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So how persistent was Jon Corleone in that private meeting?
Confidence begins with honesty, a sense of fairness, and respect for justice. Not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law as well.
"If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable...Our government teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy."
Louis D. Brandeis
If the patience and trust of the American people was a checkbook, you could mark it 'Account Overdrawn.' This is something that the monied interests and their Beltway bandits just do not yet comprehend. Or perhaps they do, but do not have enough respect for the people to care.
Wouldn't it be a hoot if someone outré was elected President and went Andy Jackson on their pampered posteriors? I wonder if Ron Paul has it in him to be greater than himself, the leader of the whole nation and not a narrow slice of ideologues. All the rest look like conmen, cranks, and stooges.
Reuters
A persistent MF Global won NY Fed dealer status
By Sarah N. Lynch
Wed Dec 14, 2011 8:36pm EST
(Reuters) - Now bankrupt MF Global lobbied the New York Federal Reserve heavily to become a primary dealer, eventually succeeding after a delay sparked by a regulator flagging internal control problems.
Thomas Baxter, the New York Fed's general counsel, revealed the regulator's behind-the-scenes dealings with the futures brokerage, including a personal meeting with former MF Global chief Jon Corzine, in testimony prepared for a congressional hearing on Thursday.
The Fed delayed approving MF Global's application for primary dealer status after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission warned the Fed in April 2009 it had uncovered major compliance issues.
Primary dealers are the financial firms authorized to deal directly with the government to help carry out monetary policy and distribute U.S. debt.
MF Global was eventually given primary dealer status in February of this year. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has previously said it did not constitute a "seal of approval."
Baxter is expected to face questions at Thursday's hearing by the House Financial Services oversight subcommittee about whether the Fed overlooked problems with the firm.
"We also have concerns with the apparent lack of due diligence conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in bestowing its primary dealer designation on MF Global - even as the firm consistently lost money," panel chairman Randy Neugebauer said in a prepared opening statement....
Ok, Jill, spill. Don't bogart the 411 and go all Federal Reserve on us.
Where did it go, and when do the customers get it back?
Or do we have to wait until the dirty laundry comes out of the spin cycle?
And how come Bart Chilton says you DON'T know where all the money went?
Oh and if you find that missing money, can you also check and see where the investigation into manipulation in the silver market went? It seems especially timely this week.
Here is my guess.
Reuters India
Regulators know where MF Global funds went
By Christopher Doering
Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:05am IST
(Reuters) - U.S. regulators now have a more complete picture of money transfers in the final days of bankrupt brokerage MF Global, but must sort out which transactions were legitimate before more money can be released to customers, a top official told Reuters on Wednesday.
Jill Sommers, who is heading the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's review of MF Global, said regulators "are far enough along the trail" that they know where the money went.
"Now it's just finding out which ones of those transactions are legitimate and which ones of them are illegitimate," Sommers said.
The CFTC and the trustee liquidating the firm are under intense pressure from lawmakers and customers to provide answers about what happened to hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money that went missing as the firm collapsed.
MF Global officials, including former Chief Executive Jon Corzine, have told lawmakers they simply do not know where the money is, and deny authorizing any misuse of customer money.
"We certainly don't want to lead anyone to believe we don't know what happened. We do know, and we see where all the transactions went," said Sommers, a Republican commissioner, in an interview on Wednesday.
She declined to reveal details on the fund transfers until investigators have determined the purpose of all the transactions. Sommers could not estimate when regulators will complete their investigation, but said "really good progress" is being made.
Fellow CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton, a Democrat, tempered expectations. Chilton said in a statement after Sommers' remarks were published that a thorough accounting of all customer funds remains a work in progress.
"Based upon the most up-to-date information available, I do not have confidence that we know where all the money went," Chilton said. (Hello? Are these guys playing for the same team? Did Bart forget to pay for a premium subscription to intra-office memos? - Jesse)
MF Global filed for bankruptcy on October 31 after it was forced to reveal that it had made a $6.3 billion bet on European sovereign debt, spooking investors and customers.
The ensuing search for missing money has sent reverberations through the farm belt and trading floors, and has attracted the attention of the FBI and federal prosecutors.
A trustee liquidating the firm has estimated the shortfall could be as high as $1.2 billion...
Chicago Sun-Times
Regulator: We know where MF Global cash went
By David Roeder
December 14, 2011 6:18PM
The investigation into the collapse of MF Global and its estimated $1.2 billion shortfall has narrowed to a key question: Were any transfers of customer money the firm conducted in its waning days legitimate?
The main U.S. regulator of the brokerage knows where the missing money went and now is trying to determine if the transfers were proper, a top official told the Reuters news agency Wednesday.
Jill Sommers, a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission who is heading the agency’s probe, told Reuters, “We are far enough along the trail that we know where all the money went.”
She also was reported to say, “We certainly don’t want anyone to believe that we don’t know what happened. We do know, and we see where all the transactions went.”
Her comments came one day after surprise testimony from the executive chairman of CME Group Inc. provided evidence that Jon Corzine, former MF Global chairman, knew about the transfers from customer accounts. In his own testimony, Corzine has denied ordering anyone to “misuse” customer money....
The US Dollar continued to benefit today from weakness in the euro.
Gold was hit hard, and silver confirmed the breakdown in a determined bear raid.
Intraday commentary on the metals here.
The long bullion - short stocks paired trade continued to work today. I added some metal positions during the battering. And I took off the short hedges, but I may put them back on depending on how things go.
Jim Sinclair had some interesting comments on the gold trade at King World News today.
VIX remains elevated, but relatively low in the current range for the kind of rhetoric the financial press was putting out today.
Let's see if the SP will break down further.
Credit Agricole was lowered by Fitch after the bell but the outlook remains 'stable.'
Perhaps Europe will collapse and the SP will roll over. But I am highly suspicious of this low volume trade. Still it is better not to get in front of it.
