Have you ever wondered who owns the most gold privately? The gold industry is thriving, as this yellow metal is highly coveted and a safe haven investment that usually appreciates over the long term. However, there’s only a finite supply of gold in the world. So, who are the individuals and families that own the most holdings of gold in the world? Below, we’ll tell you about the most prominent gold investors with privately owned reserves, notable advocates for gold IRAs, and how private gold ownership affects gold market prices.
Private Owners
John Paulson John Paulson is an American hedge fund manager and billionaire famous for having one of the world’s biggest privately owned gold reserves. He’s also well known for predicting the 2007 mortgage financial crisis and has made headlines for his mammoth-sized gold holdings through his firm, Paulson & Co. As the central banks start to buy more gold in response to the devaluation of fiat currencies, Paulson has been a vocal advocate for investing in physical gold bullion.
Ray Dalio Ray Dalio is another of the most famous gold buyers and owns one of the largest private gold reserves in the world. He’s the founder and co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates, which manages $150 billion in assets. In the second quarter of 2020, Bridgewater Associates invested $400 million in gold holdings, including exchange-traded funds with the SPDR Gold Trust and the iShares Gold Trust.
Indian Families Indian households have some of the largest gold reserves in the world. Most of these are in the form of gold jewelry, which is primarily for weddings and Diwali festivals. Indian families (not including what the banking system owns) have roughly 25,000–27,000 tons of gold. The most exciting fact is that a significant portion of these gold reserves is held by the rich and throughout the caste system.
Stanley Druckenmiller Stanley Druckenmiller is a legend in the investing world. Like John Paulson, he predicted in 2005 that the Federal Reserve would trigger a housing crisis and economic collapse. In 2015, he had more than $292 million in exposure to the SPDR Gold Trust.
Eric Sprott Another of the world’s most prominent investors in gold is Eric Sprott. He’s a Canadian who has invested vast amounts of money in precious metals, including gold mining and exploration companies like Labrador Gold, Benchmark Metals, Ethos Gold, and New Age Metals.
The Royal Family of Saudi Arabia The royal family of Saudi Arabia is well known for being unimaginably wealthy and having some of the largest gold reserves in the world. They’re lavish spenders, with a reported net worth of approximately $1.4 trillion.
How Much Gold Is There in the World?
The World Gold Council reports an estimated 208,874 metric tons of gold mined worldwide. Even knowing that, it’s impossible to estimate how much gold in the world remains. While there is plenty, much of this physical gold is too deep to mine. Experts estimate that at a rate of 3,000 metric tons per year, the world’s currently accessible gold will have all been mined in less than 18 years unless new mines are discovered.
Some of the Most Notable Advocates for the Gold IRA
Peter Schiff Peter Schiff successfully advocates the precious metals industry and gold IRAs (individual retirement accounts). He founded SchiffGold and still serves as honorary chairman since he sold the company in 2016 to Goldmoney. He considers precious metals, like gold IRAs, safe haven investments to hedge against inflation and the rapid weakening of our country’s currency.
James Rickards James Rickards is another advocate for investing in gold and precious metal IRAs. He is an investor, advisor, and lawyer who frequently lectures on why Americans should buy gold and allocate about 10 percent of their wealth portfolio to precious metal investments. He was also the primary negotiator for the Federal Reserve when it rescued Long-Term Capital Management.
Robert Kiyosaki Robert Kiyosaki is an American investor and the founder of the Rich Dad Company. He has long been a proponent of investing in physical gold and gold IRAs. He’s a financial advisor who aims to help people achieve financial independence through wise investing.
Laith Alsarraf Another of the most prominent gold investors and advocates for precious metals and gold IRAs is Laith Alsarraf, who founded Birch Gold Group. He believes in empowering people and financial strength through knowledge, and is one of the most well-respected businessmen in the IRA industry.
Which Countries and National Governments Have the Largest Gold Reserves?
Which countries can claim to have all the gold? The U.S. Federal Reserve has the highest gold reserves in the world, thanks to its switch from the gold standard a few decades ago, when citizens could redeem national currency for gold. Our country’s gold reserves are around 8,133.5 metric tons. Furthermore, 75 percent of its foreign reserves are in gold as well. However, other countries also have significant gold reserves in their possession.
Second on the list is Germany, with 3,359 metric tons of gold. German investors are also rapidly investing in more gold than in previous years and are becoming some of the largest global investors in gold.
In the third position is Italy, with 2,452 metric tons. Other countries with large gold reserves include China, France, and Russia. Interestingly enough, the United States is considering freezing Russian gold reserves over the war in Ukraine. The World Bank reports that the International Monetary Fund also has some of the largest national assets, with official gold holdings at around 90.5 million ounces. The European Central Bank has also been buying more gold reserves, with about €26 billion invested in 2021.
Why Do Some Individuals Choose to Hold Gold Privately?
Is there a benefit to buying private gold instead of government-backed bullion? While the primary advantage of government bullion is its security and stability, it’s also far more expensive, mainly if it’s collectible. Unfortunately, that premium comes in the form of extra fees.
With private gold, investors can avoid those extra costs and use the money to purchase more bullion instead. Government bullion has a guarantee, so investors know their gold’s precise weight and purity, unlike private purchases. However, as long as you take the time to verify the seller and the quality of your gold before you purchase it, you can enjoy the benefits of private gold ownership while avoiding the extra expense of collector’s fees.
How Does Private Gold Ownership Affect Gold Prices?
If someone has a large privately owned gold reserve, does that affect the price of gold? Of course, as only a finite amount of gold is left in the world, the price will increase once supplies begin to dwindle, according to the law of supply and demand. While private ownership can affect gold prices if individuals buy enough gold to affect the supply, it’s not the only factor that impacts prices.
The availability of gold imports also affects prices, as developing countries that mine the metal often have supply-chain issues due to political reasons like civil war. A nation with a slightly weakened currency can also impact the export industry, increasing it by a large margin. In addition, factors like inflation, the central bank actions, and the mining industry also affect prices. Historically, when the stock market and paper assets decrease, the price of gold increases. Not all gold reserves in the central banks are legal, however. Illegally sourced gold has been a big problem and is another factor influencing spot prices.
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When asked if a United States CBDC would be used to control how, when and where the population spends their money, a senior vice president for the St. Louis Fed’s Research Division responded, “in life, one can’t give absolute assurance of anything…The best we can hope for, is for Congress to respond to the electorate’s concerns about privacy.” However, signals by the Biden regime and the Federal Reserve indicate they intend to move forward on a CBDC, regardless of any approval from Congress, industry leaders or the public. In fact, there are a growing number of research and pilot programs in various phases of development in America and around the world, despite public concerns of an impending digital currency enslavement system tied to a digital ID and social credit system.
The Biden Regime Presses Forward
On March 9, 2022, the Biden regime issued an Executive Order on ‘Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets,’ which placed “the highest urgency on research and development efforts into the potential design and deployment options of a United States CBDC.” The EO commanded Attorney General Garland, Treasury Secretary Yellen, and Federal Reserve Chair Powell to determine if a legal path to bypass Congress is possible, stating, “within 180 days of the date of this order [by September 5, 2022], provide the President…an assessment of whether legislative changes would be necessary to issue a United States CBDC, should it be deemed appropriate and in the national interest.” The EO further directed them to provide the President with a legislative proposal within 210 days, by October 5, 2022.
A former Fed vice chair, Randal Quarles, remarked that any bill in Congress authorizing a CBDC would be unlikely to pass, noting a lack of support from the public. In July of 2021, lawmakers introduced legislation that has yet to pass, known as the ‘Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act,‘ which appears to authorize the Fed to issue digital versions of Federal Reserve notes and to use distributed ledger technology for the “creation, distribution and recordation of all transactions involving digital Federal reserve notes.” On the other hand, legislation was introduced in January of 2022 to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC directly to individuals. In March of 2022, legislatures proposed an alternative to CBDC in a bill known as the ‘ECASH Act‘, which proposes to develop an electronic version of the US dollar issued by the US Treasury instead of the Federal Reserve, and purports to imitate the privacy and anonymity features of cash. While there is no current federal statute mandating businesses to accept cash, lawmakers introduced the ‘Payment Choice Act of 2021‘, designed to require retail businesses to accept cash as a form of payment. In all, Congress has introduced 50 bills on digital assets, blockchain, and CBDCs.
