Gold sales are down a little, but silver sales are taking off.
The Mint sold more Silver Eagles in March and in the first quarter of the year than ever before. A total of 9,023,500 American Silver Eagles were purchased in Q110, the highest amount since the coin debuted in 1986...
Like gold, the U.S. Mint only manufactures Eagles from domestic production. And U.S. mine production for silver is about 40 million ounces. In other words, we just reached the point where virtually all U.S. silver production is going toward the manufacturing of Silver Eagles.
Yikes.
This is especially explosive when you consider that roughly 40% of all silver is used for industrial applications, 30% for jewelry, 20% for photography and other uses, and only 5% or so for coins and medals.
Of course we recover huge amounts of silver from scrap, and import even more. But like it says above, only 5% of silver production is supposed to go to coins.
"...to me this is a method to create glorified "noise" headlines, to avoid enacting the real reforms necessary, especially on derivatives."
And that is precisely what it is with the lot of these hearings, investigations, etc. And why such simpletons as Elizabeth Warren - a living, breathing Potemkin Village if ever there were one - serve only to aid the ruling class in duping the people as to the underlying realities. Frankly - and it saddens me to say this - I see little utility in evaluating various "reforms" for the very simple reason that the system is now quite beyond reforming. Better, perhaps, to hammer this point home, the hopelessness of it all, so as to acquiant the people with their actual situation. In my view the problem was first political before it was ever economic. Lobbyists always needed maleable politicians to get their way with things. So there's an order to these things. Change the political calculus so radically that there simply are no whores to do the bidding of their johns in the financial, drug, munitions and Middle Eastern foreign policy areas and then see where you go. But we must first ourselves stop presupposing out-and-out fantasies, that the "reforms" we might evaluate are something more than abstractions.
This is a story in and of itself. Can you imagine if Joe 6-pack, when the IRS came knocking, just simply moved their assets to his cousin, declared he didn't have any income, IRS goes away and then it's all moved back?
Or say you are applying for a loan, so you quickly transfer your credit cards to your cousin, then get a new loan and then transfer the responsibility of those cards back to yourself?
A big overview post on legal methods of scamming and stealing, accounting 101 for multinational corporations.
It appears that the big banks of Wall Street have been masking the amount of risk they are taking on.
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.
Excessive borrowing by banks was one of the major causes of the financial crisis, leading to catastrophic bank runs in 2008 at firms including Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers. Since then, banks have become more sensitive about showing high levels of debt and risk, worried that their stocks and credit ratings could be punished.
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.
Minus the accounting fraud, this is what Lehman's was doing before they went under.
I'm just not paying attention enough on precious metals commodities (although I am periodically looking at oil), but I can tell you as your friendly neighborhood site admin, these posts are getting picked up on.
And you probably saw the comment I let through on how the "biggest fraud" with a case probably larger than the entire silver market (assuredly larger than the U.S. yearly economy), which explains where the "CT" reaction comes from. A lot of noise in this topic, but that said, at least on EP is absolutely is not taboo, more one needs to make sure all of their sources, info is solid, simply to make sure they didn't get hoodwinked. Same as swimming through the la la feel good corporate public relations teams media headline manipulations.
But awhile ago, someone over-reacted on this and the topic itself is not taboo at all as least by my view.
The price of gold has hit new all-time highs in Pounds and Euros.
In dollar terms the gold price is about 5pc below its record, but the weakness of the pound and the euro against the American currency means that for investors in Britain and the eurozone the precious metal has never been so valuable.
The price of an ounce of gold has reached record levels of £754 and €865 in recent trading, and the dollar price has reached a three-month high of $1,157.
In August last year the gold price in sterling terms was £562, so British gold investors have made a profit of 34pc, compared with a rise in the dollar price of 23pc over the same period.
Even in dollars, gold (and silver) has been moving up for over a week now.
Right around the time the story of the CFTC manipulation went viral on the web, the bottom in price was formed. There may be a connection, or not. But all these coincidences are hard to ignore.
This "BIGGEST FRAUD" has been a sting operation to clean up exactly what has been posted above, and so much more. What I am about to post doesn't even begin to cover this massive operation.
Below is a story, published by Tim Barello, that summarizes the lawsuit which is part of the sting. I have also included a youtube of a news broadcast of the story. Little more has been covered by the major media network.
Also included below is a letter from Al Hodges(attorney) to the SEC in 2008. Following that letter is a "litigation update" from Hodges and Associates in December of 2009.
Lastly, is a link to the lawsuit.
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"The S.E.C.'s 3.87 trillion dollar lawsuit"
From: TheAlyonaShow | April 05, 2010 | 3,768 views
Its the largest fraud case in world history. It is alledged that between June of 2004 and October of 2005, over 2 trillion dollars worth of fake CMKM Diamonds Inc. shares were sold to the public. The companys shareholders are now suing the S.E.C for 3.87 trillion dollars. Tim Barello from the Manhattan Headlines Examiner joins Alyona from New York to tell you more.
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CMKM Diamonds and the $3.87 trillion lawsuit you didn't hear about
March 30, 7:10PM Manhattan Headlines Examiner Tim Barello
As the United States continues to fracture in every way imaginable, most citizens are unable to keep up with the never-ending hodgepodge of government corruption. Each day, a new larger-than-life scandal emerges, and in the short mind span of news media, there is always a bigger and better story to chase.
Right now, the hot button issue for mainstream news outlets is healthcare reform, and its myriad implications for our society; this doubtlessly ensures the aforementioned media will continue to overlook unprecedented accusations brought forth in a recent $3.87 trillion lawsuit against U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary L. Shapiro, as well as several other current and former SEC commissioners, among others.
This Bivens action suit represents the largest fraud case in world history, and was filed in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, on January 8th by Pasadena attorney Al Hodges; in his complaint, made on behalf of CMKM Diamonds shareholders, Hodges alleges that:
[Complaint paragraph 31] During the period of June 1, 2004 through October 28, 2005 a total of 2.25 Trillion “phantom” shares of CMKM Diamonds Inc, was sold into the public market through legitimate brokers, illegitimate brokers and dealers, market makers, hedge funds, ex-clearing transactions and private transactions. The sales of the majority of such shares were at all times known to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Defendants herein.
[Complaint paragraph 32] At some date prior to June 1, 2004 the Securities and Exchange Commission in concert with the Department of Justice of the United States, together combined with Robert A. Maheu and others to utilize CMKM Diamonds, Inc. for the purpose of trapping a number of widely disbursed entities and persons who were believed to be engaged in naked short selling of CMKM Diamonds Inc. stock and cellar boxing the company.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice, with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security, believed and developed evidence that said short sellers were utilizing their activities to illegally launder moneys, wrongfully export moneys, avoid payment of taxes, and to support foreign terrorist operations.
