Rail Freight Volume Is Collapsing

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(Wolf Richter)  Rail freight volumes are an indicator of China’s goods-producing and goods-consuming economy, not just manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and the like, but also consumer goods. Thus they’re also an indication of consumer spending on goods. Alas, rail freight volume is collapsing: the first quarter this year puts volume for the whole year on track to revisit levels not seen since 2007.

While China’s economy was strong, rail freight volumes were soaring. For example, in 2010, when China was pump-priming its economy, rail freight volume jumped 10.8% from a year earlier. In 2011, it rose 6.9%. It had soared 44% from 2005 to 2011! But 2011 was the peak.

In 2012, volume in trillion ton-kilometers declined one notch and in 2013 stagnated. But in 2014, volume skidded 5.8%. And in 2015, volume plunged 10.5% to 3.4 billion tons, accordingto Caixin, citing figures from the National Railway Administration. It was the largest annual decline ever booked in China.

It was a year that the People’s Daily, the official paper of the Communist Party, described in this elegant manner:

Dragged by a housing slowdown, softening domestic demand, and unsteady exports, China’s economy expanded 6.9% year on year in 2015, the weakest reading in around a quarter of a century.

Which is precisely where things stop making sense: rail freight volume plunges 10.5% in 2015, and the economy still increases 6.9%? I mean, come on.

At the time, Caixin said that China’s central planners aimed to increase rail freight volumes to 4.2 billion tons by 2020. This would assume an average annual growth rate of 4.3%. So these declines are not part of the planned transition to a consumption-based economy. They’re totally against that plan or any other plan. They’re very inconvenient for the rosy scenario!

Then came the first quarter of 2016.

Rail freight volume plunged 9.4% year-over-year to 788 million tons, according to data from China Railway Corporation, cited today by the People’s Daily. At this rate, rail freight volume for 2016 will be down 20% from 2014, which had already been a down year! At this rate, volume in 2016 will end up where it had been in 2007!

China — hobbled by soggy domestic demand, perhaps even soggier demand overseas, rampant factory overcapacity, cooling investment, an insurmountable mountain of bad debt, and a million other domestic problems — may be trying to transition from a manufacturing-based economy to an economy based on consumption.

But even consumer goods must be transported, even those purchased online! Only services don’t require much transportation. But we doubt that service sales have jumped in two years to the extent that they would even halfway make up for the crashing demand for goods transported by rail.

The World Bank just figured that China’s economy would grow 6.7% in 2016, the IMF pegs it at 6.5%, both kowtowing to the GDP declarations issued by the Chinese government. Whose Kool-Aid have they been drinking? This would make 2016 another year when rail freight plunges by a dismal 10% or so while economic growth soars nearly 7% – which would make China one of the fastest growing economies in the world. So something in this convoluted, government-imposed math doesn’t add up here.

Add this to the major global risks: No one knows what’s going on in the second largest economy in the world, perhaps not even the Chinese government. And perhaps just about everyone – possibly even the much-maligned hard-landing gurus – overestimates China’s growth and its demand for global goods.

After years of big wage increases in China, the supply of cheap labor is coming to an end. As the cost of labor has soared, the manufacturing base is migrating to cheap-labor countries, leaving less work in Chinese cities for migrant laborers. With few options left, they’ve started to return to their villages. This leaves China with massive challenges, just when its debt-burdened economy can least afford them. Read… China “Could Push Whole World into Fresh Economic Crisis”

Bankers & Finance Ministers Around The World Are Attending Emergency Meetings In D.C.

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Used car prices falling, inventories building up, new car sales slowing, a disaster in the making. Retail sales decline back to 2005 levels.Business inventories slide and sale decline. Baltic Dry Index pushes back up to 555, but this is still at an all time low. Obama now allowing law students and disabled students write off their student loans. This is part of the plan so the US tax payer can bailout the student loan bubble. FDIC reports banks will collapse in the next financial crisis.Bankers and Finance Ministers gathering for meeting in Washington DC. IMF reports a 20% or more drop in the stock market. The economy is about to crash.