During a May 26, 2022, House Committee hearing, some lawmakers took issue with the Biden regime’s Executive Order and the ambiguity of the Federal Reserve’s comment in their January 2022 discussion paper, which states, “The Federal Reserve does not intend to proceed with issuance of a CBDC without clear support from the executive branch and from Congress, ideally in the form of a specific authorizing law.” Representative Andy Barr commented, “This to me suggests that the administration is not yet convinced that Congress has a role here.” Lawmakers were unable to seek clarity from the vice chair of the Federal Reserve during the hearing on whether the Fed would in fact proceed with the issuance of a CBDC without official Congressional authorization.
Other issues raised in the House Committee hearing on CBDCs included risks to the public of mass surveillance and targeting of citizens who are critical of the regime. Representative Warren Davidson remarked to the Fed vice chair, “The concern is the surveillance state… If you turn the Central Bank Digital Currency into this creepy surveillance tool…it literally is what China is developing and we shouldn’t imitate them. We should protect America’s way of life.” The threat of adopting China’s model for surveillance and control has become even more apparent in recent days, as China thwarted attempts by protesters to access their frozen funds by turning their QR codes red. Representative John Rose addressed his concerns to the vice chair, adding, “We saw how dangerous it can be when the government weaponizes the financial system for political purposes under the Obama Administration’s Operation Choke Point. More recently, the Canadian government instructed banks to freeze accounts linked to the trucker protests over vaccine mandates…Without appropriate safeguards, would a CBDC make it easier for the federal government to block individuals it disagrees with from accessing the financial system?” Vice Chair Brainard did not deny that CBDCs could be used to block access of individuals, stating that the use of CBDCs would essentially be no different from the current banking systems, from which accounts of political dissidents have been frozen.
Legislatures aren’t the only ones concerned about the rise of the CBDC surveillance system. Both the public and shareholders were invited to submit comments on the Federal Reserve’s plans to issue a CBDC, many of whom were resolutely opposed to the idea. One citizen wrote, “You don’t want privacy. You want to control every aspect of our lives.” Another individual replied, “I do not want government in charge of access to the kill switch to my account/money if I do not ‘tow the line.'” Yet another responded, “Stop playing games with our lives. And ignore Klaus Schwab. I fear the system completely breaking down if CBDC is enacted. Because Americans want privacy, freedom, and their work rewarded with sound money.”
In response to the Fed paper on CBDCs, the American Bankers Association warned how the disbursement of a CBDC would devastate local banks, stating, “The issuance of a CBDC would fundamentally rewire our banking and financial system by changing the relationship between citizens and the Federal Reserve,” adding, “The risks associated with issuing a CBDC are often downplayed but are real and likely to undermine any possible benefit that a CBDC would have. Most importantly, every construction of CBDC requires moving funds from banks to the Federal Reserve.” The ABA concluded, “As we have evaluated the likely impacts of issuing a CBDC it has become clear that the purported benefits of a CBDC are uncertain and unlikely to be realized, while the costs are real and acute. Based on this analysis, we do not see a compelling case for a CBDC in the United States today.”
Despite numerous dissenting voices among Congress, industry leaders and the public, the Biden regime and the Federal Reserve are pressing forward with plans to develop a United States CBDC. The Fed released yet another paper on the issuance of a retail CBDC in April of 2022. On June 17,2022, Fed Chair Powell lamented the decline of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency (driven by reckless federal spending and intentional mismanagement) and looked to a United States CBDC as a solution to the problems they’ve created, stating, “Looking forward, rapid changes are taking place in the global monetary system that may affect the international role of the dollar in the future. Most major economies already have or are in the process of developing instant, 24/7 payments. Our own FedNow Service will be coming online in 2023. And in light of the tremendous growth in crypto-assets and stablecoins, we are examining whether a US central bank digital currency would improve upon what is an already safe and efficient domestic payments system. As our white paper on this topic notes, a U.S. CBDC could also potentially help maintain the dollar’s international standing.”
There are a multitude of research and development programs for CBDCs underway. Currently, 105 countries, which represent more than 95% of the global GDP, are in various phases of CBDC exploration. Approximately 50 countries are in the advanced phases of research and development, while 28 retail CBDC pilots and 3 live retail CBDCs have been implemented. A study of 81 central banks determined that 90% are currently researching CBDCs, and over half are in the developmental or experimental phases. Several key areas of CBDC exploration are highlighted below.
China’s CBDC pilot program continues to expand since the announcement of its launch in 2020, gaining 261 million digital wallets opened in 2021. The Chinese government has extended the program to include more regions and applications. As China’s CBDC pilot program expands, so do their surveillance capabilities of Chinese citizens, multinational corporations, and other consumers around the world. On May 25, 2022, Senators introduced a bill known as the ‘Defending Americans from Authoritarian Digital Currencies Act,’ to prohibit app platforms, such as Apple and Google, from hosting apps that accept China’s digital currency. Senator Tom Cotton commented that the digital currency will provide the Chinese government with “real-time visibility into all transactions on the network, posing privacy and security concerns for American persons who join this network,” adding, “The Chinese Communist Party will use its digital currency to control and spy on anyone who uses it. We can’t give China that chance.” On June 7, 2022, lawmakers introduced a bill in the Senate known as the ‘Responsible Financial Innovation Act,’ to regulate crypto and to direct several agencies including: CISA, ODNI, and the DoD to investigate the national security implications of the use of China’s CBDC.
United States & Project Hamilton
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and MIT Digital Currency Initiative are collaborating on a CBDC exploratory project known as ‘Project Hamilton.’ The first phase of the operation was completed, demonstrating the feasibility of a CBDC payment system similar to the scale of the US economy and the US dollar’s utilization globally. Phase 2 of the project will focus on security, programmability, “how to balance privacy with compliance,” and safeguards against cyber-attacks. Critics argue that a United States CBDC does not address the issues of cybersecurity, government abuse, privacy, and centralized control. Congressman Tom Emmer commented, “Not only would this CBDC model centralize Americans’ financial information, leaving it vulnerable to attack, but it could also be used as a surveillance tool that Americans should never tolerate from their own government,” adding that, “Requiring users to open up an account at the Fed to access a US CBDC would put the Fed on an insidious path akin to China’s digital authoritarianism.” Laying the foundation for their CBDC program, the Fed has developed “a new instant payment infrastructure” known as FedNow. The new digital interbank instant payment system is expected to launch in 2023.
The investigation phase of the Digital Euro Project began in October of 2021 and will be completed by October of 2023. As part of the investigation phase, the European Central Bank has solicited public feedback. The ECB received 8,200 public responses, a record number of participants in the survey that ended in January of 2021. The feedback from this consultation provided a clear mandate, with the majority of respondents confirming that the public wants “payments to remain a private matter.” The ECB again solicited public feedback in a survey that ended in June of 2022, which received well more than double the number of responses as the previous survey. Once again, the public survey determined an overwhelming rejection of “digital slavery,” from a CBDC “slavecoin.” One respondent wrote, “No to the digital Euro! Living in the EU is becoming a nightmare, with forced vaccinations on the horizon, and now a digital Euro. It is clear that you want to have a population with no rights and no privacy – as wanted by your overlords of the WEF.” Despite the crushing negative public responsesto a CBDC over privacy concerns, the European Central Bank is moving forward with their plans. European Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni remarked to the press that, “A completely anonymous digital euro is not desirable.” A digital euro prototype is expected to launch in late 2023.
International CBDC Projects
While central banks are exploring and developing their own CBDCs, there are a number of collaborative projects to coordinate the exchange of CBDCs globally. Between 2017 and 2019, the Bank of Canada completed a four-phased program known as Project Jasper, in coordination with the Bank of England and Monetary Authority of Singapore. The project marked, “the first time in the world that a central bank participated in a distributed ledger technology experiment in partnership with the private sector.” The Saudi Central Bank and Central Bank of the UAE announced their joint initiative known as Project Aber in January of 2019, which included the involvement of commercial banks and businesses, and aimed to develop a CBDC that could be used between commercial banks across borders.
In December of 2020, the first phase of Project Helvetia, a partnership between the Bank for International Settlements, the Swiss National Bank, and a financial infrastructure company known as SIX, was completed. Phase 2 of the project, which was completed in January of 2022, focused on integrating commercial banks and CBDCs.
In December of 2021, the Bank for International Settlements announced the conclusion of Project Jura, an experiment in transferring CBDCs between French and Swiss commercial banks on a shared third-party platform. The joint operation, designed to continue the experimentation done under Project Helvetia, included the Bank for International Settlements, the Bank of France and the Swiss National Bank.