To fulfill the plan to criminally trap such wrongdoers, the Securities and Exchange Commission, with assistance from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security:
(a) Assisted in and approved the retention of Roger Glenn, an ex-SEC trial attorney and drafter of Sarbanes-Oxley, to join CMKM Diamonds Inc. for the purpose of verifying claims value, increasing authorized shares of stock to 800,000,000,000, and supervising from the inside of the company;
(b) Encouraged the company to expand its promotional activities, assisted in the set up of the “racing activities” of the company, and underwrote a substantial portion of the cost of such activities;
(c) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the sale of certain company claims to several foreign corporations;
(d) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the conferences between Robert A. Maheu and his associates on the one hand, and the wrongdoing short sellers on the other, all for the purpose of settling the potential liability of said wrongdoers with consent of the U. S. Government and a representation of no criminal prosecution for such illegal sales;
(e) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the declaration of dividends payable by the company to each common shareholder of CMKM Diamonds, Inc.
(f) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the distribution of shares of CIM, a private company owned by Urban Casavant, as a stock dividend, including consent and approval of distribution of said shares to holders of more than 1.4 Trillion shares of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. common stock.
Based on these assertions, CMKM was used by the U.S. government as part of a covert sting operation – unbeknownst to shareholders – to apprehend criminals for their offenses. However, instead of prosecuting most of them, restitution deals were apparently cut:
[Complaint paragraph 34] During the period from March, 2004 through August, 2006, on behalf of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. Robert A. Maheu, with assistance from others, negotiated a settlement with the illegitimate brokers, dealers, market makers, hedge funds, and other persons and entities that had engaged in naked short selling of CMKM Diamonds Inc. stock and cellar boxing the company. In exchange for a U. S. Government promise of no prosecution for such sales, the wrongdoers each promised to pay negotiated amounts to a frozen trust for disbursal at a later time.
[Complaint paragraph 35] Plaintiffs herein are informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that other moneys have been collected for the benefit of the shareholders of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, from the United States Government, and from the sale of additional assets including consent to enter into joint venture agreements with other companies holding mineral claims in Saskatchewan, Canada. Plaintiffs herein are further informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that said moneys, collected for the benefit of shareholders have also been placed in a trust or are otherwise now held in trust by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and the United States Treasury.
Therefore, the crux of this complaint – and the massive fraud allegedly committed by the SEC (and Department of Justice) – is as follows:
[Complaint paragraph 36] Plaintiffs herein are informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that at all times mentioned, the Securities and Exchange Commission reserved unto itself the sole and absolute discretion to determine when moneys collected pursuant to the scheme set forth above would and could be released for distribution.
[Complaint paragraph 37] Demand for release of said moneys has been repeatedly presented to the Securities and Exchange Commission without result. Agents and employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have represented repeatedly that the release of moneys for distribution was imminent, and/or would occur within several weeks, and/or would occur within less than a month. Each of said representations have been made knowing them to be false, and at the specific direction of the named Defendants. These actions of withholding distribution of said moneys, without compensation and without due process of law, amount to a taking of the property of the individual Plaintiffs and of all similarly situated.
During the timeframe referenced above, CMKM was registered as a publicly traded diamond and gold mining company. By 2005, concrete evidence detailing fraud within the company emerged; in addition, it became publicly apparent that CMKM also sold, at the very least, hundreds of billions of unregistered shares – a practice often referred to as naked short selling – to third parties. Eventually, the SEC moved to delist CMKM stock, whose value never exceeded one penny per share, in accordance with Section 12(j) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. After several administrative proceedings, CMKM stock was ultimately deregistered in October 2005.
In September 2006, Floyd Norris, chief financial correspondent of The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, caught wind of the CMKM scandals, and began to report on some elements of the criminal fraud that ravaged CMKM’s estimated 40,000 shareholders. Norris has reported on more than one occasion that at least 259 billion shares of unregistered CMKM stock was sold; however, per the SEC’s 2008 action against CMKM, the agency itself acknowledges that as many as 622 billion shares of “purportedly unregistered stock” was sold by the company over a 20 month period.
So, how did Hodges initially determine that at least 2 trillion unregistered shares were sold?
[Complaint paragraph 25] A frequently asked question (FAQ) page was added to the web site [CMKMTaskForce.com] on the evening of November 4, 2005 and in response to a question about the degree of naked shorting of CMKM stock, the Task Force [consisting of Robert A. Maheu, Donald J. Stoecklein and Bill Frizzell] indicated that “Credible information indicates the number of naked short shares is potentially as high as 2 Trillion shares.”
‘QUITE A CASE’
Several weeks ago, I spoke with Al Hodges, a practicing attorney with four decades of experience, to find out more about this extraordinary case, and moreover, to determine exactly how he calculated his clients’ potential damages to be nearly $4 trillion – a figure many observers have openly scoffed at.
Almost immediately, I could not help but ask why the mainstream media has not fairly reported on this case; frankly, given the scope of accusations, one would assume that, at the very least, Floyd Norris and The New York Times would have some interest in thoroughly examining the merits of this action; instead, Norris has essentially brushed off Hodges' allegations as being baseless.
It’s not that Hodges and his associates haven’t tried to attract the media’s interest; in fact, on this side of the Atlantic, all the major dailies, including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have all been informed of the suit. Their respective editorial staffs - with the exception of Floyd Norris - have utterly decided to ignore it.
In the United Kingdom, efforts have also been made to attract mainstream media interest. Veteran financial intelligence Editor and Publisher Christopher Story FRSA – an investigative specialist that focuses on covert government operations and scandals – has personally reached out to The Daily Telegraph’s International Business Editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, with whom he is acquainted, to notify him about Hodges’ case. To date, Pritchard has failed to respond to Mr. Story, who has authored a number of articles (1) – and other published commentary – in The Daily Telegraph over the course of his near 50-year-career.
Hodges noted that Story, publisher of International Currency Review, and several other serials, is “subscribed to by every intelligence operation in the world.”
If intelligence agencies are reading about CMKM, then why isn’t the mainstream press covering this case? Hodges prudently observed that “they’re not going to touch it.”
MAINSTREAM MEDIA WON’T COVER ISSUES TIED TO COVERT OPERATIONS? (EVIDENTLY NOT)
“They [the government] used the shareholders without their consent to perform this ‘sting operation’ for National Security interests, and it wouldn’t have worked the way it worked if they had disclosed it,” he continued.
“On the other hand, it isn’t right to bury a company and put them out of business for the purpose of trapping people who are using the company to cheat the government, to line their own pockets, and to fund their operations against the United States.”
As noted above in complaint paragraph 34, and per Hodges, a deal was eventually reached with the aforementioned criminals; they paid the government restitution for documented illegal actions, and in turn, were offered immunity from prosecution.
“Rob Maheu had all these people in a big room in Las Vegas, and made [an] offer to them,” he said.
“Every person, organization and representative in that room stepped up, and either transferred money while they were there, or agreed to transfer money upon some further schedule” to avoid indictment.
Hodges also said, “I have a witness who was there, who saw it, and part of the 2.25 trillion phantom shares is documented by that person’s observations of how many shares were represented in that room.”
HOW MUCH MONEY DID THE FEDS REALLY COLLECT FOR RESTITUTION?
“People are going to laugh and titter about the amount of money that is being claimed, but understand the context of the lawsuit,” he said, before concluding, “we are not asking the government to pay us $3.87 trillion, what we’re asking is for them to release the funds that have been collected for us.” Thus, the implication is that this sum also incorporates substantial punitive damages.
