pure gold.........

I couldn't put it better myself.....


To all, so today we hear that Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America was told by Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson to shut up about the "material adverse change" that took place at Merrill Lynch before their merger. I would call this "blackmail", but then again, who am I anyway, I think Gold is money so I must be a whacko. Mr. Lewis has testified under oath (whatever that means) that he was told to remain silent about Merrill, otherwise his board of directors would be disbanded and the management team would be fired. Appalling yes, but does this surprise you?

What would you do? Remain silent? Cancel the deal? I know what I would have done, I would announce the piece of crap Merrill had become, cancel the deal so my shareholders didn't get left holding the "bag of pooh", and then simply resign. How could you wake up and go to work in the morning knowing you just shafted your shareholders over a blackmail? How could you remain silent? Was his silence going to save the system? No, it can't be saved because "it is what it is", the debt, derivatives, mal investment, etc., were all already in place, NOTHING could reverse that. If the system was so close to collapsing just a few months ago, how far away can we be now?

So, as for Mr. Bank of America, either he is a spineless buffoon that threw his shareholders under a steamroller, or he lacks the moral values to tell the truth no matter what the consequences, even if they included losing your job. Maybe he was afraid of becoming Mr. "Freddie Mac" and turning up as a suicide. Who knows? The point here is the confidence (lack of) this instills in foreigners with investments in the U.S.

Supposing Mr. Lewis is telling the truth, this means that Paulson and Bernanke are both "blackmailers" and liars. They told us umpteen times that the "banking system is solid", the "system is sound". WHO to believe? I think they are ALL full of $#I+!!! The system is busted, the banks are broke, the Dollar has ZERO intrinsic value, and the Treasury has become the biggest beggar in the history of the world. And now we get the stress test results? Yeah, I can't wait to see these morsels of truth and wisdom!

This can of worms that Mr. Lewis has opened has huge ramifications, most importantly one of CREDIBILITY. I can only guess what my thoughts would have been as a child growing up in the 60's, the Sec. of the Treasury and Fed Chairman lied and blackmailed someone? So what if Merrill went down, they are only one Investment house, you mean the system is THAT fragile? This is the world's biggest debtor trying to hide JUST how weak, debilitated, and fragile the whole situation has become. One can only hope that foreigners go deaf, dumb, and blind for few a weeks since it is they, that Treasury relies on so heavily to fund our debt.

From today forward, it is now clear that ANYTHING can happen at ANYTIME. Everything is not what it seems to be, nothing is real in the financial world, and everything is worth nothing. As it turns out, the economy, real estate, and stock markets were all propped up and "Bulled" by borrowed money and dirty tricks. The entire "fiat" bull run has been bull shit, and to think we EVER questioned Gold ownership. No wonder we have been told on a daily basis that Gold is a "barbarous relic" and has no use. So they lied to us, what's the big deal? They will lie to us again tomorrow, ...and your point is?

Bill H


courtesy Le Met Cafe