The stock market was on an upward trajectory from the end of August through mid-October 2010, with nary a breather.
In good times, the rocket ascent might have raised a few eyebrows. In bad economic times – and in advance of the November elections – it’s downright suspicious.
Show Date: October 14, 2010.
The market may have hit a high point on October 13, 2010 – only time will tell.
Yet, we know that 70 billion dollars was drawn out of US mutual funds in September, 2010 – further proof that Wall Street no longer needs investors to push the market higher. We also know that nearly 70 percent of trading is now done by high-speed computers relying on complex algorithms.
So-called “surprise” news of a sharp rise in food and energy prices (what a shock), plus a 20.6 percent rise over the past year in the US trade deficit with China, gives Wall Street players an excellent entry point to short the market. Never mind those enticed to buy in at the top.
Just as major US companies no longer need US workers to sustain and increase their profits (40 percent of their profits come from overseas markets), Wall Street has freed itself of “little guy” investors. Market players can force the market higher with a mere touch of a button – while pulling out their cash and forcing shorts to cover – which pushes it up even further. We’ve all seen this picture before.
Greatest Wealth Heist in US History
For those who still have retirement savings in the market, the upward momentum of the past few months was a big relief. But don’t get too comfy…or grateful.
Wall Street players received 144 billion in bonuses for the greatest con in American history – “convincing” Main Street to bail out their companies. Now they’re playing the market like their own private pin ball machine – perhaps even assisted or directed by the highly secretive US Government Plunge Protection Team. We’ll never know.
Wall Street pundits also insist that US corporations are sitting on “trillions” in cash, just waiting to reinvest in research and jobs. Oh really?
The lure of “trillions of dollars” has a familiar echo. Pundits insisted that there were trillions of dollars in investor cash waiting on the sidelines only days before the market crash of 2000. Using numbers so large, who can contest it? How does anyone know precisely how much cash is hidden in corporate coffers – or how they plan to spend it? Which corporations exactly?
While the Wall Street cup runneth over, a portion of the long-term and under-reported unemployed may never work at “real” jobs again – and don’t have sufficient resources to start their own businesses or go back to school.
Approximately 48 million Americans depend on food stamps, the number of homeless in many cities has doubled in the past year and 1 in 5 Americans are facing foreclosure or are upside down in their mortgages. Yet, 72,000 stimulus checks worth $18 million dollars were sent to deceased individuals.
Wall Street received mega-billions for pulling off the greatest economic heist in American history – obliterating the wealth of Main Street – with the complicity of two presidents and the US Congress.
Now think about that 144 billion dollars in Wall Street bailout bonuses and the shibboleth that if talented types didn’t get their fat raises, they would exit for another Wall Street firm. Or the 183 billion in our money to save insurance giant AIG. Yet, who is saving one American after another from economic ruin?
When President Obama declared on October 12, 2010 that he would not support a moratorium on foreclosures – thus trapping a greater number of homeowners in a downward spiral – Wall Street sent the market higher.
Compare that to Chile’s expenditure of $30 million to rescue the miners trapped beneath the earth – one million per miner. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera put his presidency on the line, proof that the lives of his citizens mattered more to him than money. Wish it were so here. God Bless the President of Chile for reminding us that true leaders protect their people.
When President Pinara thanked numerous presidents and prime ministers for phoning him during the crisis, one name was unmistakeably absent. Need I say?
To the American people…