In September of 2021, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, the UAE and the Bank for International Settlements released a report on the second phase of their mBridge Project, which included the participation of 22 private sector participants. The project aims to develop a platform for international trade using CBDCs. Also in September of 2021, the Bank for International Settlements announced Project Dunbar, in collaboration with Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Africa. A report released in March of 2022 outlined how the project has developed two prototypes that enable CBDCs issued by multiple banks to use a shared platform.
On June 16, 2022, the Bank for International Settlements announced a partnership on Project Sela, including the Bank of Israel and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. The joint project, which kicks off in the third quarter of 2022, aims to test the feasibility of a retail CBDC.
In September of 2020, Mastercard announced the launch of their CBDCs testing platform for central banks to simulate the “issuance, distribution and exchange of CBDCs between banks, financial service providers and consumers.” In January of 2022, Visa joined Mastercard in offering central banks a platform to test CBDCs and Visa products. More projects to develop CBDCs can be found on the BIS Innovation Hub.
In summary, the broad range of CBDC research and development projects across the globe is immense. Joint operations across borders are paving the way for international exchange of CBDCs, and ultimately a single global digital currency as promoted by the World Economic Forum.
The development and implementation of CBDCs in America and around the world is moving forward, with a multitude of projects underway and many of those projects coming to fruition within months. Central banks and global powers seem undeterred by objections from their citizens or the indecisiveness of Congress. Though there are numerous models for implementing CBDCs, they all share the same risks to our freedom. Lack of anonymity, programmability, tracking, and centralized control are the key features of CBDCs, which will enable subjugation of the masses in the most extreme ways imaginable.
The enormity of this all-encompassing initiative to implement CBDCs around the world is daunting. It seems inevitable that this end-game system of global totalitarianism will become a reality. However, we must be encouraged that the people are becoming aware of the true agenda behind this financial takeover. Their digital control system depends on our submission, and we each have the choice to not comply. By removing ourselves from the system and using cash instead of their digital wallets and debit cards, we can starve this rising beast of data and banking fees. Only together, in mass noncompliance, will their plans for digital enslavement become unrealized.
Until recently, it appeared economic competition had been driving the rise and fall of small and large companies across the U.S. Supposedly, PepsiCo is Coca Cola’s competitor, Apple and Android vie for your loyalty and drug companies battle for your health care dollars. However, all of that turns out to be an illusion.
Since the mid-1970s, two corporations — Vanguard and Blackrock — have gobbled up most companies in the world, effectively destroying the competitive market on which America’s strength has rested, leaving only false appearances behind.
Indeed, the global economy may be the greatest illusionary trick ever pulled over the eyes of people around the world. To understand what’s really going on, watch Tim Gielen’s hour-long documentary, “MONOPOLY: Who Owns the World?” above.
Corporate Domination
As noted by Gielen, who narrates the film, a handful of mega corporations — private investment companies — dominate every aspect of our lives; everything we eat, drink, wear or use in one way or another. These investment firms are so enormous, they control the money flow worldwide. So, how does this scheme work?
While there appear to be hundreds of competing brands on the market, like Russian nesting dolls, larger parent companies own multiple smaller brands. In reality, all packaged food brands, for example, are owned by a dozen or so larger parent companies.
Pepsi Co. owns a long list of food, beverage and snack brands, as does Coca-Cola, Nestle, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Unilever, Mars, Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, Danone and Associated British Foods. Together, these parent companies monopolize the packaged food industry, as virtually every food brand available belongs to one of them.
These companies are publicly traded and are run by boards, where the largest shareholders have power over the decision making. This is where it gets interesting, because when you look up who the largest shareholders are, you find yet another monopoly.
While the topmost shareholders can change from time to time, based on shares bought and sold, two companies are consistently listed among the top institutional holders of these parent companies: The Vanguard Group Inc. and Blackrock Inc.
Pepsi and Coca-Cola – An Example
For example, while there are more than 3,000 shareholders in Pepsi Co., Vanguard and Blackrock’s holdings account for nearly one-third of all shares. Of the top 10 shareholders in Pepsi Co., the top three, Vanguard, Blackrock and State Street Corporation, own more shares than the remaining seven.
Now, let’s look at Coca-Cola Co., Pepsi’s top competitor. Who owns Coke? As with Pepsi, the majority of the company shares are held by institutional investors, which number 3,155 (as of the making of the documentary).
As shown in the film, three of the top four institutional shareholders of Coca-Cola are identical with that of Pepsi: Vanguard, Blackrock and State Street Corporation. The No. 1 shareholder of Coca-Cola is Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
These four — Vanguard, Blackrock, State Street and Berkshire Hathaway – are the four largest investment firms on the planet. “So, Pepsi and Coca-Cola are anything but competitors,” Gielen says. And the same goes for the other packaged food companies. All are owned by the same small group of institutional shareholders.
Big Tech Monopoly
The monopoly of these investment firms isn’t relegated to the packaged food industry. You find them dominating virtually all other industries as well. Take Big Tech, for example. Among the top 10 largest tech companies we find Apple, Samsung, Alphabet (parent company of Google), Microsoft, Huawei, Dell, IBM and Sony.
Here, we find the same Russian nesting doll setup. For example, Facebook owns Whatsapp and Instagram. Alphabet owns Google and all Google-related businesses, including YouTube and Gmail. It’s also the biggest developer of Android, the main competitor to Apple. Microsoft owns Windows and Xbox. In all, four parent companies produce the software used by virtually all computers, tablets and smartphones in the world. Who, then, owns them? Here’s a sampling:
Facebook — More than 80% of Facebook shares are held by institutional investors, and the top institutional holders are the same as those found in the food industry: Vanguard and Blackrock being the top two, as of the end of March 2021. State Street Corporation is the fifth biggest shareholder
Apple — The top four institutional investors are Vanguard, Blackrock, Berkshire Hathaway and State Street Corporation
Microsoft — The top three institutional shareholders are Vanguard, Blackrock and State Street Corporation
You can continue going through the list of tech brands – companies that build computers, smart phones, electronics and household appliances – and you’ll repeatedly find Vanguard, Blackrock, Berkshire Hathaway and State Street Corporation among the top shareholders.
Same Small Group Owns Everything Else Too
The same ownership trend exists in all other industries. Gielen offers yet another example to prove this statement is not an exaggeration:
“Let’s say we want to plan a vacation. On our computer or smart phone, we look for a cheap flight to the sun through websites like Skyscanner and Expedia, both of which are owned by the same group of institutional investors [Vanguard, Blackrock and State Street Corporation].
We fly with one of the many airlines [American Airlines, Air France, KLM, United Airlines, Delta and Transavia] of which the majority of the shares are often owned by the same investors …
The airline we fly [on] is in most cases a Boeing or an Airbus. Again, we see the same [institutional shareholders]. We look for a hotel or an apartment through Bookings.com or AirBnB.com. Once we arrive at our destination, we go out to dinner and we write a review on Trip Advisor. The same investors are at the basis of every aspect of our journey.
And their power goes even much further, because even the kerosene that fuels the plane comes from one of their many oil companies and refineries. Just like the steel that the plane is made of comes from one of their many mining companies.
This small club of investment companies, banks and mutual funds, are also the largest shareholders in the primary industries, where our raw materials comefrom.”
The same goes for the agricultural industry that the global food industry depends on, and any other major industry. These institutional investors own Bayer, the world’s largest seed producer; they own the largest textile manufacturers and many of the largest clothing companies.
They own the oil refineries, the largest solar panel producers and the automobile, aircraft and arms industries. They own all the major tobacco companies, and all the major drug companies and scientific institutes too. They also own the big department stores and the online marketplaces like eBay, Amazon and AliExpress.
They even own the payment methods we use, from credit card companies to digital payment platforms, as well as insurance companies, banks, construction companies, telephone companies, restaurant chains, personal care brands and cosmetic brands.
No matter what industry you look at, the top shareholders, and therefore decision makers, are the same: Vanguard, Blackrock, State Street and/or Berkshire Hathaway. In virtually every major company, you find these names among the top 10 institutional investors.
Who Owns the Investment Firms of the World?
Diving deeper, we find that these major investment firms are in turn owned by their own set of shareholders. One of the most amazing things about this scheme is that the institutional investors – and there are many more than the primary four we’ve focused on here – also own each other. They’re all shareholders in each other’s companies.
“Together, they form an immense network that we can compare to a pyramid,” Gielen says. Smaller institutional investors, such as Citibank, ING and T. Rowe Price, are owned by larger investment firms such as Northern Trust, Capital Group, 3G Capital and KKR.