Current Banker Meetings Are Deciding How To Confiscate Your Bank Account And Retirement

(Dave Hodges)  In the midst of the looming economic Armageddon, some are reporting that the banks have just begun to horde gold. Run from these authors. For over three years, I have been imploring people to buy gold in order to replace the cash that will soon be gone. Three years ago, Goldman Sachs was ordering its brokers to short gold.

The fact is, the criminal elite have solidified their hedges against currency collapse by focusing on the acquisition of gold by any means possible.

The bankers and government are meeting this week. At issue is the confiscation of your assets to facilitate a bailout of the banks. This time they are playing for keeps.

Here is what we know:

From David Haggith and Activist Post:

• “The Federal Reserve Board of Governors just held an “expedited special meeting” on Monday in closed-door session.
• The White House made an immediate announcement that the president was going to meet with Fed Chair Janet Yellen right after Monday’s special meeting and that Vice President Biden would be joining them.
• The Federal Reserve very shortly posted an announcement of another expedited closed-door meeting for Tuesday for the specific purpose of “bank supervision.”
• A G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central-bank heads starts in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, too, and continues through Wednesday.
• Then on Thursday the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund meet in Washington.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta just revised US GDP growth for the first quarter to the precipice of recession at 0.1%.
• US banks are widely expected this week to report their worst quarter financially since the start of the Great Recession.
• The European Union’s new “bail-in” procedures for failing banks were employed for the first time with Austrian bank Heta Asset Resolution AG.
• Italy’s minister of finance called an emergency meeting of Italian bankers to engage “last resort” measures for dealing with 360-billion euros of bad loans in banks that have only 50 billion in capital”.

What does this all mean? If we are lucky, there will be a new round of austerity (i.e. bail outs). This is not likely as bail-outs will not have much of an effect on the banks given the gravity of the economic condition of the banks.

On this front, there is bad news and really bad news. The bad news is that your money could be rationed back to you with capital limits (i.e. how much you can withdraw). All deposits will be made electronically. Cash withdrawals will soon be outlawed. All paychecks must be direct deposited into a bank before the bank customer has access to their paycheck. This will give the Federal Reserve complete control over earned income in the United States.

What this adds up to is that all world currencies will soon collapse. Private gold ownership will soon be made illegal. In other words, you will not be able to obtain private gold ownership much longer, so you better get in now. Why? Because the criminal elite want to have a complete monopoly over all mediums of exchange.

The rest of this article deals with the circumstantial and historical proof that the assertions made in the previous paragraph will become reality. I think that there is no question that we will soon be in the early stages of the total elimination of all private property and private income. The world will soon have come full circle back to a feudal society.

The Federal Reserve and the Bank of England Have Already Rehearsed the Theft of Your Bank Account

The theft of the people’s money has already been rehearsed by the powers that be in the banking industry. Regulators from the United States and the United Kingdom got together in a war room to see how they will cope when the next big bank failures come.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, on Monday (11/10/)4), ran a joint exercise simulating how they would prop up a large bank (e.g. Bank of America) with operations in both countries that has landed itself in trouble. Also taking part in the “bank failure drill” was Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, and the heads of a large number of other regulators, in a meeting hosted by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.  Then they brought in the military into the drill and they practiced how they would protect their assets from the public when the banks fail and retirement accounts are seized as collateral by the government.

Your Bank Account Has No Protection

The FDIC has only about $25 billion in its deposit insurance fund, which is mandated by law to keep a balance equivalent to only 1.15% of insured deposits.

If a banking collapse were to be on the near horizon, the banksters are not going to notify you because they would not want to incite a bank run. With only 1.15% of all deposits being insured by the FDIC, your money would be left vulnerable and only the elite would be warned as they quietly transfer their money to a safer haven, such as gold. How do I know this? Please read on.

In November 2014, Goldman Sachs Opened the Gates to Hell-Today, the Federal Reserve Is Now Taking Up Residency In Hell

Silver prices have dropped dramatically covering an aggregate period of 36 months. Panic selling dominated the market as investors and financial institutions could not dump their holdings of silver and gold fast enough. The market clearly shows signs of mass manipulation by the Globalists.  The globalists have been moving their fiat currency holdings to gold since the Spring of 2013. The price of gold was artificially manipulated by Goldman Sachs to drive down the price of gold in order to make it cheaper for the powers-that-be to purchase gold cheaply. You see, they know that very soon, there will no money left in the banks. You want proof? The best proof that the globalists are manipulating the price of gold comes from “Goldman Sachs (who), in the Spring of 2013, told their  that they recommend initiating a short COMEX gold position.” This is your last chance to buy gold. Please remember, your cash will still be gone. Gold and silver will be your last chance to preserve what you have.

