Will George Soros Panic the Market? (attack on Bush)

Insight Magazine ^ | Jan. 23, 2004 | Kenneth R. Timmerman

[FairOpinion]

The idea was floated first by former Treasury secretary Robert Rubin, now the chairman of Citigroup. Unless Congress scales back the Bush tax cuts, he argues in a new study, U.S. government budget deficits could lead to a crisis of confidence in the dollar and the stock market and potentially staggering losses for investors.

To conservative economist Bruce Bartlett, Rubin was "laying the groundwork for a political assault on President George W. Bush over his budget policies, hope[ing] to give the Democratic presidential candidate an issue to run on that could propel him into the White House."

But Wall Street sources say Rubin may have had other designs as well. A consummate insider who talked the market up when he was working for Bill Clinton, Rubin today could be trying to talk the market down. "This market is thin enough that if you made a big move all of a sudden you could move it," Bartlett tells Insight. "At some point, something could happen on its own, and then someone like George Soros could turn a minor blip into something else."

The Hungarian-born Soros is one of the world's richest men, with a fortune estimated at $7 billion earned in part from brazen assaults on world currency markets. He has gained political notoriety for providing $18 million to support a change in the U.S. campaign-finance laws and then using that change in recent months to offer more than $15 million to radical organizations dedicated to defeating Bush this November [see "Soros Resolves to Bring Bush Down," Dec. 9-22, 2003]. Asked recently by the Washington Post whether he would trade his $7 billion fortune to unseat Bush, Soros thought hard. "If someone guaranteed it," he said finally.

Investment adviser and author Don Luskin (www.poorandstupid.com) thinks investors should watch Soros carefully but calmly. "At least two of three conditions must be met for a speculative attack on the market to succeed," he tells Insight. "First and foremost, the speculators have to be right." When Soros sought to break the British pound by massive currency trades, he played into a market that knew the existing exchange rates were unsustainable. "So he speculated against the Bank of England, not against the whole damn world," Luskin says. "You can influence the market by the very act of betting."

Ideally, Luskin says, there should be technical market conditions that force other players "to take action triggered by what you did, independent of wanting to help you." Such was the case during the Oct. 19, 1987, stock-market crash, when computer-driven selling accelerated as the market went down, driving prices down even further. By the end of the day, prices had plunged by 20 percent. Since then, the New York Stock Exchange has installed "circuit breakers" that cut off trading to prevent panic selling.

"Soros believes that if he can force the market down, he will have an effect in the real world," Luskin says. "If it happens on Oct. 31, people might go into the voting booth with fear in their hearts."

Insight put two questions to Luskin and to private investment adviser Jim Klima of Klima and Associates in Ellicott City, Md. Should Soros decide to make a power play on the eve of the November 2004 elections, how would he do it? And what is the likelihood he would do so?

Luskin believes Soros could choose to sell stock index-future contracts massively. If Soros succeeded in driving the market down and keeping it down for several days or more, then his early trades would make a profit. "With this strategy you only lose at the bottom," Luskin says. But when the market turns, Soros could lose big, just as he did during the October 1987 crash.

Klima thinks Soros would be more inclined to stick with what he knows best, which is the currency market. "By playing the futures market, he could win whether the dollar slides further or whether it recovers," Klima explains. But Soros could have the most devastating impact on the U.S. economy by betting the dollar higher, not lower. "A dramatic rise in the price of the dollar would dramatically hurt U.S. exports," Klima says.

These advisers say concerned investors should be watching for increased market volatility, starting in the futures pits, and for futures trading at a discount.

But for all his Bush-bashing bluster, Soros will be thinking long and hard before throwing real money at this market. "George Soros has gotten his tail burned badly in the U.S. market when he's been a big seller," Luskin says. "If he's wrong, it could cost him several billion dollars."

But if he's right, and Howard Dean gets elected president in a panic, his doomsday trading could become a self-fulfilling prophecy as U.S. financial markets collapse. And that would leave Soros even richer than he is today. "In the end, it could be a pure financial play, not a political play," Luskin says.Place your bets.

[FairOpinion]

Article found by "Cindy".

I think this is very important so everyone can see that the Democrats are willing to push the US economy into a crisis, including causing Americans to lose billions of dollars, just to achieve their political ambitions.

[FairOpinion]

Cindy, I posted this article, that you found and posted in that long thread.

I think it's an important article that everyone needs to see and read.

I gave you credit for finding it in my 1st post.

