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Imagine you are Ben Bernanke, or on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. The time frame is July and August of 2011 and the price of gold is on a tear. Commodities inflation has been persistent and is breaking out everywhere. Your prediction that inflation “is contained” and is a “temporary phenomena” are beginning to look absurd. What do you do?
Simple. Hint that QE3, the primary drive of inflation, is coming and then fail to deliver at the September FOMC meeting. That takes care of the price of gold and the gold stocks. Ah, but those pesky commodities speculators keep making money and trading against what you want the markets to do. So what is to be done there? Hey Jon Corzine, how about you tank the largest broker for the small commodities punters in the world, and we let them twist in the wind? That will serve them right. Teach them to bet against the government approved scenario.
Think it did not happen? Well think again. All of the pieces fit. It sure is convenient that all those commodities speculators are now out of the box. Also, who will want to speculate on commodities in the future given customer funds are no longer protected. Furthermore, commodities speculators are not a very “All American” group. From the authorities point of view they can say: screw them, who will feel sympathy? Hell, James Bullard, Fed Governor, in an interview on CNBC yesterday said the MF Global collapse proves that the system works. Yes it does Jim, for you. Personally, I have $90,000 at MF Global and I would like to have my honestly earned money returned. Unfortunately, the odds of that happening any time soon seem slim. In part because when MF Global entered bankruptcy the judge appointed a Trustee whose law firm has done substantial work for JP Morgan, a deeply interested party. We will probably never find out what happened here. But for those of us whose eyes are open the results speak for themselves.
This whole mess stinks to high heaven. I am with Gerald Celente, if the largest commodity broker in America can go bankrupt and nothing is done, then where can you put your money and expect it to be safe? I, for one, do not accept that Jon Corzine is stupid enough to lever up MF Global 40:1 and use the proceeds and customer money to bet on European sovereign debt. This was a hit, pure and simple. That is why there is no resolution to the problem, and it is just another example of the deeply corrupt US political/financial axis. It may take money away from a bunch of commodities speculators, and it may cool down the perceived inflation, but it is just another hole in the dike which is The US Financial System. A dike whose life can probably now be measured in months, not years.
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As we began discussing the MF Global collapse, Jim articulated his belief in a financial slight-of hand originating from “notice to deliver” requests for gold and silver submitted through MF before the collapse, which had the potential to cause a Comex delivery default. “Comex was ready to default on gold and silver in November, and rather than honor the notices for delivery, JP Morgan stole the funds in the accounts that were calling for delivery…notices for delivery were replaced by stolen accounts.” The evidence of this according to Jim is that, “JPM increased the amount of silver in their registered vaults by precisely the amount that was suppose to be delivered…JPM effectively averted both a Comex default and a European Sovereign Debt implosion.”
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Once again, suddenly NO MENTION OF THE CME OF THE MISSING 1.4 MILLION OUNCES OF REGISTERED SILVER!
As a strangely coincidental supply turned up in JPMorgan vaults almost simultaneously as the MFGlobal clients phyzz went missing, until the CME provides an update of what happened to this stolen inventory, The Doc will continue to provide the last available info on this from the CME ...
It won't be long before these guys become targets. People will allow only just so much before they completely snap. Even sheep can become violent if prodded once too many times.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-uk-mfglobal-corzinetre7bc2cr-20111213,0,4497935.storyAn auditor with CME Group was told that former MF Global chief Jon Corzine knew about loans backed by customer segregated accounts that were made to a European affiliate of the firm, a CME executive said on Tuesday.
CME Executive Chairman Terrence Duffy said his company has provided this information to the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Duffy, testifying to the Senate Agriculture Committee, said a CME auditor participated in a phone call during which an MF Global employee indicated that Corzine knew of the lending, which was likely made in the last couple of days prior to MF Global's Oct. 31 bankruptcy.
The loan was for roughly $175 million, Duffy said.
http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldn...Money_is_Fleeing_the_US_Financial_System.htmlCorzine, I know from (an) inside source at the SEC, there were going to be rules to prevent them from doing exactly what they are doing.