 This has been going on for over 36 months!

Please remember that this is the same Goldman Sachs that shorted its stocks on 9/11. This is the same Goldman Sachs that placed put options on Transocean stock the morning of the Gulf oil explosion. This is the same Goldman Sachs that got caught shorting the housing market in advance of the housing bubble burst. Basically, when Goldman Sachs starts shorting anything, we should all become apprehensive particularly if our individual investments are anywhere in the neighborhood of the commodities being impacted by shorting. When Goldman Sachs begins to short anything, it is time to take your money and run for the hills. That time would be now.

Why Would Goldman Sachs Dramatically Drive the Price of Gold Down?

Beside trading and bartering, if the dollar and the Euro were to collapse tomorrow, what currency of exchange would the left standing? The obvious and simple answer would be primarily, gold, and secondarily, silver. Ask yourself this question, if you knew that paper monies all around the world were to collapse, what action would represent your best option? The obvious answer would be to dramatically drive down the price of gold and silver if one had the ability to do so, and then buy as much as gold as one possibly could. Goldman Sachs has the ability to do so by utilizing their ominous shorting strategy and it is precisely what they have done.

ONE MORE DOT TO CONNECT

Additionally, your bank account has been collateralized against the derivatives debt. Hence, you had, in 2008, former CEO of Goldman Sachs and the Secretary of Treasury, Hank Paulson, telling a closed session of Congress that if they did not authorize the bailouts, there would be tanks in the street an ultimately, REVOLUTION! This was necessitated by the credit swap derivatives Ponzi scheme and the debacle that followed.

Further, the bankruptcy reform laws stemming from the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005, the credit swap derivatives counter-parties are given preference over all other creditors and customers of the bankrupt financial institution, including FDIC insured depositors.

In the action taken by the G20 nations in that your bank account is no longer considered to be money.  The bankers holding the bag on the credit swap derivatives will move to the head of the FDIC compensation line.Therefore, the regulations requiring that your money be insured by the FDIC are no longer in effect!  This devaluation of “money to something other than money gives what the experts call “super priority” in terms of the line of succession from which to collect bankruptcy monies.   TAKE YOUR MONEY OUT OF THE BANK!

To make matters worse, Bank of America has conspicuously co-mingled their credit swap derivatives debt with your savings account and as such they have every legal right use your money to cover their debt. The derivatives debt is conservatively estimated to be one quadrillion dollars which is about 16 times the entire GDP of the planet. Even before today, your money is as good as gone. Today’s action by the G20 only further cements this new reality that you, your labor your possessions are all slave capital to the banksters. Your value as a human being has been monitized.

To The Dumbed Down Sheep of America

I have also discovered that JP Morgan is in the same exact boat as Bank of America as is Wells Fargo. Oh, they would never do that and steal your money, you say?  I have bad news for the uninformed sheep of this country, they already have done that very thing.

In the MF Global debacle, the reason that MF Global  customers lost their segregated account funds was because the MF Global debt load was caused primarily because of their credit swap derivatives debt which, under bankruptcy laws, gave derivatives claimants super-priority in the bankruptcy proceedings.  This is why Corzine and his fellow criminals did not go to prison as former Goldman Sachs executive, now the head of the Securities and Exchange CME gave Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs executive, a free pass on the theft of investors money at MF Global. This was a beta test.

Conclusion

Will the bankers, this week, decide to take all of the money, or only part of it at a time. However, all roads lead to ultimate and complete confiscation of all private assets. As I will discuss in a future article, military assets are already being prepositioned to enforce whatever dictates come out of this week’s banker/government meetings.

Regardless if the theft of your money happens quickly or gradually over time, there are some ancillary policies which are going to be put into play which threatens the welfare of every American. In the next article, America will soon discover why I have been so seemingly obsessed with Executive Order 13603.

i was told that Donald Trump’s waking up America has increased the the desperation of the criminal elite.