Those investors in turn are owned by even larger investment firms, like Goldman Sachs and Wellington Market, which are owned by larger firms yet, such as Berkshire Hathaway and State Street. At the top of the pyramid — the largest Russian doll of all –we find Vanguard and Blackrock.
“The power of these two companies is something we can barely imagine,” Gielen says. “Not only are they the largest institutional investors of every major company on earth, they also own the other institutional investors of those companies, giving them a complete monopoly.”
Gielen cites data from Bloomberg, showing that by 2028, Vanguard and BlackRock are expected to collectively manage $20 trillion-worth of investments. In the process, they will own almost everything on planet Earth.
BlackRock – The Fourth Branch of Government
Bloomberg has also referred to BlackRock as the “fourth branch of government,” due to its close relationship with the central banks. BlackRock actually lends money to the central bank, the federal reserve, and is their principal adviser.
Dozens of BlackRock employees have held senior positions in the White House under the Bush, Obama and Biden administrations. BlackRock also developed the computer system that the central banks use.
Who Owns BlackRock?
While Larry Fink is the figurehead of BlackRock, being its founder, chairman and chief executive officer, he’s not the sole decision maker, as BlackRock too is owned by shareholders. Here we find yet another curiosity, as the largest shareholder of BlackRock is Vanguard.
“This is where it gets dark,” Gielen says. Vanguard has a unique structure that blocks us from seeing who the actual shareholders are. “The elite who own Vanguard don’t want anyone to know they are the owners of the most powerful company on earth.” Still, if you dig deep enough, you can find clues as to who these owners are.
The owners of the wealthiest, most powerful company on Earth can be expected to be among the wealthiest individuals on earth. In 2016, Oxfam reported that the combined wealth of the richest 1% in the world was equal to the wealth of the remaining 99%. In 2018, it was reported that the world’s richest people get 82% of all the money earned around the world in 2017.
In reality, we can assume that the owners of Vanguard are among the 0.001% richest people on the planet. According to Forbes, there were 2,075 billionaires in the world as of March 2020. Gielen cites Oxfam data showing that two-thirds of billionaires obtained their fortunes via inheritance, monopoly and/or cronyism.
“This means that Vanguard is in the hands of the richest families on earth,” Gielen says. Among them we find the Rothschilds, the DuPont family, the Rockefellers, the Bush family and the Morgan family, just to name a few.
Many belong to royal bloodlines and are the founders of our central banking system, the United Nations and just about every industry on the planet. Gielen goes even further in his documentary, so I highly recommend watching it in its entirety. I’ve only summarized a small piece of the whole film here.
A Financial Coup D’etat
Speaking of the central bankers, I recently interviewed finance guru Catherine Austin Fitts, and she believes it’s the central bankers that are at the heart of the global takeover we’re currently seeing. She also believes they are the ones pressuring private companies to implement the clearly illegal COVIDjab mandates. Their control is so great, few companies have the ability to take a stand against them.
“I think [the central bankers] are really depending on the smart grid and creepy technology to help them go to the last steps of financial control, which is what I think they’re pushing for,” she said.
“What we’ve seen is a tremendous effort to bankrupt the population and the governments so that it’s much easier for the central bankers to take control. That’s what I’ve been writing about since 1998, that this is a financial coup d’etat.
Now the financial coup d’etat is being consolidated, where the central bankers just serve jurisdiction over the treasury and the tax money. And if they can get the [vaccine] passports in with the CBDC [central bank digital currency], then it will be able to take taxes out of our accounts and take our assets. So, this is a real coup d’etat.”
The Spartacus Letter
Again, I urge you to watch the documentary at the top of this article, and keep an eye out for my interview with Austin Fitts, which will be published in the near future. In closing, I want to highlight a mysterious letter posted by an anonymous individual who goes by the name “Spartacus.”
“COVID-19 — The Spartacus Letter” was originally posted on docdroid.net, but has since been deleted. Another copy can be found on mega.nz.1 The Automatic Earth2 andZeroHedge3 have also published the letter in full. The letter starts out saying, “My name is Spartacus, and I’ve had enough”:
“We are watching the medical establishment inject literal poison into millions of our fellow Americans without so much as a fight. We have been told that we will be fired and denied our livelihoods if we refuse to vaccinate. This was the last straw.”
What follows is a compilation of data showing the COVID pandemic was a biowarfare attack that has been kept going using sophisticated psychological warfare tactics. It also reviews the dangers of the COVID shots, noting that the virus and the “vaccines” were made by the same entities.
A summary of Spartacus’ findings is as follows. Each summary point is elaborated upon in later sections of the letter, which you can read in any of the three references provided.
COVID-19 is a blood and blood vessel disease. SARS-CoV-2 infects the lining of human blood vessels, causing them to leak into the lungs.
Current treatment protocols (e.g. invasive ventilation) are actively harmful to patients, accelerating oxidative stress and causing severe VILI (ventilator-induced lung injuries). The continued use of ventilators in the absence of any proven medical benefit constitutes mass murder.
Existing countermeasures are inadequate to slow the spread of what is an aerosolized and potentially wastewater-borne virus, and constitute a form of medical theater.
Various non-vaccine interventions have been suppressed by both the media and the medical establishment in favor of vaccines and expensive patented drugs.
The authorities have denied the usefulness of natural immunity against COVID-19, despite the fact that natural immunity confers protection against all of the virus’s proteins, and not just one.
Vaccines will do more harm than good. The antigen that these vaccines are based on, SARS-CoV-2 Spike, is a toxic protein. SARS-CoV-2 may have ADE, or antibody-dependent enhancement; current antibodies may not neutralize future strains, but instead help them infect immune cells. Also, vaccinating during a pandemic with a leaky vaccine removes the evolutionary pressure for a virus to become less lethal.
There is a vast and appalling criminal conspiracy that directly links both Anthony Fauci and Moderna to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
COVID-19 vaccine researchers are directly linked to scientists involved in brain-computer interface (‘neural lace’) tech, one of whom was indicted for taking grant money from China.
Independent researchers have discovered mysterious nanoparticles inside the vaccines that are not supposed to be present.
The entire pandemic is being used as an excuse for a vast political and economic transformation of Western society that will enrich the already rich and turn the rest of us into serfs and untouchables.
A Criminal Conspiracy
It’s a long letter, so I won’t reproduce the whole thing here. However, the following sections are of particular interest, with regard to a criminal elite that is orchestrating the destruction of life as we know it, in an effort to usher in a technocracy-led system of global governance and control:4
“In November of 2019, three technicians at the Wuhan Institute of Virology developed symptoms consistent with a flu-like illness. Anthony Fauci, Peter Daszak, and Ralph Baric knew at once what had happened, because back channels exist between this laboratory and our scientists and officials.
December 12th, 2019, Ralph Baric signed a Material Transfer Agreement (essentially, an NDA) to receive Coronavirus mRNA vaccine-related materials co-owned by Moderna and NIH.
It wasn’t until a whole month later, on January 11th, 2020, that China allegedly sent us the sequence to what would become known as SARS-CoV-2. Moderna claims, rather absurdly, that they developed a working vaccine from this sequence in under 48 hours.
Stephane Bancel, the current CEO of Moderna, was formerly the CEO of bioMerieux, a French multinational corporation specializing in medical diagnostic tech, founded by one Alain Merieux. Alain Merieux was one of the individuals who was instrumental in the construction of the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s P4 lab.
The sequence given as the closest relative to SARS-CoV-2, RaTG13, is not a real virus. It is a forgery. It was made by entering a gene sequence by hand into a database, to create a cover story for the existence of SARS-CoV-2, which is very likely a gain-of-function chimera produced at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and was either leaked by accident or intentionally released. The animal reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 has never been found.
This is not a conspiracy ‘theory.’ It is an actual criminal conspiracy, in which people connected to the development of Moderna’s mRNA-1273 are directly connected to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and their gain-of-function research by very few degrees of separation, if any. The paper trail is well-established.
The lab-leak theory has been suppressed because pulling that thread leads one to inevitably conclude that there is enough circumstantial evidence to link Moderna, the NIH, the WIV, and both the vaccine and the virus’s creation together.
In a sane country, this would have immediately led to the world’s biggest RICO and mass murder case. Anthony Fauci, Peter Daszak, Ralph Baric, Shi Zhengli, and Stephane Bancel, and their accomplices, would have been indicted and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Instead, billions of our tax dollars were awarded to the perpetrators.