In the end, Hodges believes the U.S. government is going to settle the case before it actually moves to trial. On this possibility, he said, “I think its in the process of happening as we speak.”
Based on these explanations – and the recent scandals and assertions that have surfaced about the SEC – I believe the mainstream media is doing the public a great disservice by not properly examining Hodges’ CMKM case.
The same conclusion must also be drawn about Christopher Story’s reports on the criminality that is undermining international efforts to refund the U.S. dollar, which is dangerously close to losing its status as the world’s global reserve currency...but that’s touching on a whole other can of worms…or is it?
(1) In Paul Johnson’s article “Unions, Pensions, and Financial Responsibility: The British Experience” published in the Journal of Labor Research, Volume 2, Issue 2 (1981) pp. 292, 294, 295, 296, he highlights Christopher Story’s authoritative research, as published in The Daily Telegraph on 30 April, 31 August and 1 September 1976, as well as on 4 September 1978.
To The SEC Commission and Financial Industry at Large:
Naked shorts in the United States = "counterfeit shares." The case of CMKX represents the greatest "counterfeit shares" fraud in the UNITED STATES. CMKM DIAMONDS, INC. suffered THE LARGEST NAKED SHORT IN HISTORY. Trillions of stock shares traded and changed hands UNTIL CMKX revoked itself and had every stock holder pull physical stock certificates out of brokerages, and out of street name, to trap those whom had committed fraud. CMKX is also the LARGEST STOCK CERTIFICATE PULL IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES"
Naked short selling is a case of short selling the shares without first arranging a borrow. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 stipulates a settlement period up to three business days before a stock needs to be delivered, generally referred to as "T+3 delivery". The SECs public position as of the Spring of 2005 was that naked shorting did not exist. With enactment of Regulation SHO, the subsequent elimination of the SHO grandfather exemption, and now the promulgation of this rule, the SEC has finally admitted the error of its ways.
The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation has also been criticized for its approach to naked short selling. DTCC has been sued with regard to its alleged participation in naked short selling, and the issue of DTCC's possible involvement has been taken up by Senator Robert Bennett and discussed by the NASAA and in articles -- disagreed with by DTCC -- in the Wall Street Journal and Euromoney Magazine. Robert J. Shapiro, former undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs, has, however, found that naked short selling has cost investors $100 billion and driven 1,000 companies into the ground.
Naked shorting is illegal because it allows manipulators a chance to force stock prices down without regard for normal stock supply/demand patterns. It is in fact, institutional fraud further, counterfeiting of securities is a crime of U.S. Constitutional magnitude.
This criminal conduct, once asserted by the SEC not to exist, has destroyed many, many companies, lives and opportunities. But now the word is out on naked shorting it must be stopped, and all whom conspired put in jail. This naked shorting fraud rule must be passed - NOW.
The following was an update of the litigation by Al Hodges in December 2009:
CMKX Litigation Update
This office represents seven of CMKX’s larger shareholders who collectively hold more than 3.5 Billion shares. We have prepared a Bivens based class action lawsuit seeking release of all the funds that have been collected for the benefit of CMKX shareholders, or for damages in an amount in excess of $3,780,000,000,000. This suit alleges that the SEC commissioners have violated the Fifth Amendment Constitutional property rights of the shareholders by withholding consent to the release of such funds, for years, which amounts to a taking without due process of law. Some of the specific allegations made in the complaint include:
From March 17, 2005 through April 29, 2005 CMKM traded publicly, in the US under the trading symbol “CMKX,” a total of 551,756,751,833 shares, an average share volume of more than 17 billion shares per day, reaching a maximum on April 21, 2005 of 94,654,588,201 shares. These figures do not include foreign trades nor trades made on an ex-clearing basis such as those disclosed by Jefferies & Company , Inc. on May 6, 2005: between March 25, 2004 and September 21, 2004 Jefferies traded 111,780,681,204 shares of CMKX stock on an ex-clearing basis.
During the period of June 1, 2004 through October 28, 2005 a total of 2.25 Trillion “phantom” shares of CMKM Diamonds Inc, was sold into the public market through legitimate brokers, illegitimate brokers and dealers, market makers, hedge funds, ex-clearing transactions and private transactions. The sales of the majority of such shares were at all times known to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Defendants herein.
At some date prior to June 1, 2004 the Securities and Exchange Commission in concert with the Department of Justice of the United States, together combined with Robert A. Maheu and others to utilize CMKM Diamonds, Inc. for the purpose of trapping a number of widely disbursed entities and persons who were believed to be engaged in naked short selling of CMKM Diamonds Inc. stock and cellar boxing the company. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice, with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security, believed and developed evidence that said short sellers were utilizing their activities to illegally launder moneys, wrongfully export moneys, avoid payment of taxes, and to support foreign terrorist operations. To fulfill the plan to criminally trap such wrongdoers, the Securities and Exchange Commission, with assistance from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security:
a) Assisted in and approved the retention of Roger Glenn, an ex-SEC trial attorney and drafter of Sarbanes-Oxley, to join CMKM Diamonds Inc. for the purpose of verifying claims value, increasing authorized shares of stock to 800,000,000,000, and supervising from the inside of the company;
b) Encouraged the company to expand its promotional activities, assisted in the set up of the “racing activities” of the company, and underwrote a substantial portion of the cost of such activities;
c) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the sale of certain company claims to several foreign corporations;
d) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the conferences between Robert A. Maheu and his associate/assistant Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector William Majcher on the one hand, and the wrongdoing short sellers on the other, all for the purpose of settling the potential liability of said wrongdoers with consent of the U. S. Government and a representation of no criminal prosecution for such illegal sales;
e) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the declaration of dividends payable by the company to each common shareholder of CMKM Diamonds, Inc.
f) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the distribution of shares of CIM, a private company owned by Urban Casavant, as a stock dividend, including consent and approval of distribution of said shares to holders of more than 1.4 Trillion shares of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. common stock.
g) During the period from November, 2004 through April, 2005, CMKM Diamonds, Inc. negotiated the sale of some of its Saskatchewan, Canada mineral claims to three Chinese domiciled corporations with the advice and consent, inter alia, of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Proceeds from the consummation of such sales were placed into a frozen trust for disbursal at a later time.
During the period from March, 2004 through August, 2006, on behalf of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. Robert A.. Maheu, with assistance from Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector William Majcher, negotiated a settlement with the illegitimate brokers, dealers, market makers, hedge funds, and other persons and entities that had engaged in naked short selling of CMKM Diamonds Inc. stock and cellar boxing the company. In exchange for a U. S. Government promise of no prosecution for such sales, the wrongdoers each promised to pay negotiated amounts to a frozen trust for disbursal at a later time.
Plaintiffs herein are informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that other moneys have been collected for the benefit of the shareholders of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, from the United States Government, and from the sale of additional assets including consent to enter into joint venture agreements with other companies holding mineral claims in Saskatchewan, Canada. Plaintiffs herein are further informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that said moneys, collected for the benefit of shareholders have also been placed in a trust or are otherwise now held in trust by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and the United States Treasury.
