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The
number of corporations in the United States that have made
settlements with or paid fines to regulators (Spitzer, SEC) so far
this year, 2004, in amounts exceeding 30,000,000 - 14. An additional
5 corporations have paid fines, or made settlements this year,
exceeding 100,000,000 U.S. dollars. In not one of the aforementioned
cases did the payee admit to one ounce of guilt or was anyone
incarcerated.
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The
number of individuals who reportedly benefited from insider
knowledge to the tune of 40,000, were accused of 'lying' and
subsequently had 300,000,000 eviscerated from their net worth. Upon
being found guilty, they were sentenced to 5 months in the slammer
along with 5 months of house arrest and a 'token' fine - 1.
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The
effect of a 300 basis point (3%) increase in financing costs on the
accumulated Federal debt - 39 billion/yr. This is more than 300
dollars per working person in America.
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Current
GDP of the U.S. economy - 11.5 trillion.
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The
size of U.S. commercial bank's holdings of derivatives at March 1995
- 17.5 trillion.
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The
size of U.S. commercial bank's derivatives holdings (sometimes
referred to institutionally as a 'hedge books') as of March 04 -
76.5 trillion.
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Year
that Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) blew up - 1997. LTCM had
capital of 4.8 billion. Derivatives book of 1.25 trillion.
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Number
of partners at LTCM that were Nobel laureates (economics) - 2.
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Number
of times LTCM reported a loss - 1. However, it was fatal and
resulted in bankruptcy and very nearly collapsed the world's
financial system.
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The
amount of derivatives held by one bank (Mar. 04), J. P. Morgan Chase
- 42 trillion. Market cap of J.P. Morgan Chase - 133 billion.
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Number
of Nobel laureates at J.P. Morgan - ?
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Number
of times J.P. Morgan Chase has reported a loss on their derivatives
book - 0.
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Amount
of notional increase J.P. Morgan Chase derivatives book increased in
latest quarter (at Mar. 04) - 3.2 trillion.
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Assuming
there are 20 hours in a day that J.P. Morgan can viably transact
business institutionally, trading minutes in a day - 1200
-
Assuming
22 business days per month, number of business days per quarter -
66.
-
J.P.
Morgan total tradable minutes per quarter - 79,200.
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Rate
of Increase in book size this quarter: 3,200,000,000,000 / 79,200 =
40,404,040 per minute.
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Who
J.P. Morgan does all those trades with - ?
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Number
of lunch and bathroom breaks traders at J.P. Morgan take - ?
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Amount
of regulatory oversight over J.P. Morgan's 42 trillion derivatives
book - 0
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Number
of 'surprises' regulators would find in said book if they looked - ?
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The
number of times the Bureau of Labor Statistics has withheld PPI data
from the populace so far this year - 2. On 1 of these occasions
their official reason was that government computers were not up to
the task of tabulating the data. On the other occasion they claimed
that the data they collected was unfit for consumption.
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The
percentage of its value the U.S. dollar has lost over the past 80
years - roughly 95%. This equates to a compounded annual rate of
inflation of roughly 3.5%. The Fed has currently set a target of 2 -
3 % annual inflation.
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The
government's latest consumer price index reporting - an annualized
rate of about 4.5%. The Fed Funds rate is currently 1.25%. Anyone
investing in money market instruments is virtually guaranteed to
'lock in' a loss on their money of 2.5-3.0% per annum. Perhaps the
government/Fed feels this is realistic given their expectations for
the traditional alternatives, namely stocks and bonds?
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The
price increase of crude oil so far this year - roughly 70 %.
Apparently, this should not concern anyone since Alan Greenspan has
declared this increase as a 'transitory phenomena' as the price of
oil approached 40.00. Did he mean 'this' increase was transitory or
'the next one?" In a related story, Alan Greenspan still
says that inflation is not a problem.
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The
number of recessions in the U.S. economy since the Federal Reserve
was established in 1913 - 7.
-
The
number of depressions in the U.S. on the Federal Reserve's watch -
1.
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The
amount at which the Federal debt is currently rising - 52 billion
per month. Accordingly, the Mogambu Guru points out that this is the
equivalent of 372 dollars of additional debt per working person per
month in the entire country.
-
The
amount of Federal debt accumulated by America in the past 25 months
- 1.3 trillion (Mogambu Guru).
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The
amount of gold the U.S. carries on its balance sheet (as reported by
the I.M.F.) - 261.58 million ounces. See: http://www.imf.org/external/np/sta/ir/usa/eng/curusa.htm.
Gold is listed as a component of official reserve assets (82.585
billion). *This gold is described as being deposits and, if
appropriate, gold swapped. Official reserve assets are exactly equal
to the line item - currencies in SDR basket - listed in memo items.
Interestingly, the department of the U.S. Treasury states on their
web site that, "The Special Drawing Rights (SDR) is not
connected to gold and confers no right to draw physical gold from
the IMF."
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According
to the Treasury, "Neither the ESF, nor the Treasury Department,
nor the Federal Reserve made any gold swaps during this period [past
10 yrs.]."
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The
last time an independent audit of the U.S. gold reserve was
undertaken - late 1950's.