The FBI raided Allure Medical in Shelby Township north of Detroit for billing insurance for ‘fraudulent COVID-19 cures.’ The treatment they were using? Intravenous Vitamin C. An antioxidant. Which, as described above, is an entirely valid treatment for COVID-19-induced sepsis, and indeed, is now part of the MATH+ protocol advanced by Dr. Paul E. Marik.
The FDA banned ranitidine (Zantac) due to supposed NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine) contamination. Ranitidine is not only an H2 blocker used as antacid, but also has a powerful antioxidant effect, scavenging hydroxyl radicals. This gives it utility in treating COVID-19.
The FDA also attempted to take N-acetylcysteine, a harmless amino acid supplement and antioxidant, off the shelves, compelling Amazon to remove it from their online storefront. This leaves us with a chilling question: did the FDA knowingly suppress antioxidants useful for treating COVID-19 sepsis as part of a criminal conspiracy against the American public?
The establishment is cooperating with, and facilitating, the worst criminals in human history, and are actively suppressing non-vaccine treatments and therapies in order to compel us to inject these criminals’ products into our bodies …
Conclusions: The current pandemic was produced and perpetuated by the establishment, through the use of a virus engineered in a PLA-connected Chinese biowarfare laboratory, with the aid of American taxpayer dollars and French expertise …
Either through a leak or an intentional release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a deadly SARS strain is now endemic across the globe, after the WHO and CDC and public officials first downplayed the risks, and then intentionally incited a panic and lockdowns that jeopardized people’s health and their livelihoods.
This was then used by the utterly depraved and psychopathic aristocratic class who rule over us as an excuse to coerce people into accepting an injected poison which may be a depopulation agent, a mind control/pacification agent in the form of injectable ‘smart dust,’ or both …
They believe they can get away with this by weaponizing the social stigma of vaccine refusal. They are incorrect. Their motives are clear and obvious to anyone who has been paying attention.
These megalomaniacs have raided the pension funds of the free world. Wall Street is insolvent and has had an ongoing liquidity crisis since the end of 2019. The aim now is to exert total, full-spectrum physical, mental, and financial control over humanity before we realize just how badly we’ve been extorted by these maniacs. The pandemic and its response served multiple purposes for the Elite:
Concealing a depression brought on by the usurious plunder of our economies conducted by rentier-capitalists and absentee owners who produce absolutely nothing of any value to society whatsoever …
Destroying small businesses and eroding the middle class.
Transferring trillions of dollars of wealth from the American public and into the pockets of billionaires and special interests.
Engaging in insider trading, buying stock in biotech companies and shorting brick-and-mortar businesses and travel companies, with the aim of collapsing face-to-face commerce and tourism and replacing it with e-commerce and servitization.
Creating a casus belli for war with China, encouraging us to attack them, wasting American lives and treasure and driving us to the brink of nuclear Armageddon.
Establishing technological and biosecurity frameworks for population control and technocratic- socialist ‘smart cities’ where everyone’s movements are despotically tracked, all in anticipation of widespread automation, joblessness, and food shortages, by using the false guise of a vaccine to compel cooperation.
The Elites are trying to pull up the ladder, erase upward mobility for large segments of the population, cull political opponents and other ‘undesirables,’ and put the remainder of humanity on a tight leash, rationing our access to certain goods and services that they have deemed ‘high-impact,’ such as automobile use, tourism, meat consumption, and so on.
Naturally, they will continue to have their own luxuries, as part of a strict caste system akin to feudalism. Why are they doing this? Simple. The Elites are Neo-Malthusians and believe that we are overpopulated and that resource depletion will collapse civilization in a matter of a few short decades.
They are not necessarily incorrect in this belief. We are overpopulated, and we are consuming too many resources. However, orchestrating such a gruesome and murderous power grab in response to a looming crisis demonstrates that they have nothing but the utmost contempt for their fellow man.
To those who are participating in this disgusting farce without any understanding of what they are doing, we have one word for you. Stop. You are causing irreparable harm to your country and to your fellow citizens.
To those who may be reading this warning and have full knowledge and understanding of what they are doing and how it will unjustly harm millions of innocent people, we have a few more words. Damn you to hell. You will not destroy America and the Free World, and you will not have your New World Order. We will make certain of that.”
Dr. Mercola is the founder of the world’s most visited natural health web site, Mercola.com, a NY Times best-selling author, and a thought leader in the field of alternative and integrative health. Read his full biography on his website.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of GreenMedInfo or its staff.
Editor’s Note: Let’s say you own a company. You’re public, meaning you issue stock for sale. Suddenly, the fake pandemic hits. The governor of the state issues restrictions, including lockdowns. You have to close your doors. You’re going to take a staggering financial hit. Your first reaction? Anger. Seething anger. You’re determined to fight back. You call your lawyer to work out a plan. “Wait a minute,” he says. “I have some bad news. Do you know who is now the majority shareholder of your company? Bill Gates. And he has voting rights. If you object to the lockdowns, he’ll roast you alive. You’ll be out on your ass.”
In every case, these people completely and utterly support conventional medical reality. They are unshakable. A man like Fauci says jump and they jump. To do otherwise would be unthinkable.
As you read on, you’ll see why this is important…
Airlines, hotel chains—you name it, they all folded when the lockdowns were imposed. They closed up shop, they took a knee, they opted for bailouts. Why?
The CEOs of these corporations are supposed to be hard chargers and ruthless operators. Why didn’t they rebel?
I could cite several reasons. Here I want to focus on a little-known and staggering story.
Imagine an employee of a company is motivated to speak out against the lockdowns and go public. Then he thinks about the owner of the company. That owner happens to sit on the board of a large hospital.
Uh oh. That owner is SOLIDLY WIRED into official medical reality. He isn’t going to appreciate a naysayer who says the lockdowns are a ridiculous and destructive overreach. Better to stay quiet. Better to fit in and go along.
Well, it so happens that three of the most powerful corporate bosses in America DO have deep connections to major hospitals, and these three men run corporations that OWN CORPORATE AMERICA.
What???
The three men are Larry Fink, Joseph Hooley, and Mortimer Buckley.
Buckley is the CEO of the Vanguard Group. Hooley is the CEO of State Street. Fink is the CEO of BlackRock.
These three companies are titanic investment funds. Financial services companies.
Buckley is a board member of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. From 2011 to 2017, he was chairman of the hospital’s board of trustees.
Hooley serves on the president’s council of Massachusetts General Hospital.
Fink is the co-chair of the NYU Langone Medical Center board of trustees.
Let’s look at their investment funds: State Street, BlackRock, and Vanguard—known as The Big Three. The reference is an article at theconversation.com, “These three firms own corporate America,” 5/19/17, by Jan Fichtner, Eelke Heemskerk, and Javier Garcia-Bernardo.
“Together, BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street have nearly US$11 trillion in assets under management.”
“We found that the Big Three, taken together, have become the largest shareholder in 40% of all publicly listed firms in the United States.”
“In 2015, these 1,600 American firms [the 40%] had combined revenues of about US$9.1 trillion, a market capitalisation of more than US$17 trillion, and employed more than 23.5 million people.”
“In the S&P 500 – the benchmark index of America’s largest corporations – the situation is even more extreme. Together, the Big Three are the largest single shareholder in almost 90% of S&P 500 firms, including Apple, Microsoft, ExxonMobil, General Electric and Coca-Cola.”
“What is undeniable is that the Big Three do exert the voting rights attached to these shares. Therefore, they have to be perceived as de facto owners by corporate executives.” (emphasis mine)
“Whether or not they sought to, the Big Three have accumulated extraordinary shareholder power, and they continue to do so…In many respects, the index fund boom is turning BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street into something resembling low-cost public utilities with a quasi-monopolistic position.”
If the CEO of a corporation whose main shareholder is The Big Three thinks about rebelling against the official COVID medical consensus…
And he knows that The Big Three bosses are heavily wired into the US medical complex…
That CEO has a HUGE reason to forget about being an old-time hard charger.
He has a reason to swallow his anger when he’s told to lock down and shut down.
He has a reason to knuckle under and play the game.
He has a reason to surrender to a story about a virus and Fauci and Bill Gates.
He has a reason to stand down and stand aside and watch economic devastation sweep over the land.
HIS CORPORATION IS OWNED BY THE BIG THREE, AND THE OWNERS OF THE BIG THREE ARE LOYAL MEMBERS OF THE MEDICAL COMPLEX…THE COMPLEX THAT FORMS THE CURRENT POLICE STATE THAT HAS SUBDUED THE WORLD, UNDER THE FALSE BANNER OF “SAVING HUMANITY FROM THE VIRUS.”