... “Corzine went down (to the SEC), met with Mary Schapiro, she personally revoked it. That’s information I have from inside the SEC. So the whole thing is a joke. When I speak to people on the (Capitol) Hill, they even say the SEC is bought and paid for. If they (Congress) ask them (the SEC) for documentation, they resist. Just like the Fed resisted opening the books to Ron Paul.
... Which bring us to a rather disturbing theory proposed by Walter Burien of CAFR1.com who has floated the rather the chilling idea, and what some may call an outright conspiracy theory, that by scuttling MF, Corzine effectively helped some shell company (or companies) which were controlled by a "cabal" of his closest confidants (we will let readers come up with their own theories who the former CEO of Goldman Sachs may have been close with) to make the offsetting profit that resulted from the accelerated and massive losses borne by MF's stakeholders in the vicious liquidation. As Burien says: "A government and media cover up would just focus on MFG's loss. A true and open investigation would be focused on "who" took the other side of the coin; the profit." And now that we know that Corzine allegedly lied to the Senate, just how much deeper does his transgression go, and did his really hand over the company on a silver platter to some anonymous "Hold Co" by taking on massive risks he knew were going to blow up in his face, albeit knowing the "other" side of the trade would compensate him for it? After all, Corzine's legacy may have been forever tarnished, but if there was one thing the man knew after all those mostly successful years at Goldman, it was risk. So did he really blow up MF on a idiotic risk miscalculation bet within two years of joining, purely by mistake, or is there something more?
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Did bankers use the MF Global bankruptcy to suppress gold and silver prices and create the panicked appearance of collapsing precious metals to give themselves additional precious time to delay the crash of the Euro and the US Dollar? As crazy as this sounds, a closer investigation of some key data seems to imply this possibility. ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/04/us-mfglobal-goldman-idUSTRE80301V20120104MF Global sold assets to Goldmanbefore collapse: sources
MF Global unloaded hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of securities to Goldman Sachs in the days leading up to its collapse, according to two former MF Global employees with direct knowledge of the transactions. But it did not immediately receive payment from its clearing firm and lender, JPMorgan Chase & Co(JPM.N), one of the sources said.
The sale of securities to Goldman occurred on October 27, just days before MF Global Holdings Ltd (MFGLQ.PK) filed for bankruptcy on October 31, the ex-employees said. One of the employees said the transaction was cleared with JPMorgan Chase.
At the same time MF Global, which was run by former Goldman Sachs head Jon Corzine, was selling securities to Goldman to raise badly needed cash, the futures firm was also drawing down a $1.2 billion revolving line of credit it had with JPMorgan, according to one of the former MF Global employees.
JPMorgan spokeswoman Mary Sedarat said the bank did not withold money because of the line of credit. She declined further comment on details of the transactions.
JPMorgan has fought aggressively in bankruptcy court to protect its interests, and received a lien on some of MF Global's assets in exchange for granting the firm $8 million to fund its bankruptcy costs. The lien puts JPMorgan's interests ahead of MF Global customers who have not yet received an estimated $900 million worth of money from their accounts, which remain frozen as regulators search for missing funds.
The hastily crafted transactions and the seeming inability of MF Global to recoup some of the money in the sale to Goldman may start to explain why so much money remains unaccounted for at the futures firm.
It is unclear what type of assets Goldman bought from MF Global, but the securities were worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the former employees said. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that George Soros'fund was a buyer of securities sold by MF Global, scooping-up some of its European sovereign debt at a deep discount. Panic among investors and clients about MF Global's $6.3 billion bet on European sovereign bonds led to its demise.
Corzine, who was CEO of MF Global at the time of the collapse, headed Goldman Sachs from 1994 to 1999 before being ousted after a power struggle with co-CEO Henry Paulson.
Corzine and other top MF Global executives reached out in desperation to Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and JPMorgan, as well as Jefferies Group Inc (JEF.N) Barclays Plc (BARC.L), Citigroup Inc (C.N), Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE), Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG.AX), State Street Corp (STT.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), as potential buyers in its final days as the firm teetered toward collapse, Reuters earlier reported.
Goldman <-> JP Morgan <-> George SorosYou beat me to it. Any time goldman is involved, you know something shady was going on.