Plaintiffs herein are informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that at all times mentioned, the Securities and Exchange Commission reserved unto itself the sole and absolute discretion to determine when moneys collected pursuant to the scheme set forth above would and could be released for distribution.
Demand for release of said moneys has been repeatedly presented to the Securities and Exchange Commission without result. Agents and employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have represented repeatedly that the release of moneys for distribution was imminent, and/or would occur within several weeks, and/or would occur within less than a month. Each of said representations have been made knowing them to be false, and at the specific direction of the named Defendants. These actions of withholding distribution of said moneys, without compensation and without due process of law, amount to a taking of the property of the individual Plaintiffs and of all similarly situated.
In an attempt to avoid protracted litigation we have seen to it that several attorneys at the SEC Office of General Counsel have a copy of the draft; we are further advised that the current SEC Commissioners are also aware [at least] of the pending filing. Our expectation was [and still partially remains] that the individually named Commissioners will not want to answer our lawsuit, thus leaving themselves open to the discovery process. The draft has been in SEC hands for approximately two weeks, and so far we have not received any response, meaningful or otherwise. They could well continue to stonewall, and force us to initiate the litigation. If nothing of significance occurs in the next two weeks the complaint will be filed on January 4, 2010.
HODGES AND ASSOCIATES
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The actual lawsuit filing:
http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/paKdda
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THIS STORY IS NOT OVER BY A LONG SHOT. Stayed tuned. There will be more.. so much more. The final curtain has not yet risen.
reforms needed. There is argument/debate, even among the blogs/financial experts (who are on the up and up) but there is strong consensus on a host of points. I think I could put together the consensus points.
(sticking points are Glass-Steagall, and a host of differing views on various derivatives.
On derivatives, I believe everything should be regulated and financial institutions cannot release a new "product" that doesn't make sense, hasn't been evaluated as well as analyzed for system risk. then, all derivatives should be traded on public exchanges. I think for those which are not, such as legitimate hedging, by some commodities companies, they should figure out something different, or maybe a unique license to buy such things, based on business criteria.
Along with our 12.7% unemployment I'd say evidence such as this fairly well refutes the charts and graphs of the NDD et all. Especially since the U6 here is about 20% which still excludes the long term out of the 'statistical loop' people.
Winter is over also so a lot of homeless that arrange to be arrested for the winter months (3 squares and a cot) will be released to wander the streets looking for a home also. A sad but true fact.
Great idea. Why not start here? Ian Walsh had a great list of financial reforms a year or more ago, which I diaried on DailyKos. Of which, more tomorrow.
1. 20 sick days? I had 10 during my high school teaching career in the Pasadena public schools.
2. 4 hour days? I taught for five hours a day, and when you add preparation, grading papers, etc., it was an 8 hour day on average.
3. Platinum benefit contracts? (This one will vary from school district to school district). In 34 years, I never had fully paid medical - there was always a payroll deduction for part of it.
4. Early retirements? Teachers taking early retirement pay for it by receiving smaller pensions. In California, teachers generally need to be about 61 and a half to get a decent pension.
I am not complaining about any of this. Rather, I am correcting some gross exaggerations.
I'm usually pretty good about amplifying Congressional hearing testimony. In the past, some of the best information I've learned has been via witness testimony, but in this case, to me this is a method to create glorified "noise" headlines, to avoid enacting the real reforms necessary, especially on derivatives.
To that end, others are comparing this to 1931, where there was additional complacency, problem there is we already have a Democrat in the white house and the "no choice" 2 party system means, uh....
guaranteed more of the same I will assume.
So, part of the function of EP should be to amplify, get public discussion, awareness going on what kind of policy we actually know will work and want.
So, I guess I hope EP readers will not only leave a comment but as expressed in this post, but I'm thinking I need to write up an additional post on the solutions, what we need in reform that would actually work.
Of course, I share your frustration with these things and hope for justice. We're hardly alone. But I'm beginning to suspect that this shared frustration, this being sick to one's stomach, is a harbinger of the solution to come and it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with parliamentary committees or investigations or new elections. Rather it has to do with the spontaneous response of the people to the theft of their democracy and to the consequences of that that they are now being required to endure. We have no representatives, no senators or advocates, we have only rulers that use us to their own ends. When the people fully realize that they are more subjects than citizens, things may change. And the key will be unemployment.
Some of the positive numbers is coming from short term census hiring which when it ends will only exacerbate the numbers by late summer adding in people who were removed from the bogus stats when they ran the length of their benefits. We all know when your benefits run out you magically become employed.
Wait for the end of the Fed mortgage bond buying program to have its effects on the housing market also.
Also if China does raise the Yuan soon watch the 'Walmart effect' go the other way and slow any recovery.
Plus with oil near $90 a barrel and headed higher for summer one or two Gulf hurricanes which we have avoided will tip us right back to full tilt recession.
In other words we are teetering and there is no strong recovery underway here.
Lord I hope I am wrong though. Summer is my money season and without a lot of new spending there isn't much there.
I saw something on ZeroHedge awhile ago about GATA asking for an investigation of all these short positions on gold that didn't exist.
These people really have no core morals. They are taught to lie and cheat and to maintain economic control over the lower classes. This type of revelation just reinforces my gut feeling along that line. The Bernanke Paulson 'sky is falling' tap dance at the White House in September 2008 was all about maintaining control and making money for the wealthy while at the same time bilking tax payers. I have no 'proof' of that but there sure is a lot of evidence pointing to my view point.
of comparative advantage to prove "offshore outsourcing is not good for America" which was the claim being touted.
Samuelson to me was no protectionist or anything, it would be interesting to locate his opinion on things like the WTO, NAFTA and so on, which to me, have little to do with theoretical trade theory.
I didn't read the above article, which seems to be talking about the payout and politics.
I just try to read the hard core theory and especially focus on the mathematics and models. I'd say, for a large part, I find the ones claiming "all things free trade" also seem to be mathematically disabled. Sometimes it looks good, but when one digs into their mathematics, it's like large gapping holes of nonsense to me.
I can say the same on a few things I've seen that have been "coming from the left" that just do not add up.
I've been trying all day to find a topic. A bunch of hearings but writing up yet another bogus hearing with lots of denials and refusal to accept any responsibility in this obvious con job called the financial sector, I'm so sick of this and want someone to just write up a real policy, get all of the bloggers even to write up a bill themselves, put it online and get all of America behind it to pass it.
Put these cats in jail if they can and if they cannot, pass laws so the next ones will be put in jail.
and it is especially interesting that he got flak for doing so. The whole story would be a great article, making the point that economic neo-liberalism is enforced just like a mafia. Remember the article Christopher Hayes did on economic heterodoxy a couple of years ago? http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070611/hayes
So, even the mathematics of Comparative Advantage itself, shows that the U.S. is losing out?! Which means that the enforcement of free trade policies is not being done in obeisance to a theory, but simply because free trade is benefiting someone, and that someone has the political clout to impose free trade policies despite the fact the mathematics behind the theory shows that U.S. national interests are being harmed. Or, what are called free trade policies, because some have pointed out that NAFTA and GATT and so on are not really free trade at all, but a means of managing global trade relations to benefit multinational corporations.