It’s that stark.
I keep telling you we’re now living in a medical civilization.
From the financial side of things, you’ve just read how that is so.
The three men who own corporate America are also medical denizens.
After watching the film “THRIVE II: This Is What It Takes” twice and taking copious notes throughout, Happy and I have concluded that this is one of the most profound and important documentaries for ushering in a truly sustainable future for life on Earth.
Besides claiming individual sovereignty as the context for taking back ones power from external authority, an enlightened and technologically advanced civilization based on connected resonance with the unified field is not only possible, but absolutely essential for continuing the diversity and health of all life on Earth.
Kudos to Foster and Kimberly Gamble for having the courage and foresight to bring these discoveries to light and sharing them with the rest of us. This film is a must watch for every conscious human being.
U.S. President Donald Trump breaks a 250-year long stranglehold of the Royal Political Elite and their central banks. Since the 1760s and the rise of the Rothschild banking empire, the world has been held hostage by the global banking elite families, led by the Rothschilds – creating the largest organised crime syndicate on Earth – larger than all other crime syndicates combined – more brutal, more bloodthirsty and yet completely visible to all. They have abducted, tortured, bribed, extorted and murdered all their opponents to stay in control. They launched most of the wars in history, invaded countries and removed any threat with brutal force over and over again.
They have more blood on their hands than all other crime syndicates combined. Many honest leaders, presidents and prime ministers have tried to free their countries from the banksters’ stranglehold over this period, but so far, in over 250 years, no one has succeeded. Until NOW President Donald J Trump has quietly taken over the Federal Reserve Bank of the USA, in the last 2 weeks of March 2020 – without any fanfare or massive media exposure.
In a cunning move, Trump is now in complete control of the largest Reserve Bank on Earth – without any violence or bloodshed – by simply absorbing the FED into the Treasury Department. It may take some time for this to sink in – But this is a pivotal moment in more that 250 years – will other leaders follow the USA president, or are they too fearful? At least the USA will not invade your country, as they have done before – to topple the “rogue” leadership in order to retain control of the central bank – because the USA is now leading this historic break-away moment.
If only 10 countries of the world do this – take control of their central banks – and in essence rename them the “Peoples Banks” – we will rapidly break the Rothschild stranglehold over humanity and usher in a new era of freedom from economic slavery – prosperity and abundance for all.
Johnny Liberty, Editor’s Note: This is exactly why we stayed out of the markets due to the possibility of extreme fluctuation due to events beyond our control (e.g., coronavirus). This market adjustment was long overdue and the Power Structure took advantage of the “panic” in partnership with Big Media to remove trillions of dollars of value.
By Dave Merrill and Esha Dey
It is hard to follow the stomach–turning plunge across financial markets without hearing a reference to the Dow.
Professional money managers, as well as casual investors, often look at the Dow—or the Dow Jones Industrial Average—to get a 30-thousand feet view of the markets. Referred to as simply the Dow, it is a price–weighted average of 30 blue–chip U.S. stocks that are generally the leaders in their industry.
Amid the current carnage, observing the index can help in gauging the damage the coronavirus is inflicting on portfolios, and whether the downturn is a short-turn consequence of disrupted supply chains and skittish consumer demand or a broader symptom of a bull market that has run its course.
To better understand the differing aspects of the economy and the signals they are flashing, we have grouped the 30 Dow stocks into nine broad economic sectors—health care, energy, consumer staples, communication services, information technology, consumer discretionary, financials, industrials and basic materials. Here is an overview of the U.S. stock market through the lens of the Dow.
Components of a 8,300-Point Drop
Critics of the Dow say that it inaccurately portrays the general market as stocks with a higher price, such as Apple and Boeing, are over represented. Boeing is a relevant example as its current decline does not only reflect troubles related to the coronavirus outbreak, but also its ongoing crisis that was triggered by two fatal crashes of its 737 Max jet within a span of five months early last year. However, it is now the most significant contributor to the Dow’s drop since its peak on Feb. 12.
Percentage Drop by Industry Sectors, Best to Worst Performing
As shown in the chart above, certain stocks, such as Walmart, have been fairly resilient, with consumer staples as a group faring better than the rest overall. On average, stocks in four other sectors, health care, communications services, information technology and consumer discretionary are performing better than the overall drop of 28% in the Dow.
Consumer Staples
-7.7%
These consumer products are those that remain in family budgets regardless of financial problems in the larger economy, and are expectedly doing relatively better than the rest of the index. Walmart’s stock is seen as a “place to hide” amid the looming threat of a recession, while grocery sales overall are surging as consumers stock up and get ready to wait out the pandemic.
Health Care
-13.6%
Shares of pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug developers have done well amid the widespread panic, as several companies unveiled plans to combat Covid-19. At the same time, investors soured on the nation’s hospitals, which already saddled with debt, may feel an increased pressure as elective surgeries are delayed. Also, if the economy slides into a recession, it might mean the hospitals would get more patients that are covered by Medicare and Medicaid, which are less profitable, as well as see an increase in unpaid bills.
Communication Services
-20.4%
While the Dow includes just two companies from this group—Walt Disney and Verizon—overall, the sector’s stocks have done better than the broader market given a mixed exposure to the virus spread. The crisis has led to a drastic drop in ticket sales at movie theaters, yet, another part of the sector—like wireless service provider Verizon—remains largely insulated from any coronavirus impact, though equipment sales could see some declines due to supply constraints and store closings.
Information Technology
-25.5%
Technology companies—be it IBM, Apple or Microsoft—are being seen as reasonably defensive as patient investors look ahead to key tailwinds in 5G technologies, cloud computing products and artificial intelligence, even though strained global supply chains may have put a dent in near-term optimism.
Consumer Discretionary
-30.8%
Discretionary spends, such as buying new shoes, clothes, furnitures or cars, or even eating out, are expected to go down, reflected in the sharp decline seen in the stocks of Nike and McDonald’s. Restaurant stocks have continued to slide, as more companies shifted to takeout only, either by choice or state/city mandate, while cruise-line operators’ stocks are in a freefall.
Financials
-32.4%
Financial companies have been among the hardest hit as the virus threatened to tip the economy into a recession, with the KBW index of top U.S. banks falling nearly 40% since mid-February when the broader virus-fueled selloff began. With the Federal Reserve slashing its benchmark rate to near zero over the weekend, banks’ profits are expected to feel the squeeze, along with rising concern that borrowers may not be able to pay back loans in a faltering economy.
Industrials
-37.6%
With the virus outbreak forcing social distancing, and keeping people from buying cars or taking flights, the impact is rippling through the manufacturing industry and its supply chain. Factories and plants across the globe are being forced to shut down. Boeing, which was already struggling to sort out its troubles related to the 737 Max aircraft that was grounded last year after two fatal crashes, is now facing a double whammy as the airline industry sees an unprecedented drop in demand. That may, in turn, force airlines to defer their aircraft orders, or even cancel some if the situation does not improve in a few more months. The overall investor nervousness is also reflected in the shares of Caterpillar and United Technologies, two stocks that can be seen as bellwethers of the global industrial economy.
Energy
-38.4%
Energy stocks are taking a beating as the sector faces demand headwinds from coronavirus, while the ongoing price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia isn’t helping anyone’s cause. Energy is the worst-performing group in the S&P 500 this year, down 54%. Meanwhile, U.S. shale drillers are responding by slashing their capital budgets and dividends in a bid to weather the downturn.
Materials
-46.1%
The S&P 500 Materials index has lost about 28% since the rout started on Feb. 21. The worst hit sectors were chemical, fertilizer and industrial metals, all of which depend on the global economy for the demand of their products. The pullback led to fertilizer maker Mosaic Co. and plastic producer LyondellBasell Industries N.V. to lose about 50% of their stock value since the sell-off began. Meanwhile, gold miner Newmont Corp. was the least affected stock within the materials, as gold prices held up relatively well amid global panic selling.
Recoveries from Collapse
Since the 1980s, the Dow has recorded three other losses of more than 25% from previous highs. Historically, recoveries from these lows have taken many months.
Editor’s Note: As a sovereignty educator for over twenty years I taught millions of people about the Federal Reserve, how it was created, the nature of money, banking, etc., and how this forever altered our constitutional Republic. That anybody in the Senate, except Former Congressmen Ron Paul and President Trump, is talking about Federal Reserve independence is good news for the Republic.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is calling for the Senate Banking Committee to probe the Federal Reserve’s independence after a former agency official suggested the upcoming presidential election “falls within the Fed’s purview” as it considers whether to cut interest rates.