Jon S. Corzine, MF Global Holding Ltd. (MFGLQ)’s chief executive officer, gave “direct instructions” to transfer $200 million from a customer fund account to meet an overdraft in a brokerage account with JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), according to a memo written by congressional investigators.
Edith O’Brien, a treasurer for the firm, said in an e-mail quoted in the memo that the transfer was “Per JC’s direct instructions,” according to a copy of the memo obtained by Bloomberg News. The e-mail, dated Oct. 28, was sent three days before the company collapsed, the memo says. The memo does not indicate whether that phrase was the full text of the e-mail or an excerpt.
O’Brien’s internal e-mail was sent as the New York-based broker found intraday credit lines limited by JPMorgan, the firm’s clearing bank as well as one of its custodian banks for segregated customer funds, according to the memo, which was prepared for a March 28 House Financial Services subcommittee hearing on the firm’s collapse. O’Brien is scheduled to testify at the hearing after being subpoenaed this week.
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Breaking reports state that JP Morgan received a $200 million margin call on London's LIFFE exchange 3 days prior to the MFG Bankruptcy over naked euro put options. The margin call came when the Dallas Fed refused to offer JPM a line of credit due to JPM's use of TARP funds to write euro derivatives. The report alleges that a panicked Jamie Dimon called Tim Geithner, Ben Bernanke, and Gary Gensler demanding the problem be taken care of and within the hour, the CME re-issued the $200 million margin call to the counter-party on the derivatives trade (MF Global), and the rest is history.
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http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/jon-corzine-still-bundling-obama_640493.htmlBarack Obama's reelection campaign has released the most recent list of names of fundraising bundlers. On that list is Jon Corzine, the former governor of New Jersey and embattled money man, the former head of MF Global:
Corzine, according to the Obama campaign, has once again helped raise more than $500,000.
(He was likewise named a bundler in January, when the Obama campaign last released the names of their money men.)
"MF Global and its brokerage sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a $6.3 billion bet on the bonds of some of Europe’s most indebted nations prompted regulator concerns and a credit rating downgrade. Corzine quit MF Global Nov. 4," Bloomberg reported.
As ABC reported, "President Obama once hailed [Corzine] as an 'honorable man' and one of his 'best partners' in the White House." Since that time, Obama has tried to distance himself from Corzine, who at one point was considered for the treasury secretary slot.
But apparently Obama is still willing to use campaign funds from the embattled Corzine.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/20/us-jpmorgan-mfglobal-idUSBRE92J03N20130320JPMorgan, MF Global Inc trustee reach $546 million settlement
(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co has reached a $546 million settlement with the trustee liquidating the failed broker-dealer unit of MF Global Holdings, a court filing showed, an amount that will help repay the brokerage's customers.
As part of a settlement reached with James Giddens, the trustee who is tasked with liquidating MF Global Inc, JPMorgan will pay $100 million that will be made available for distribution to former MF Global customers.
JPMorgan will also return more than $29 million of the brokerage's funds held by the bank, while releasing claims on $417 million that was previously returned to Giddens.
"The settlement agreement resolves claims by the trustee and customer representatives against JPMorgan that would otherwise result in years of costly litigation between the parties with an uncertain outcome," Giddens said in the filing.
JPMorgan was the lead on a $1.2 billion loan to MF Global, and was also one of its primary clearing banks before the broker-dealer went bankrupt. The bank had previously retained claims on some of the collateral posted by MF Global that led to the legal tussle.
Giddens will also request the bankruptcy court to authorize distribution of $250 million to former MF Global Inc customers who traded on U.S. exchanges and $50 million to customers who traded on foreign exchanges, according to the filing.
MF Global declared bankruptcy in 2011. Commodity traders with personal accounts lost millions of dollars when, according to Giddens, the firm improperly used client money to cover corporate transactions as the firm sank. MF Global customer accounts were frozen in the wake of the bankruptcy.
The case became a political firestorm when regulators discovered an estimated $1.6 billion hole in the trading accounts of the broker's trading customers.
The case is In re: MF Global Inc, case No. 11-2790, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York.
(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Paul Tait and Miral Fahmy)
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