This is only the beginning. It is going to get far worse.

Monsanto’s Profits And Seed Sales Plunge Again, As Farmers And Consumers Choose Organic Over GMO

Photo Credit Camila Araya

(Jennifer Lea Reynolds)  It’s no secret that more people are becoming health-conscious citizens, concerned about everything from the toxic ingredients in their food supply, to questioning the drugs that Big Pharma continually pushes. As a result, many stores and manufacturers have pledged to provide Americans with healthier options.

For example, even Whole Foods, which has engaged in a variety of questionable actions, including their not-so-environmentally-friendly move of selling pre-peeled oranges in a ton of plastic, has made their commitment to better health clear; they’ve promised to have all of their products labeled with GMO content by 2018.

Even Campbell’s recently took a history-making stand against GMOs when they announced their, “… support for mandatory national labeling of products that may contain genetically modified organisms (GMO) and proposed that the federal government provide a national standard for non-GMO claims made on food packaging.”

But greedy Monsanto? Nope. Regardless of how health-conscious others have become, Monsanto – the biggest seed maker in the United States – remains dedicated to what matters most to them: their bottom line.

The numbers speak for themselves, as industry analysts warn of Monsanto’s dwindling profits

But according to industry analysts, the biotech giant better watch out. They’ve been experiencing dwindling profits since last year, a trend that hasn’t shown signs of letting up in 2016.

Just last month, Monsanto cited pricing pressure in farm chemicals and seeds as its reason for cutting its full-year earnings forecast. Furthermore, the company lowered second-quarter earnings from ongoing operations from $2.45 per share to $2.35 per share. The changes have analysts confident that Monsanto will likely report an 8.5% revenue drop to $4.756 billion, as well as a 16% decline in per-share profit.

Monsanto’s profit woes didn’t just happen overnight, either. In fact, they’ve been brewing for several months. Late last year, they announced plans to cut 2,600 jobs as part of a cost-savings plan. Although cutting these jobs meant reducing about 12% of their workforce, the company said it was necessary in order to address their reported loss of 19 cents per share during the fiscal fourth quarter. They also noted that they expected theirprofits would stay weak through 2016; the aforementioned per share earnings and revenue jobs suggest that their prediction is on track.

A recent April 2016 Monsanto press release reporting on the their second quarter financial results, shows the stark contrasts in cash flow between this year and last. It states:

For the first half of fiscal year 2016, net cash provided by operating activities was a source of approximately $1.4 billion, compared to approximately $1.5 billion the same period last year. Net cash required by investing activities for the first half of fiscal year 2016 was $483 million, compared to $532 million for the same period of fiscal year 2015. Net cash required by financing activities for the first half of 2016 was approximately $3.5 billion, compared to net cash required of $406 million for the same period of fiscal year 2015. Free cash flow was a source of $906 million for the first half of fiscal year 2016, compared to a source of $986 million for the first half of fiscal year 2015.

Struggling farmers seek options to offset falling crop prices … and they don’t include Monsanto

So, why the plunge in Monsanto’s profits?

Despite the fact that more acres of soybeans and corn are expected to be planted in the United States than ever before, Monsanto’s profits have been impacted by farmers who are searching for more affordable crop options. The reason is simple: Farmers are struggling, as grain prices have dipped to near five-year lows, not to mention the fact that farm incomes are at their lowest in about 14 years. As such, they’re looking to save money, which means cutting back on fertilizer, seed and chemical use. Translation: Monsanto’s profits are hurting, as people are turning towards more cost-effective, healthier options.

North Dakota farmer Randy Thompson is one such person. This year, he says he plans to apply 30 percent less nitrogen fertilizer to his corn in order to save money in the wake of falling crop prices.

Meanwhile, in Minnesota, Andy Pulk found a more reasonable price for crop nutrients. As a result, he’s trucking the nutrients to his farm, despite the fact that they’re 350 miles away. “We’re on a complete spending hold across the farm,” Pulk said.