Now if you wanted to shift to fighting China the funds used to fight Israel's wars and meddle in the Mideast on behalf of the oiligarchs, I'm with you.
Gold sales are down a little, but silver sales are taking off.
Of course we recover huge amounts of silver from scrap, and import even more. But like it says above, only 5% of silver production is supposed to go to coins.
"...to me this is a method to create glorified "noise" headlines, to avoid enacting the real reforms necessary, especially on derivatives."
And that is precisely what it is with the lot of these hearings, investigations, etc. And why such simpletons as Elizabeth Warren - a living, breathing Potemkin Village if ever there were one - serve only to aid the ruling class in duping the people as to the underlying realities. Frankly - and it saddens me to say this - I see little utility in evaluating various "reforms" for the very simple reason that the system is now quite beyond reforming. Better, perhaps, to hammer this point home, the hopelessness of it all, so as to acquiant the people with their actual situation. In my view the problem was first political before it was ever economic. Lobbyists always needed maleable politicians to get their way with things. So there's an order to these things. Change the political calculus so radically that there simply are no whores to do the bidding of their johns in the financial, drug, munitions and Middle Eastern foreign policy areas and then see where you go. But we must first ourselves stop presupposing out-and-out fantasies, that the "reforms" we might evaluate are something more than abstractions.
This is a cross-post from The Realignment Project.
This is a story in and of itself. Can you imagine if Joe 6-pack, when the IRS came knocking, just simply moved their assets to his cousin, declared he didn't have any income, IRS goes away and then it's all moved back?
Or say you are applying for a loan, so you quickly transfer your credit cards to your cousin, then get a new loan and then transfer the responsibility of those cards back to yourself?
A big overview post on legal methods of scamming and stealing, accounting 101 for multinational corporations.
It appears that the big banks of Wall Street have been masking the amount of risk they are taking on.
Minus the accounting fraud, this is what Lehman's was doing before they went under.
I'm just not paying attention enough on precious metals commodities (although I am periodically looking at oil), but I can tell you as your friendly neighborhood site admin, these posts are getting picked up on.
And you probably saw the comment I let through on how the "biggest fraud" with a case probably larger than the entire silver market (assuredly larger than the U.S. yearly economy), which explains where the "CT" reaction comes from. A lot of noise in this topic, but that said, at least on EP is absolutely is not taboo, more one needs to make sure all of their sources, info is solid, simply to make sure they didn't get hoodwinked. Same as swimming through the la la feel good corporate public relations teams media headline manipulations.
But awhile ago, someone over-reacted on this and the topic itself is not taboo at all as least by my view.
The price of gold has hit new all-time highs in Pounds and Euros.
Even in dollars, gold (and silver) has been moving up for over a week now.
Right around the time the story of the CFTC manipulation went viral on the web, the bottom in price was formed. There may be a connection, or not. But all these coincidences are hard to ignore.
This "BIGGEST FRAUD" has been a sting operation to clean up exactly what has been posted above, and so much more. What I am about to post doesn't even begin to cover this massive operation.
Below is a story, published by Tim Barello, that summarizes the lawsuit which is part of the sting. I have also included a youtube of a news broadcast of the story. Little more has been covered by the major media network.
Also included below is a letter from Al Hodges(attorney) to the SEC in 2008. Following that letter is a "litigation update" from Hodges and Associates in December of 2009.
Lastly, is a link to the lawsuit.
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"The S.E.C.'s 3.87 trillion dollar lawsuit"
From: TheAlyonaShow | April 05, 2010 | 3,768 views
Its the largest fraud case in world history. It is alledged that between June of 2004 and October of 2005, over 2 trillion dollars worth of fake CMKM Diamonds Inc. shares were sold to the public. The companys shareholders are now suing the S.E.C for 3.87 trillion dollars. Tim Barello from the Manhattan Headlines Examiner joins Alyona from New York to tell you more.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlyonaShow#p/u/1/Xoglm_HcPzs
--------------------------------------------
CMKM Diamonds and the $3.87 trillion lawsuit you didn't hear about
March 30, 7:10PM Manhattan Headlines Examiner Tim Barello
As the United States continues to fracture in every way imaginable, most citizens are unable to keep up with the never-ending hodgepodge of government corruption. Each day, a new larger-than-life scandal emerges, and in the short mind span of news media, there is always a bigger and better story to chase.
Right now, the hot button issue for mainstream news outlets is healthcare reform, and its myriad implications for our society; this doubtlessly ensures the aforementioned media will continue to overlook unprecedented accusations brought forth in a recent $3.87 trillion lawsuit against U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary L. Shapiro, as well as several other current and former SEC commissioners, among others.
This Bivens action suit represents the largest fraud case in world history, and was filed in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, on January 8th by Pasadena attorney Al Hodges; in his complaint, made on behalf of CMKM Diamonds shareholders, Hodges alleges that:
[Complaint paragraph 31] During the period of June 1, 2004 through October 28, 2005 a total of 2.25 Trillion “phantom” shares of CMKM Diamonds Inc, was sold into the public market through legitimate brokers, illegitimate brokers and dealers, market makers, hedge funds, ex-clearing transactions and private transactions. The sales of the majority of such shares were at all times known to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Defendants herein.
[Complaint paragraph 32] At some date prior to June 1, 2004 the Securities and Exchange Commission in concert with the Department of Justice of the United States, together combined with Robert A. Maheu and others to utilize CMKM Diamonds, Inc. for the purpose of trapping a number of widely disbursed entities and persons who were believed to be engaged in naked short selling of CMKM Diamonds Inc. stock and cellar boxing the company.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice, with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security, believed and developed evidence that said short sellers were utilizing their activities to illegally launder moneys, wrongfully export moneys, avoid payment of taxes, and to support foreign terrorist operations.
To fulfill the plan to criminally trap such wrongdoers, the Securities and Exchange Commission, with assistance from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security:
(a) Assisted in and approved the retention of Roger Glenn, an ex-SEC trial attorney and drafter of Sarbanes-Oxley, to join CMKM Diamonds Inc. for the purpose of verifying claims value, increasing authorized shares of stock to 800,000,000,000, and supervising from the inside of the company;
(b) Encouraged the company to expand its promotional activities, assisted in the set up of the “racing activities” of the company, and underwrote a substantial portion of the cost of such activities;
(c) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the sale of certain company claims to several foreign corporations;
(d) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the conferences between Robert A. Maheu and his associates on the one hand, and the wrongdoing short sellers on the other, all for the purpose of settling the potential liability of said wrongdoers with consent of the U. S. Government and a representation of no criminal prosecution for such illegal sales;
(e) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the declaration of dividends payable by the company to each common shareholder of CMKM Diamonds, Inc.
(f) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the distribution of shares of CIM, a private company owned by Urban Casavant, as a stock dividend, including consent and approval of distribution of said shares to holders of more than 1.4 Trillion shares of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. common stock.