Tillis, who is up for reelection next fall in swing state North Carolina, is siding with President Donald Trump in his ongoing feud with Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell. Bill Dudley, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, wrote in a Bloomberg op-ed that the Fed should consider refusing to offer new economic stimuli because doing so could encourage Trump to plunge further into a trade war with China and would “reassert the Fed’s independence by distancing it from the administration’s policies.”
Tillis said he plans to ask the Banking Committee’s chairman, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), about convening a hearing “regarding Fed independence and the danger of this institution taking unprecedented and inappropriate steps to meddle in the presidential election.”
“I am very disappointed that former Fed monetary Vice Chairman Bill Dudley is lobbying the Fed to use its authority as a political weapon against President Trump,” Tillis said in a statement. “The President is standing up for America against China after 30 years of our country and our workers being ripped off and there is now an effort to get the Fed to try to sabotage the President’s efforts.”
Senate Republicans generally stay out of Federal Reserve politics, but Tillis is aligning himself closely with Trump as he faces a primary challenge and a potentially difficult general election. The first-term senator previously supported a bill protecting special counsels, including Robert Mueller, and initially opposed Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the southern border. He later supported it and has generally not deviated from Trump since.
The president has berated Powell, whom he appointed, for declining to further slash interest rates.
“The only problem we have is Jay Powell and the Fed,” Trump tweeted last week. “He’s like a golfer who can’t putt, has no touch. Big U.S. growth if he does the right thing, BIG CUT — but don’t count on him! So far he has called it wrong, and only let us down.”
The repeated attacks motivated Dudley to wade into the dispute and implore Powell to consider standing firm. He argued that the Federal Reserve’s desire to stay out of politics was admirable “but Trump’s ongoing attacks on Powell and on the institution have made that untenable.”
“Central bank officials face a choice: enable the Trump administration to continue down a disastrous path of trade war escalation, or send a clear signal that if the administration does so, the president, not the Fed, will bear the risks — including the risk of losing the next election,” Dudleywrote. “Trump’s reelection arguably presents a threat to the U.S. and global economy, to the Fed’s independence and its ability to achieve its employment and inflation objectives.”
On 19 April 2016, China was rolling out its new gold-backed yuan. Russia’s ruble has been fully supported by gold for the last couple of years. Nobody in the western media talks about it. Why would they? – A western reader may start wondering why he is constantly stressed by a US dollar based fiat monetary systems that is manipulated at will by a small elite of financial oligarchs for their benefit and to the detriment of the common people.
In a recent Russia Insider article, Sergey Glaziev, one of Russia’s top economists and advisor to President Putin said about Russia’s currency, “The ruble Is the most gold-backed currency in the world”. He went on explaining that the amount of rubles circulating is covered by about twice the amount of gold in Russia’s Treasury.
In addition to a financial alliance, Russia and China also have developed in the past couple of years their own money transfer system, the China International Payment System, or the CIPS network which replaces the western transfer system, SWIFT, for Russian-Chinese internal trading. SWIFT, stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a network operating in 215 countries and territories and used by over 10,000 financial institutions.
Up until recently almost every international monetary transaction had to use SWIFT, a private institution, based in Belgium. ‘Private’ like in the US Federal Reserve Bank (FED), Wall Street banks and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS); all are involved in international monetary transfers and heavily influenced by the Rothschild family. No wonder that the ‘independent’ SWIFT plays along with Washington’s sanctions, for example, cutting off Iran from the international transfer system. Similarly, Washington used its arm-twisting with SWIFT to help Paul Singer’s New York Vulture Fund to extort more than 4 billion dollars from Argentina, by withholding Argentina’s regular debt payments as was agreed with 93% of all creditors. Eventually Argentina found other ways of making its payments, not to fall into disrepute and insolvency.
All of this changed for Argentina, when Mauricio Macri, the new neoliberal President put in place by Washington, appeared on the scene last December. He reopened the negotiations and is ready to pay a sizable junk of this illegal debt, despite a UN decision that a country that reaches a settlement agreement with the majority of the creditors is not to be pressured by non-conforming creditors. In the case of Argentina, the vulture lord bought the country’s default debt for a pittance and now that the nation’s economy had recovered he wants to make a fortune on the back of the population. This is how our western fraudulent monetary system functions.
China’s economy has surpassed that of the United States and this new eastern alliance is considered an existential threat to the fake western economy. CIPS, already used for trading and monetary exchange within China and Russia, is also applied by the remaining BRICS, Brazil, India and South Africa; and by the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), plus India, Pakistan and Iran, as well as the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan). It is said that CIPS is ready to be launched worldwide as early as September 2016. It would be a formidable alternative to the western dollar based monetary Ponzi scheme.
The new eastern monetary sovereignty is one of the major reasons why Washington tries so hard to destroy the BRICS, mainly China and Russia – and lately with a special effort of false accusations also Brazil through a Latin America type Color Revolution.
In addition, the Yuan late last year was accepted by the IMF in its SDR basket as the fifth reserve currency, the other four being the US dollar, the British pound, the euro and the Japanese yen. The SDR, or Special Drawing Right, functions like a virtual currency. It is made up of the weighted average of the five currencies and can be lent to countries at their request, as a way of reducing exchange risks. Being part of the SDR, the yuan has become an official reserve currency. In fact, in Asia the yuan is already heavily used in many countries’ treasuries, as an alternative to the ever more volatile US dollar.
It is no secret, the western dollar-led fiat monetary system is on its last leg – as eventually any Ponzi scheme will be. What does ‘fiat’ mean? It is money created out of thin air. It has no backing whatsoever; not gold, not even the economic output generated by the country or countries issuing the money, i.e. the United States of America and Europe. It is simply declared “legal tender’’ by Government decree.
No pyramid scheme is sustainable in the long run and eventually will collapse. It was invented and is used by a small invisible upper crest of elite making insane amounts of profit on the back of the 99% of us. Since these elitists are in control of the media with their lie propaganda, as well as the warmongering killing machine, US armed forces, NATO, combined with the international security and spy apparatus, CIA, MI6, Mossad, DGSE, the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and more, we are powerless – but powerless only as long as we ignore what’s really going on behind the curtain.
Our western monetary system is based on debt has all the hallmarks of a failing global monster octopus. The US banking system was deregulated in the 1990’s by President Clinton. The European vassals followed suit in the early 2000’s. About 97% of all the money in circulation in the western world is ‘made’ by private banks by a mouse click in the form of ‘loans’ or debt. Every loan a private bank hands out is a liability on that bank’s books; a liability that bears interest, the key generator of the banks’ profits. Profit from thin air! No work, no production, no real added value to the economy.
If and when the banks within this web of debt begin recalling their outstanding liabilities, they may set a non-stoppable avalanche in motion – leading to a chaotic end of the system. This end-run may have just begun. We have seen a gradual build-up since the end of WWII with the armament of the Cold War farce, and a high point with the manufactured sub-prime crisis of 2007 / 2008 / 2009, prompting an artificial and endless global economic crisis which may come crashing down in 2016 / 2017.
The damage may be humongous, leaving behind chaos, poverty, famine, misery – death. With the invisible ruling elite having cashed in, remaining on top and being liable to start again from scratch. – If we let them. It always boils down to the same: An uninformed people can be manipulated at will and is left in awe when hit by unexpected events, like acts of terror by bombs or banks.
Let us be crystal clear – we are all uninformed as long as we listen to and believe in the mainstream media – which are controlled by six Anglo-Zionist media giants, feeding the western public with 90% of the information, the so-called ‘news’ that we consume so eagerly every day; the barrage of lies that repeat themselves in every western country every hour on the hour – and, thus, become the truth. Period.
We must get out of our comfortable armchairs, listen to that innermost spark in the back of our minds, telling us against all avalanches of lies that there is something wrong, that we are being fed deception. We have to dig for the truth. And it is there – on internet, on alternative media, like Global Research, Information Clearing House, VNN, The Saker, NEO, Russia Today, Sputnik News, PressTV, TeleSUR – and many more credible sources of truth-seekers.