Monsanto, it’s time to wake up. More people are shunning what you have to offer, getting wise to the fact that your efforts are costly and unhealthy options for themselves and the planet. They’re ready for a food revolution that keeps their health interests in mind, and it certainly doesn’t include what Monsanto stands for.

Sources for this article include:

Fortune.com

Bloomberg.com

News.Monsanto.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

TruthWiki.org

Science.NaturalNews.com

Why Is The Mainstream Media Covering Up Recessionary Data?

Photo Credit Philip Taylor

(Jim Quinn)  The Census Bureau put out their monthly retail sales report yesterday morning. During good times, the MSM would be hailing the tremendous increases as proof the consumer was flush with cash and all was well with the economy. Considering 70% of our GDP is dependent upon consumer spending, you would think this data point would be pretty important in judging how well Americans are really doing.

It’s not perfect, because the issuance of debt to consumers to purchase autos, furniture, appliances and electronics can juice the retail sales numbers and create the false impression of strength. That’s what has been going on with auto sales for the last two years.

The retail sales figures have been propped up by the issuance of subprime auto loans to deadbeats, 7 year 0% interest loans to good credit customers, and an all-time high in leases (aka 3 year rentals). Despite this Fed induced auto loan scheme, retail sales have still been pitiful, as the average American has been left with stagnant wages, 0% interest on their minuscule savings, surging rent and home prices, and drastic increases in their healthcare costs due to Obamacare.

The retail sales for March, reported this morning, were disastrous and further confirmed a myriad of other economic indicators that the country is in recession. GDP for the first quarter will be negative. And this time they can’t blame it on snow in the winter. They have already doubly seasonally adjusted the figures, and they will still be negative. Retail sales in the first quarter were atrocious. It might make a critical thinking person question the establishment storyline of solid job growth being peddled by politicians and their MSM mouthpieces. If people had good paying jobs, they would be spending money.

The Ivy League educated “expert” economists expected March retail sales to increase by 0.1%. They only missed by $6 billion, as retail sales FELL by 0.3%. They have fallen for three straight months. At least gasoline sales were strong, as prices have risen 22% since mid-February. That should do wonders for the finances of American households. If you exclude gasoline sales, retail sales fell by 0.4%. As the chart below reveals, the year over year change in retail sales has been at or near recessionary levels for most of 2015, and into 2016.

Digging into the details reveals some worrying trends for the establishment purveyors of propaganda. It seems every deadbeat in America has been convinced to buy a car on credit. They’ve run out of useful idiots. Auto sales plunged by 2.3%, the fourth decline in a row, and the biggest decline since last February. This ongoing plunge in auto sales is happening in spite of dealers offering tremendous levels of incentives, rebates, extended 0% financing, and low priced leases. The TV commercials from the automakers offering once in a lifetime offers are endless.

The Fed induced auto loan bubble is bursting, as default rates on the billions of subprime slime loans issued in the last few years skyrocket, and the prices of used cars crash as the millions of leases come due. Dealer lots are overflowing with overpriced automobiles with no demand. The implications of this bubble bursting are far reaching. The fallacious demand created by easy money kept the union manufacturing plants humming and allowed Obama to crow about saving the auto industry. As demand collapses, layoffs will surge, and the minimal profits being generated by GM, Ford, and Chrysler will turn to huge losses again.

The two retail areas which had remained strong over the last few years, restaurant sales and internet sales, both went negative in March. Their growth rates have slowed dramatically over the last three months. It might make you wonder whether paying $600 per share for Amazon stock is really a smart investment. With restaurant sales petering out, how many more waiters and waitresses are going to be hired to keep the Obama jobs recovery on track? With year over year retail sales, excluding autos, up by a pitiful 1.3%, and real inflation for real American families of at least 5%, real retail sales are falling. That might explain the plunging retail profits.

The free fall in department store sales continues unabated, with year over year sales down 6.1%. Anyone buying into the JC Penney, Sears, Macy’s, Kohl’s revival storyline is a fool. Wall Street can sell that tripe to their “clients”, but the bricks and mortar department stores are dead retailers walking.