Based on these assertions, CMKM was used by the U.S. government as part of a covert sting operation – unbeknownst to shareholders – to apprehend criminals for their offenses. However, instead of prosecuting most of them, restitution deals were apparently cut:
[Complaint paragraph 34] During the period from March, 2004 through August, 2006, on behalf of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. Robert A. Maheu, with assistance from others, negotiated a settlement with the illegitimate brokers, dealers, market makers, hedge funds, and other persons and entities that had engaged in naked short selling of CMKM Diamonds Inc. stock and cellar boxing the company. In exchange for a U. S. Government promise of no prosecution for such sales, the wrongdoers each promised to pay negotiated amounts to a frozen trust for disbursal at a later time.
[Complaint paragraph 35] Plaintiffs herein are informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that other moneys have been collected for the benefit of the shareholders of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, from the United States Government, and from the sale of additional assets including consent to enter into joint venture agreements with other companies holding mineral claims in Saskatchewan, Canada. Plaintiffs herein are further informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that said moneys, collected for the benefit of shareholders have also been placed in a trust or are otherwise now held in trust by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and the United States Treasury.
Therefore, the crux of this complaint – and the massive fraud allegedly committed by the SEC (and Department of Justice) – is as follows:
[Complaint paragraph 36] Plaintiffs herein are informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that at all times mentioned, the Securities and Exchange Commission reserved unto itself the sole and absolute discretion to determine when moneys collected pursuant to the scheme set forth above would and could be released for distribution.
[Complaint paragraph 37] Demand for release of said moneys has been repeatedly presented to the Securities and Exchange Commission without result. Agents and employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have represented repeatedly that the release of moneys for distribution was imminent, and/or would occur within several weeks, and/or would occur within less than a month. Each of said representations have been made knowing them to be false, and at the specific direction of the named Defendants. These actions of withholding distribution of said moneys, without compensation and without due process of law, amount to a taking of the property of the individual Plaintiffs and of all similarly situated.
During the timeframe referenced above, CMKM was registered as a publicly traded diamond and gold mining company. By 2005, concrete evidence detailing fraud within the company emerged; in addition, it became publicly apparent that CMKM also sold, at the very least, hundreds of billions of unregistered shares – a practice often referred to as naked short selling – to third parties. Eventually, the SEC moved to delist CMKM stock, whose value never exceeded one penny per share, in accordance with Section 12(j) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. After several administrative proceedings, CMKM stock was ultimately deregistered in October 2005.
In September 2006, Floyd Norris, chief financial correspondent of The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, caught wind of the CMKM scandals, and began to report on some elements of the criminal fraud that ravaged CMKM’s estimated 40,000 shareholders. Norris has reported on more than one occasion that at least 259 billion shares of unregistered CMKM stock was sold; however, per the SEC’s 2008 action against CMKM, the agency itself acknowledges that as many as 622 billion shares of “purportedly unregistered stock” was sold by the company over a 20 month period.
So, how did Hodges initially determine that at least 2 trillion unregistered shares were sold?
[Complaint paragraph 25] A frequently asked question (FAQ) page was added to the web site [CMKMTaskForce.com] on the evening of November 4, 2005 and in response to a question about the degree of naked shorting of CMKM stock, the Task Force [consisting of Robert A. Maheu, Donald J. Stoecklein and Bill Frizzell] indicated that “Credible information indicates the number of naked short shares is potentially as high as 2 Trillion shares.”
‘QUITE A CASE’
Several weeks ago, I spoke with Al Hodges, a practicing attorney with four decades of experience, to find out more about this extraordinary case, and moreover, to determine exactly how he calculated his clients’ potential damages to be nearly $4 trillion – a figure many observers have openly scoffed at.
Almost immediately, I could not help but ask why the mainstream media has not fairly reported on this case; frankly, given the scope of accusations, one would assume that, at the very least, Floyd Norris and The New York Times would have some interest in thoroughly examining the merits of this action; instead, Norris has essentially brushed off Hodges' allegations as being baseless.
It’s not that Hodges and his associates haven’t tried to attract the media’s interest; in fact, on this side of the Atlantic, all the major dailies, including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have all been informed of the suit. Their respective editorial staffs - with the exception of Floyd Norris - have utterly decided to ignore it.
In the United Kingdom, efforts have also been made to attract mainstream media interest. Veteran financial intelligence Editor and Publisher Christopher Story FRSA – an investigative specialist that focuses on covert government operations and scandals – has personally reached out to The Daily Telegraph’s International Business Editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, with whom he is acquainted, to notify him about Hodges’ case. To date, Pritchard has failed to respond to Mr. Story, who has authored a number of articles (1) – and other published commentary – in The Daily Telegraph over the course of his near 50-year-career.
Hodges noted that Story, publisher of International Currency Review, and several other serials, is “subscribed to by every intelligence operation in the world.”
If intelligence agencies are reading about CMKM, then why isn’t the mainstream press covering this case? Hodges prudently observed that “they’re not going to touch it.”
MAINSTREAM MEDIA WON’T COVER ISSUES TIED TO COVERT OPERATIONS? (EVIDENTLY NOT)
“They [the government] used the shareholders without their consent to perform this ‘sting operation’ for National Security interests, and it wouldn’t have worked the way it worked if they had disclosed it,” he continued.
“On the other hand, it isn’t right to bury a company and put them out of business for the purpose of trapping people who are using the company to cheat the government, to line their own pockets, and to fund their operations against the United States.”
As noted above in complaint paragraph 34, and per Hodges, a deal was eventually reached with the aforementioned criminals; they paid the government restitution for documented illegal actions, and in turn, were offered immunity from prosecution.
“Rob Maheu had all these people in a big room in Las Vegas, and made [an] offer to them,” he said.
“Every person, organization and representative in that room stepped up, and either transferred money while they were there, or agreed to transfer money upon some further schedule” to avoid indictment.
Hodges also said, “I have a witness who was there, who saw it, and part of the 2.25 trillion phantom shares is documented by that person’s observations of how many shares were represented in that room.”
HOW MUCH MONEY DID THE FEDS REALLY COLLECT FOR RESTITUTION?
“People are going to laugh and titter about the amount of money that is being claimed, but understand the context of the lawsuit,” he said, before concluding, “we are not asking the government to pay us $3.87 trillion, what we’re asking is for them to release the funds that have been collected for us.” Thus, the implication is that this sum also incorporates substantial punitive damages.
In the end, Hodges believes the U.S. government is going to settle the case before it actually moves to trial. On this possibility, he said, “I think its in the process of happening as we speak.”
Based on these explanations – and the recent scandals and assertions that have surfaced about the SEC – I believe the mainstream media is doing the public a great disservice by not properly examining Hodges’ CMKM case.
The same conclusion must also be drawn about Christopher Story’s reports on the criminality that is undermining international efforts to refund the U.S. dollar, which is dangerously close to losing its status as the world’s global reserve currency...but that’s touching on a whole other can of worms…or is it?