Back to the impending collapse. – The ground rules for our pyramid monetary scheme have been laid in 1913 by the creation of the FED. Again, the FED is an entirely private, Rothschild dominated banking institution that serves as the US Central Bank. It is the omnipotent dollar making machine. It was fraudulently and secretly conceived in 1910 on Jekyll Island, Georgia, and described by Jekyll Island history (http://www.jekyllislandhistory.com/federalreserve.shtml ) as the “duck hunt” which
“included Senator Nelson Aldrich, his personal secretary Arthur Shelton, former Harvard University professor of economics Dr. A. Piatt Andrew, J.P. Morgan & Co. partner Henry P. Davison, National City Bank president Frank A. Vanderlip and Kuhn, Loeb, and Co. partner Paul M. Warburg. From the start the group proceeded covertly. They began by shunning the use of their last names and met quietly at Aldrich’s private railway car in New Jersey.”
The concoction of these secretive “duck hunters” became in 1913 the privately owned Rothschild dominated Federal Reserve System, the US central bank by deceit.
After signing the FED act into existence, President Woodrow Wilson declared,
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.”
The Anglo-Saxon system had a central bank in England since way back in 1694. It was then already controlled by the Rothschilds, as was the entire banking system. Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild once declared:
“I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man that controls Britain’s money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply.”
The Rothschild family’s fortune cannot be properly estimated, but it must be in the trillions. What Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild may have said some 300 years ago, still holds true to this day.
No wonder, breaking loose of this sham monetary scheme is number one priority of most countries that treasure sovereignty, autonomy and freedom, though they do not dare say so openly, lest the empire lashes out at them punishing them with the very financial terror they want to escape from. And lashing out at the unaligned world the empire does, like a dying beast, attempting to pull with it much of the living world into its own shoveled grave.
Is it therefore coincidence or a rather a purposefully planned convergence of several events as a last ditch effort first to ravage then to salvage as much as possible before the collapse?
On 10 April, Zero Hedge reports “Austria Just Announced A 54% Haircut of Senior Creditors in First “Bail In” Under New European Rules”. The Austrian “bad bank”, the failed Hypo Alpe Adria, that became Heta Asset Resolution AG after the government’s nationalization, found a US$ 8.5 billion hole in its balance sheet, enough to trigger the new European ‘bail-in’ rule. Is it coincidence that also in Austria a major bank failure triggered the Great Depression also on a 10th of April – in 1931? – This is a first in Europe. Be prepared for others to follow, as over-extension of European banks is estimated in excess of a trillion dollars.
On 15 April, the New York Times reported that – Five of Wall Street’s eight largest banks are in defiance of the US banking regulator. The FED and FDIC said that “JP Morgan, Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, State Street and Bank of New York, all lacked ‘credible‘ plans to enter bankruptcy in the event of a financial crisis.” These banks have until October 2016 to comply. Under the new rules a tax-payer bail-out would be unlikely. Hence ‘bail-ins’ could affect millions of depositors and shareholders, their funds being stolen in order to self-rescue the too-big-to-fail banks. After all, non-compliance with the regulator’s requests, or insolvency, can easily be manufactured as a legal base for stealing common people’s savings. No worries, the TBTF banks will not go away, but your savings may.
The CIA released Panama Papers (for who still doubts about the CIA involvement in the release of the Panama Papers,
aimed in a most rudimentary way at defaming the ‘usual suspects’, Presidents Putin and Assad, as well as Iran, Venezuela, Brazil, of course – and others. Strangely no notable EU or US citizens or corporations were on the list. Would anybody seriously believe that Mr. Putin, a former KGB agent, would be so ignorant as to putting his fortune (even if he had any to hide) into Panama, the epitome of a US puppet state, where you can’t flush a toilet without Washington knowing it?
Some token neocons appear in the published papers, like Argentina’s new ‘Washington appointed’ President Mauricio Macri, who is running amok ruining his country. Within less than four months he has rolled Argentina’s economy back by ten years, raising poverty from below 10% in November 2015 to 34% by the end March 2016. The Empire needs him to keep gradually turning Argentina into chaos, however not too quickly, lest he may be ‘deposed’ and replaced by a US adversary – that would not at all be appreciated in Washington. For the types of Macri that made it on the list, the Panama Papers are a warning signal to keep them in-check.
The publication of the Panama Papers may also be an incentive for US citizens and corporations to bring home trillions of undeclared dollar holdings stacked away in overseas tax havens into homeland financial shelters like those in Delaware, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nevada, thereby helping strengthen the gradually decaying dollar.
Simultaneously, some European countries and Japan introduced negative interest rates, so as to increase monetary liquidity, thereby hoping stimulating an ever stagnant economy. That’s the pretext. In reality however, negative interests are but a precursor to a wholly bank controlled financial system. Normally ‘bail-ins’ and negative interest would cause a run on the banks. This has not happened yet.
In Switzerland, one of the first countries to introduce negative interests, the Swiss National Bank reported that the demand of the 1,000 franc notes – one of the world’s highest value denominations (apparently to be maintained despite ECB Draghi’s call for elimination of high denomination bank notes) – increased by 17% (by CHF 4.7 billion – US$ 4.85 billion) in December 2014, the month following the introduction of negative interests. May it be an indication that the Swiss have quietly started hoarding big-denomination cash?
Future hoarding and runs on the banks will be countered by the introduction of a cashless society, i.e. all monetary transactions will gradually become electronic. The process has already begun. In Sweden and other parts of Europe, as well as Japan, cashless supermarkets and department stores claim big success, especially with the young consumers, who happily play along paying electronic cashiers by swiping their cell phones in front of an electronic eye.
The Young and Innocent – if they only knew that the banking oligarchs want to control their money and enslave them with a ‘fun gadget’, they may decide to resist. But well know those who control the system that the young are the drivers of the future. We, the old resistance will eventually die out. Problem solved. – But we are not dead yet. The Times are A-Changing… (Bob Dylan, 1964).
The nefarious trio – ‘bail-ins’, negative interests, and a cash free society – will make living in the industrialized ‘first world’ a sheer nuisance, a stressful dance on toes, as the emperor’s proverbial Damocles Sword hangs intimidatingly above us.
Washington may have one last joker up its sleeve – reintroducing the ‘gold standard’, the very gold standard that Nixon abandoned in 1971. The US have also been accumulating huge amounts of gold over the past 25 years. A new US dollar gold standard would most likely be set at a ratio that would wipe out all US debt, including future ‘unmet obligations’ (GAO – General Accounting Office) of about US$ 125 trillion. It would attempt to keep the western industrialized world in Washington’s orbit, but might lose most of the developing world owning natural resources coveted by the west. These countries oppressed and colonized for centuries are likely to gravitate to the new China-Russia alliance – leaving the outsourced and outwitted west alone without workforce – and with a massive but outdated military power.
To counter the build-up of this criminal last ditch sham by the western Zionist banking czars, China and Russia have been preparing over the last few years an independent financial system, delinked from the US dollar and which now incorporates the BRICS, the SCO nations, as well as the Eurasian Economic Union. This association of countries and economies account for about half the world’s population and at least one third of the globe’s economic output; a fact totally ignored by the mainstream media, for obvious reasons. The Machiavellian sinking ship does not want its passengers to jump to safety.
The 19 April 2016, announcement by China of its gold-backed yuan, no longer convertible into dollars, may just trigger an economic shift into the ‘eastern camp’. Many countries are wary and tired of western exploitation, enslavement, threats of sanctions, oppression and an ever present danger of invasion by the killing machine. The decoupling of the dollar by a third of the world economy may indeed open new horizons, creating new alliances, new hope for a more equal and just world.
Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a former World Bank staff and worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He writes regularly for Global Research, ICH, RT, Sputnik, PressTV, CounterPunch, TeleSur, The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance.
Johnny Liberty, Editor’s Note: This is exactly why we stayed out of the markets due to the possibility of extreme fluctuation due to events beyond our control (e.g., coronavirus). This market adjustment was long overdue and the Power Structure took advantage of the “panic” in partnership with Big Media to remove trillions of dollars of value.
In a recent Russia Insider article, Sergey Glaziev, one of Russia’s top economists and advisor to President Putin said about Russia’s currency, “The ruble Is the most gold-backed currency in the world”. He went on explaining that the amount of rubles circulating is covered by about twice the amount of gold in Russia’s Treasury.
In addition, the Yuan late last year was accepted by the IMF in its SDR basket as the fifth reserve currency, the other four being the US dollar, the British pound, the euro and the Japanese yen. The SDR, or Special Drawing Right, functions like a virtual currency. It is made up of the weighted average of the five currencies and can be lent to countries at their request, as a way of reducing exchange risks. Being part of the SDR, the yuan has become an official reserve currency. In fact, in Asia the yuan is already heavily used in many countries’ treasuries, as an alternative to the ever more volatile US dollar.
Liberty International News 