You would think real journalists working for real business websites like Marketwatch (owned by the Wall Street Journal/Rupert Murdoch) would report these disconcertingly bad economic numbers in great detail. But shockingly, when I clicked onto the Marketwatch website to find their brilliant detailed analysis of the horrific retail sales report, I found absolutely nothing. It was as if this report never existed. I checked back all day long, and nada. It’s almost as if they wanted to bury the story.

Evidently, recessionary levels of retail sales doesn’t fit the agenda of the establishment. They prefer concentrating on the rising stock market, driven by short covering and HFT machines buying from each other. The mainstream media is controlled by six corporations. Their job is not to tell you the truth. Their job is to keep you sedated, distracted, and amused. Any critical thinking individual can discern they are in the midst of a recession, but those in power will never allow the truth to reach the masses. Bad news reflecting reality is unacceptable to an entrenched ruling class who are not quite done pillaging the remaining wealth of the nation.

Deutsche Bank Admits It Rigged Gold Prices, Agrees To Expose Other Manipulators

Well, that didn't take long.

Earlier today when we reported the stunning news that DB has decided to "turn" against the precious metals manipulation cartel by first settling a long-running silver price fixing lawsuit which in addition to "valuable monetary consideration" said it would expose the other banks' rigging having also "agreed to provide cooperation to plaintiffs, including the production of instant messages, and other electronic communications, as part of the settlement" we said "since this is just one of many lawsuits filed over the past two years in Manhattan federal court in which investors accused banks of conspiring to rig rates or prices in financial and commodities markets, we expect that now that DB has "turned" that much more curious information about precious metals rigging will emerge, and will confirm what the "bugs" had said all along: that the precious metals market has been rigged all along."

This was confirmed moments ago when Reuters reported that Deutsche Bank has also reached a settlement in US litigation alleging the bank conspired to fix gold prices. In other words, hours after admitting it was rigging the silver market, it did the same for gold.

Some more headlines:

• Reaches settlement in U.S. litigation alleging it conspired to fix gold prices.
• Plaintiffs' lawyers, in filing, say Deutsche Bank has signed a settlement term sheet
• Plaintiffs' lawyers say are negotiating formal settlement agreement that would be presented for judge's approval later
• Plaintiffs' lawyers say settlement contemplates a monetary payment by Deutsche Bank
• Gold settlement follows similar accord involving alleged silver price-fixing that was disclosed on Wednesday

Most importantly, as the actual settlement reveals, Deutsche has agreed that in addition to once again providing "valuable monetary consideration" which will be paid into a settlement fund, that like in the silver settlement it will provide "cooperation in pursuing claims against the remaining Defendants."

And with that the floodgates open.

Here is the full settlement letter:

* * *

As a reminder, this is what we reported just hours ago on an identical settlement involving Deutsche Bank admitting to also rigging silver:

Deutsche Bank Confirms Silver Market Manipulation In Legal Settlement, Agrees To Expose Other Banks

Back in July of 2014, we reported that in an attempt to obtain if not compensation, then at least confirmation of bank manipulation in the precious metals industry, a group of silver bullion banks including Deutsche Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC (later UBS was also added to the defendants) were accused of manipulating prices in the multi-billion dollar market.

The lawsuit, which was originally filed in a New York district court by veteran litigator J. Scott Nicholson, a resident of Washington DC, alleged that the banks, which oversee the century-old silver fix manipulated the physical and COMEX futures market since January 2007. The lawsuit subsequently received class-action status. It was the first case to target the silver fix.

Many expected that this case would never go anywhere and that the defendant banks would stonewall indefinitely: after all their legal budgets were far greater than the plaintiffs.

Which is why we were surprised to read overnight that not only has this lawsuit against precious metals manipulation not been swept away, but that the lead defendant, troulbed German bank Deutsche Bank agreed to settle the litigation over allegations it illegally conspired with Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC Holdings Plc to fix silver prices at the expense of investors, Reuters reported citing a court filing by law firm Lowey.

Terms were not disclosed, but the accord will include a monetary payment by the German bank.

It goes without saying, that there would have been neither a settlement nor a payment if the banks had done nothing wrong.

According to Reuters, Deutsche Bank has signed a binding settlement term sheet, and is negotiating a formal settlement agreement to be submitted for approval by U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni, who oversees the litigation. A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman declined to comment. Lawyers for the investors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As noted above, investors had accused Deutsche Bank, HSBC and ScotiaBank of abusing their power as three of the world's largest silver bullion banks to dictate the price of silver through a secret, once-a-day meeting known as the Silver Fix.

