or P.W.G.. (The nickname comes from an old Washington Post headline.) After the 1987 stock market crash, President Reagan authorized the creation of the P.W.G. -- consisting of the Treasury secretary, the Fed chair, and the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, so that top regulators and economic policy chiefs could formally consult with one another in event of a financial crisis as well as prepare a plan of action in case of a financial markets meltdown. For instance, it might advise the president to temporarily close the markets, as happened after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But maybe Plunge Prevention Team would be a better moniker if you believe those who think the group's mandate goes far beyond acting as an information clearing house and instead actually directs large institutional investors -- or maybe even foreign sovereign funds run by cash-rich nations in the Middle East and Asia -- to buy stock index futures as a way of propping up the stock market and ending a panic. Now, there's never been any official confirmation of this. But former White House aide George Stephanopoulos has said in the past that the White House and the P.W.G. have the authority to prop up the stock market and probably did so after 9/11. And former Fed governor Robert Heller has suggested that the government should do just such a thing. So, maybe the conspiracy theory worked like this: After Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Bernanke, and the others watched the carnage unfold last Thursday, the word was put out to several selected players to buy index futures with the knowledge that the Fed would cut the next day as sort of financial guarantee. My take: The people I have talked to in Washington and on Wall Street totally dismiss all this. Says one financial insider: "I haven't heard a single person suggest anything like that until you called me." A longtime White House official also scoffed at the idea, though he did confirm that Paulson has attempted to reinvigorate the P.W.G. with more meetings. But Paulson apparently sees the P.W.G. as more of an economic policy discussion group, not a market manipulation apparatus. So until I hear something more solid, I am writing this off as either cynicism or wishful thinking gone wild. Subprime crisis to hit world economy -D.Bank CEO http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx? type=bondsNews&storyID=2007-09-02T12
