"Once completely freed, the bankers very quickly ran their institutions off the cliff, taking much of the global economy with them. Not only did they create and sell a huge amount of junk, but they turned the financial system into a gigantic casino, one in which they played mainly with other people’s money. Both parties make a public show of how bitter their conflicts are, and how dangerous it would be for the other party to achieve power, while both prostitute themselves to the financial sector, powerful industries, and the wealthy.”
Charles H. Ferguson
"The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover was an engineer. He knew that water trickled down. Put it uphill and let it go and it will reach the driest little spot. But he didn't know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will at least have passed through some poor fellow’s hands.
They saved the big banks, but the little ones went up the flue."
Will Rogers, 5 December 1932
"I have come to realize that the vast majority of decent, wonderful people, have no idea how they are being hoodwinked day in and day out by the scum of this world. We are lied to, misled, bamboozled, suckered, cheated, misrepresented, conned, manipulated and royally screwed. They take us to the cleaners day in and day out in every way possible. We, the people, pay the price of their cheating, their folly, their lying and their sheer stupidity."
Pierre Rinfret
"The American economy increasingly serves only a narrow part of society, and America's national politics has failed to put the country back on track through honest, open, and transparent problem solving. Too many of America's elites-among the super-rich, the CEOs, and many of my colleagues in academia-have abandoned a commitment to social responsibility. They chase wealth and power, the rest of society be damned."
Jeffrey Sachs, The Price of Civilization, January 2012
You probably won't hear this from the pampered porkers and their attendant media servants at the Milk'em Global Conference in Beverly Hills, but the Wealthy few were very disappointed that Chairman Powell would not commit to rate cuts today, despite pausing, kind of.
But they are happy about their rule-bending savings deposit bailouts and the retention of record tax cuts for the wealthy. And even sweeter, the powers-that-be are trying to recover from the Fed-induced bubble in financial assets by putting the screws to the public through stagnant wages and cutbacks in food and medical care for the poor and children.
Yay us.
Gold and silver waffled around and then took off higher.
Gold in particular is facing a key level dead ahead at 2060 on the continuous futures charts.
Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday. A strong print may cast a pall on today's happy thoughts.
Rinse always follows wash.
After hours another regional bank, PacWest, saw its stock plummet on news it is seeking a resolution through sale or breakup.
But not to worry, all is well.
Have a pleasant evening.