None of this will come as a big surprise to readers, most of whom have been aware that this took place for years.

But wait there's more.

In a curious twist, the settlement letter reveals a stunning development, namely that the former members of the manipulation cartel have turned on each other. To wit:

“In addition to valuable monetary consideration, Deutsche Bank has also agreed to provide cooperation to plaintiffs, including the production of instant messages, and other electronic communications, as part of the settlement. In Plaintiff’s estimation, the cooperation to be provided by Deutsche Bank will substantially assist Plaintiffs in the prosecution of their claims against the non-settling defendants.”

The full shocking letter can be read here:

Since this is just one of many lawsuits filed over the past two years in Manhattan federal court in which investors accused banks of conspiring to rig rates or prices in financial and commodities markets, we expect that now that DB has "turned" that much more curious information about precious metals rigging will emerge, and will confirm what the "bugs" had said all along: that the precious metals market has been rigged all along.

Finally, we'll just remind readers that the US commodity "regulator", the CFTC in 2013 closed its five year investigation concerning allegations that the biggest bullion banks manipulate silver markets and prices.  It proudly reported in September 2013 that it found no evidence of wrongdoing and dropped the probe. This is what it said:

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) Division of Enforcement has closed the investigation that was publicly confirmed in September 2008 concerning silver markets. The Division of Enforcement is not recommending charges to the Commission in that investigation. For law enforcement and confidentiality reasons, the CFTC only rarely comments publicly on whether it has opened or closed any particular investigation. Nonetheless, given that this particular investigation was confirmed in September 2008, the CFTC deemed it appropriate to inform the public that the investigation is no longer ongoing. Based upon the law and evidence as they exist at this time, there is not a viable basis to bring an enforcement action with respect to any firm or its employees related to our investigation of silver markets.

In light of this confirmation that the CFTC's probe was "lacking" perhaps it is time for the so-called regulators who at the time was headed by ex-Goldmanite Gary Gensler (and assisted by "revolving door" expert and HFT lobby sellout Bart Chilton) to reopen its investigation?

JPMorgan Profits Tumble, Future Growth Threatened

JPMorgan Chase said its first-quarter profit fell more than 8 percent from a year earlier, and future profit growth could be threatened after it failed a key regulatory test designed to prevent another financial crisis.

First quarter profit at JPMorgan, the nation’s largest bank by assets, was hurt by weak results at its investment banking division and by loans to oil and gas companies that are now struggling to make payments because of low energy prices.

And as JPMorgan was announcing its quarterly results Wednesday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve announced that JPMorgan, as well as four other banks, failed to meet a regulatory requirement put in place after the financial crisis. They were required to come up with a plan, known as “living will,” to unwind their operations in the event of a bankruptcy or other upheaval in a way that would not trigger a broad financial meltdown.

Regulators called the banks’ plans “not credible” and gave them until October 1 to come up with new plans or face more stringent requirements.

JPMorgan was one of the few banks to weather the housing downturn and financial crisis and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has touted the firm’s “fortress” balance sheet, which he says would protect the bank from any future crisis.

“We are going to do everything we can to fix this problem,” Dimon said in a conference call with journalists.

This latest regulatory issue comes at a difficult time for JPMorgan and other big banks. Profits and share prices have fallen in recent months because as loans to energy companies have gone bad and the Federal Reserve signaled it will slow the pace of interest rate increases, which hurts bank profits. The financial sector is the worst performing sector of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index this year.

JPMorgan said Wednesday that it earned $4.99 billion after payments to preferred shareholders in the first quarter. That compares to a profit of $5.45 billion a year earlier. On a per share basis, the bank earned $1.35, compared with $1.45 a year earlier.

CONTINUE READING

Free From Jail, Imprisoned By Debt

At 36, Marcus White has spent half of his life in prison. Today he’s no longer behind bars, but now he’s imprisoned by something else: debt.

When White was sentenced, he was saddled with $5,800 in criminal fines and fees. By the time he was released, he was stunned to learn that with interest, his debt had grown to $15,000 — and continues to grow even now.