(1) In Paul Johnson’s article “Unions, Pensions, and Financial Responsibility: The British Experience” published in the Journal of Labor Research, Volume 2, Issue 2 (1981) pp. 292, 294, 295, 296, he highlights Christopher Story’s authoritative research, as published in The Daily Telegraph on 30 April, 31 August and 1 September 1976, as well as on 4 September 1978.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlyonaShow#p/u/1/Xoglm_HcPzs
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The following is a letter from Hodges to the SEC:
March 27, 2008
To The SEC Commission and Financial Industry at Large:
Naked shorts in the United States = "counterfeit shares." The case of CMKX represents the greatest "counterfeit shares" fraud in the UNITED STATES. CMKM DIAMONDS, INC. suffered THE LARGEST NAKED SHORT IN HISTORY. Trillions of stock shares traded and changed hands UNTIL CMKX revoked itself and had every stock holder pull physical stock certificates out of brokerages, and out of street name, to trap those whom had committed fraud. CMKX is also the LARGEST STOCK CERTIFICATE PULL IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES"
Naked short selling is a case of short selling the shares without first arranging a borrow. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 stipulates a settlement period up to three business days before a stock needs to be delivered, generally referred to as "T+3 delivery". The SECs public position as of the Spring of 2005 was that naked shorting did not exist. With enactment of Regulation SHO, the subsequent elimination of the SHO grandfather exemption, and now the promulgation of this rule, the SEC has finally admitted the error of its ways.
The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation has also been criticized for its approach to naked short selling. DTCC has been sued with regard to its alleged participation in naked short selling, and the issue of DTCC's possible involvement has been taken up by Senator Robert Bennett and discussed by the NASAA and in articles -- disagreed with by DTCC -- in the Wall Street Journal and Euromoney Magazine. Robert J. Shapiro, former undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs, has, however, found that naked short selling has cost investors $100 billion and driven 1,000 companies into the ground.
Naked shorting is illegal because it allows manipulators a chance to force stock prices down without regard for normal stock supply/demand patterns. It is in fact, institutional fraud further, counterfeiting of securities is a crime of U.S. Constitutional magnitude.
This criminal conduct, once asserted by the SEC not to exist, has destroyed many, many companies, lives and opportunities. But now the word is out on naked shorting it must be stopped, and all whom conspired put in jail. This naked shorting fraud rule must be passed - NOW.
Sincerely,
A. Clifton Hodges
HODGES AND ASSOCIATES
http://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-08-08/s70808-151.htm
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The following was an update of the litigation by Al Hodges in December 2009:
CMKX Litigation Update
This office represents seven of CMKX’s larger shareholders who collectively hold more than 3.5 Billion shares. We have prepared a Bivens based class action lawsuit seeking release of all the funds that have been collected for the benefit of CMKX shareholders, or for damages in an amount in excess of $3,780,000,000,000. This suit alleges that the SEC commissioners have violated the Fifth Amendment Constitutional property rights of the shareholders by withholding consent to the release of such funds, for years, which amounts to a taking without due process of law. Some of the specific allegations made in the complaint include:
From March 17, 2005 through April 29, 2005 CMKM traded publicly, in the US under the trading symbol “CMKX,” a total of 551,756,751,833 shares, an average share volume of more than 17 billion shares per day, reaching a maximum on April 21, 2005 of 94,654,588,201 shares. These figures do not include foreign trades nor trades made on an ex-clearing basis such as those disclosed by Jefferies & Company , Inc. on May 6, 2005: between March 25, 2004 and September 21, 2004 Jefferies traded 111,780,681,204 shares of CMKX stock on an ex-clearing basis.
During the period of June 1, 2004 through October 28, 2005 a total of 2.25 Trillion “phantom” shares of CMKM Diamonds Inc, was sold into the public market through legitimate brokers, illegitimate brokers and dealers, market makers, hedge funds, ex-clearing transactions and private transactions. The sales of the majority of such shares were at all times known to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Defendants herein.
At some date prior to June 1, 2004 the Securities and Exchange Commission in concert with the Department of Justice of the United States, together combined with Robert A. Maheu and others to utilize CMKM Diamonds, Inc. for the purpose of trapping a number of widely disbursed entities and persons who were believed to be engaged in naked short selling of CMKM Diamonds Inc. stock and cellar boxing the company. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice, with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security, believed and developed evidence that said short sellers were utilizing their activities to illegally launder moneys, wrongfully export moneys, avoid payment of taxes, and to support foreign terrorist operations. To fulfill the plan to criminally trap such wrongdoers, the Securities and Exchange Commission, with assistance from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security:
a) Assisted in and approved the retention of Roger Glenn, an ex-SEC trial attorney and drafter of Sarbanes-Oxley, to join CMKM Diamonds Inc. for the purpose of verifying claims value, increasing authorized shares of stock to 800,000,000,000, and supervising from the inside of the company;
b) Encouraged the company to expand its promotional activities, assisted in the set up of the “racing activities” of the company, and underwrote a substantial portion of the cost of such activities;
c) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the sale of certain company claims to several foreign corporations;
d) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the conferences between Robert A. Maheu and his associate/assistant Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector William Majcher on the one hand, and the wrongdoing short sellers on the other, all for the purpose of settling the potential liability of said wrongdoers with consent of the U. S. Government and a representation of no criminal prosecution for such illegal sales;
e) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the declaration of dividends payable by the company to each common shareholder of CMKM Diamonds, Inc.
f) Consented to, facilitated, and supported the distribution of shares of CIM, a private company owned by Urban Casavant, as a stock dividend, including consent and approval of distribution of said shares to holders of more than 1.4 Trillion shares of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. common stock.
g) During the period from November, 2004 through April, 2005, CMKM Diamonds, Inc. negotiated the sale of some of its Saskatchewan, Canada mineral claims to three Chinese domiciled corporations with the advice and consent, inter alia, of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Proceeds from the consummation of such sales were placed into a frozen trust for disbursal at a later time.
During the period from March, 2004 through August, 2006, on behalf of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. Robert A.. Maheu, with assistance from Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector William Majcher, negotiated a settlement with the illegitimate brokers, dealers, market makers, hedge funds, and other persons and entities that had engaged in naked short selling of CMKM Diamonds Inc. stock and cellar boxing the company. In exchange for a U. S. Government promise of no prosecution for such sales, the wrongdoers each promised to pay negotiated amounts to a frozen trust for disbursal at a later time.
Plaintiffs herein are informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that other moneys have been collected for the benefit of the shareholders of CMKM Diamonds, Inc. from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, from the United States Government, and from the sale of additional assets including consent to enter into joint venture agreements with other companies holding mineral claims in Saskatchewan, Canada. Plaintiffs herein are further informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that said moneys, collected for the benefit of shareholders have also been placed in a trust or are otherwise now held in trust by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and the United States Treasury.
Plaintiffs herein are informed and believe, and based thereon allege, that at all times mentioned, the Securities and Exchange Commission reserved unto itself the sole and absolute discretion to determine when moneys collected pursuant to the scheme set forth above would and could be released for distribution.
Demand for release of said moneys has been repeatedly presented to the Securities and Exchange Commission without result. Agents and employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have represented repeatedly that the release of moneys for distribution was imminent, and/or would occur within several weeks, and/or would occur within less than a month. Each of said representations have been made knowing them to be false, and at the specific direction of the named Defendants. These actions of withholding distribution of said moneys, without compensation and without due process of law, amount to a taking of the property of the individual Plaintiffs and of all similarly situated.