That debt isn’t just a drag on White’s finances. It’s a drag on his right to vote.

White’s not alone. More than 50 years after the 24th Amendment made poll taxes unconstitutional in the United States, formerly incarcerated people in at least 30 states are still barred from voting because they’re unable to fully pay their court-related fines and fees.

“I have completely changed my life and have been given a fresh start,” White said recently at a conference in Washington D.C. “Voting wasn’t important to me before, but now I want to be a productive citizen in every way… I want a voice in the process.”

(maciek_draba / Flickr)

“I am accountable for everything I have done,” he said. “But the interest rate on my fines is crazy.”

New research by my organization, the Alliance for a Just Society, shows that millions of people — including an estimated 1.5 million African Americans — are blocked from voting because they can’t afford their criminal debt.  

That debt starts at sentencing and can grow at interest rates of 12 percent or more while inmates serve their sentences. It continues to grow after they’re released and face the numerous barriers to finding work and housing.

Some states explicitly require that all court-imposed fees are paid before voting rights are restored. Others are more indirect, requiring the completion of probation or parole — with the payment of fees and fines a condition of completing parole. The laws vary, but the effects are the same.

On the other hand, former offenders with wealthier family or friends, or a savings account, are able to quickly regain their voting rights. The result is a two-tiered system that restores voting rights to an affluent elite and leaves the rest — the majority, in fact — without a vote.

The reality of racism in the United States and the criminalization of poverty means that black people and other people of color are more likely to be arrested, convicted, and locked up for longer than whites. Blacks are also less likely to regain their right to vote once they’re released.

That racial disparity bears a grim resemblance to the poll taxes imposed throughout the South after the Civil War, which were intended to keep newly freed black people from exercising their civil rights.

The problem has worsened since 2013, when the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Many states — including several in the old Confederacy — have since rushed to impose restrictive voter ID laws and other impediments to voting. But debt as a barrier to voting remains a little-known reality.

The clearest solution is to automatically restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated people, and to register everyone immediately after they complete their sentence. Alternately, lawmakers could repeal all criminal disenfranchisement. Short of that, states should simply remove the payment of court debts as a condition for voting.

Many of us take voting for granted, especially in a presidential election year.

Voting means having a say in the policies that affect your life and community. It’s an opportunity to elect those who will represent your values. Voting is actively participating in a better future.

Voting is hope. And the ability to pay should never be a requirement for that.

The post Free From Jail, Imprisoned by Debt appeared first onOtherWords.

This piece was reprinted from Other Words by RINF Alternative News with permission.

Deutsche Bank to settle U.S. silver price-fixing litigation

The headquarters of Germany's Deutsche Bank is photographed early evening in Frankfurt, Germany, January 26, 2016.

REUTERS/KAI PFAFFENBACH

Deutsche Bank AG has agreed to settle U.S. litigation over allegations it illegally conspired with Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC Holdings Plc to fix silver prices at the expense of investors, a court filing on Wednesday showed.

Terms were not disclosed, but the accord will include a monetary payment by the German bank, a letter filed in Manhattan federal court by lawyers for the investors said.

Deutsche Bank has signed a binding settlement term sheet, and is negotiating a formal settlement agreement to be submitted for approval by U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni, who oversees the litigation.

A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman declined to comment. Lawyers for the investors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Investors accused Deutsche Bank, HSBC and ScotiaBank of abusing their power as three of the world's largest silver bullion banks to dictate the price of silver through a secret, once-a-day meeting known as the Silver Fix.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants distorted prices on the roughly $30 billion of silver and silver financial instruments traded annually, violating U.S. antitrust law.

UBS AG was also named as a defendant. Investors accused the Swiss bank of conspiring to exploit the Silver Fix, though it did not help set the benchmark.

Spokesmen for HSBC and ScotiaBank declined to comment, saying they could not discuss pending litigation. A spokeswoman for UBS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit is among several in Manhattan federal court in which investors accused banks of conspiring to rig rates or prices in financial and commodities markets.

The case is In re: London Silver Fixing Ltd Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-md-02573.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Grant McCool and Diane Craft)