In an attempt to avoid protracted litigation we have seen to it that several attorneys at the SEC Office of General Counsel have a copy of the draft; we are further advised that the current SEC Commissioners are also aware [at least] of the pending filing. Our expectation was [and still partially remains] that the individually named Commissioners will not want to answer our lawsuit, thus leaving themselves open to the discovery process. The draft has been in SEC hands for approximately two weeks, and so far we have not received any response, meaningful or otherwise. They could well continue to stonewall, and force us to initiate the litigation. If nothing of significance occurs in the next two weeks the complaint will be filed on January 4, 2010.
HODGES AND ASSOCIATES
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The actual lawsuit filing:
http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/paKdda
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THIS STORY IS NOT OVER BY A LONG SHOT. Stayed tuned. There will be more.. so much more. The final curtain has not yet risen.
PJ
reforms needed. There is argument/debate, even among the blogs/financial experts (who are on the up and up) but there is strong consensus on a host of points. I think I could put together the consensus points.
(sticking points are Glass-Steagall, and a host of differing views on various derivatives.
On derivatives, I believe everything should be regulated and financial institutions cannot release a new "product" that doesn't make sense, hasn't been evaluated as well as analyzed for system risk. then, all derivatives should be traded on public exchanges. I think for those which are not, such as legitimate hedging, by some commodities companies, they should figure out something different, or maybe a unique license to buy such things, based on business criteria.
Record Number of Homeless in Rhode Island
Along with our 12.7% unemployment I'd say evidence such as this fairly well refutes the charts and graphs of the NDD et all. Especially since the U6 here is about 20% which still excludes the long term out of the 'statistical loop' people.
Winter is over also so a lot of homeless that arrange to be arrested for the winter months (3 squares and a cot) will be released to wander the streets looking for a home also. A sad but true fact.
"write up a real policy"
Great idea. Why not start here? Ian Walsh had a great list of financial reforms a year or more ago, which I diaried on DailyKos. Of which, more tomorrow.
1. 20 sick days? I had 10 during my high school teaching career in the Pasadena public schools.
2. 4 hour days? I taught for five hours a day, and when you add preparation, grading papers, etc., it was an 8 hour day on average.
3. Platinum benefit contracts? (This one will vary from school district to school district). In 34 years, I never had fully paid medical - there was always a payroll deduction for part of it.
4. Early retirements? Teachers taking early retirement pay for it by receiving smaller pensions. In California, teachers generally need to be about 61 and a half to get a decent pension.
I am not complaining about any of this. Rather, I am correcting some gross exaggerations.
I'm usually pretty good about amplifying Congressional hearing testimony. In the past, some of the best information I've learned has been via witness testimony, but in this case, to me this is a method to create glorified "noise" headlines, to avoid enacting the real reforms necessary, especially on derivatives.
To that end, others are comparing this to 1931, where there was additional complacency, problem there is we already have a Democrat in the white house and the "no choice" 2 party system means, uh....
guaranteed more of the same I will assume.
So, part of the function of EP should be to amplify, get public discussion, awareness going on what kind of policy we actually know will work and want.
So, I guess I hope EP readers will not only leave a comment but as expressed in this post, but I'm thinking I need to write up an additional post on the solutions, what we need in reform that would actually work.
Of course, I share your frustration with these things and hope for justice. We're hardly alone. But I'm beginning to suspect that this shared frustration, this being sick to one's stomach, is a harbinger of the solution to come and it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with parliamentary committees or investigations or new elections. Rather it has to do with the spontaneous response of the people to the theft of their democracy and to the consequences of that that they are now being required to endure. We have no representatives, no senators or advocates, we have only rulers that use us to their own ends. When the people fully realize that they are more subjects than citizens, things may change. And the key will be unemployment.
In free markets, self-interest will govern and markets will police themselves. Alan Greenspan taught us that, we don't need no stinkin laws.
Frank T.
Some of the positive numbers is coming from short term census hiring which when it ends will only exacerbate the numbers by late summer adding in people who were removed from the bogus stats when they ran the length of their benefits. We all know when your benefits run out you magically become employed.
Wait for the end of the Fed mortgage bond buying program to have its effects on the housing market also.
Also if China does raise the Yuan soon watch the 'Walmart effect' go the other way and slow any recovery.
Plus with oil near $90 a barrel and headed higher for summer one or two Gulf hurricanes which we have avoided will tip us right back to full tilt recession.
In other words we are teetering and there is no strong recovery underway here.
Lord I hope I am wrong though. Summer is my money season and without a lot of new spending there isn't much there.
I saw something on ZeroHedge awhile ago about GATA asking for an investigation of all these short positions on gold that didn't exist.
These people really have no core morals. They are taught to lie and cheat and to maintain economic control over the lower classes. This type of revelation just reinforces my gut feeling along that line. The Bernanke Paulson 'sky is falling' tap dance at the White House in September 2008 was all about maintaining control and making money for the wealthy while at the same time bilking tax payers. I have no 'proof' of that but there sure is a lot of evidence pointing to my view point.
of comparative advantage to prove "offshore outsourcing is not good for America" which was the claim being touted.
Samuelson to me was no protectionist or anything, it would be interesting to locate his opinion on things like the WTO, NAFTA and so on, which to me, have little to do with theoretical trade theory.
I didn't read the above article, which seems to be talking about the payout and politics.
I just try to read the hard core theory and especially focus on the mathematics and models. I'd say, for a large part, I find the ones claiming "all things free trade" also seem to be mathematically disabled. Sometimes it looks good, but when one digs into their mathematics, it's like large gapping holes of nonsense to me.
I can say the same on a few things I've seen that have been "coming from the left" that just do not add up.
I've been trying all day to find a topic. A bunch of hearings but writing up yet another bogus hearing with lots of denials and refusal to accept any responsibility in this obvious con job called the financial sector, I'm so sick of this and want someone to just write up a real policy, get all of the bloggers even to write up a bill themselves, put it online and get all of America behind it to pass it.
Put these cats in jail if they can and if they cannot, pass laws so the next ones will be put in jail.
and it is especially interesting that he got flak for doing so. The whole story would be a great article, making the point that economic neo-liberalism is enforced just like a mafia. Remember the article Christopher Hayes did on economic heterodoxy a couple of years ago?
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070611/hayes
So, even the mathematics of Comparative Advantage itself, shows that the U.S. is losing out?! Which means that the enforcement of free trade policies is not being done in obeisance to a theory, but simply because free trade is benefiting someone, and that someone has the political clout to impose free trade policies despite the fact the mathematics behind the theory shows that U.S. national interests are being harmed. Or, what are called free trade policies, because some have pointed out that NAFTA and GATT and so on are not really free trade at all, but a means of managing global trade relations to benefit multinational corporations.
I'm a protectionist to the hilt but, no way.
Now if you wanted to shift to fighting China the funds used to fight Israel's wars and meddle in the Mideast on behalf of the oiligarchs, I'm with you.
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