It's an excellent find.

The Dems are cheerfully willing to cause the collapse of the US market, economy, causing millions of Americans to lose billions of dollars, just to get one of them elected.

They are worst enemies of the country and the American people, than Al Qaeda.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Yep, if I'm panicked by the market, the first thing I'd do is vote in Howard Dean...riiiiight....

[FairOpinion]

And don't kid yourself that Soros wouldn't do that. He is just the guy who is willing to destroy everything for his own aims, which in this case is to make sure Bush isn't re-elected.

"Soros is best known as the man who broke the Bank of England. His bear-raid on the British pound in 1992 precipitated the collapse of the European monetary system, and resulted in the transfer of billions of pounds from Her Majesty's Treasury to Soros' coffers. He's said to have done it again in the Asian currency crises of 1996 and 1998. "

http://www.thestreet.com/comment/openbook/1041598.html

[FairOpinion]

Especially note these parts of the article:

"Soros believes that if he can force the market down, he will have an effect in the real world," Luskin says. "If it happens on Oct. 31, people might go into the voting booth with fear in their hearts."

But if he's right, and Howard Dean gets elected president in a panic, his doomsday trading could become a self-fulfilling prophecy as U.S. financial markets collapse. And that would leave Soros even richer than he is today. "In the end, it could be a pure financial play, not a political play," Luskin says.Place your bets.

[endthematrix]

"If Soros succeeded in driving the market down and keeping it down for several days or more, then his early trades would make a profit..."

To the tune of 100 million cash strapped Americans screaming for a chance to lynch this megalomaniac and financier of ruin.

[Cindy]

I agree that anti-Americans are not just found just in the ME. That is why I created a simple page that asks the question, "ARE THEY FOR US OR AGAINST US?"

~~~ "ARE THEY FOR US OR AGAINST US?" (Updated Daily - Click Here.)

LINKS OF INTEREST (UPDATED DAILY.) (CLICK HERE) ~~~

[FairOpinion]

Remember, that the Dems would be yelling "it's all Bush's fault" and the stupid sheep may listen.

The hope is that Soros won't succeed in doing it, because the market has just too much upside momentum.

In the other article I posted, where they talk about him causing the collapse of the British pound also mentions that when he sold S&P 500 futures after the Oct 1987 crash he lost money, sold at the low, his selling didn't make th the market go down any further. But of course the question is how much of his resources is he willing to put up and gamble on this.

I would love to see him try and fail miserable, and lose billions. It would serve him right.

[Just mythoughts]

This is exactly what came to my mind when Hillary used the words "Hoover economy" last year.

Terrorism seems to have many trails.

[FairOpinion]

But most people aren't sophisticated enough to realize that Soros caused, they will believe the Dems, who will be yelling on TV every 30 seconds: "Bush is destroying the economy and the market, it's all his fault".

Remember, people get very impressionable in the last days prior to an election. That's why the Dems SOP is to come up with some nasty accusations right at that time. Sometimes it doesn't work, but many times it does.

I just hope that by that time the market will have gone up even more, and people won't panic, or maybe Soros won't even be able to make it go down at all.

But the fact that he may try, shows you how despicable he and the Democrats are. They are the REAL enemies of the American people.

[Blue_Ridge_Mtn_Geek]

People like Soros are not Democrats or Republicans, though they frequently buy (or rent) both varieties of politicians as the occassion warrants. Think "Ken Lay", whose Enron lobbyists were free with their cash to pols in both parties.

They do not have the power to move markets, but they can and frequently do profit by nudging markets in the direction they are already moving by taking substantial positions and triggering other market participants to act in self-protective ways that increase market volume and volatility. If they are wrong about the direction of the market, their attempts at nudging generally result in their getting their heads handed to them.

So, what do you think, W's spending like a drunken sailor WON'T come home to roost? Or just that it won't happen before he gets re-elected? If he is not immediately held responsible for his profligacy, it will only be because his rivals are uniformly more profligate (and objectionable in other ways). If he is not re-elected, it will only be marginally due to Soros or any other individual, and mainly due to missteps by W.

[Monty22]

In California, they dems were caught on tape saying they wanted an economic crisis to hurt the Repubs. Do we really need anymore evidence?

[11B3]

Here's one for your "With us or against us" thread:

The Will To Win

[Just mythoughts]

Congress is responsible for the spending!

[FairOpinion]

"People like Soros are not Democrats or Republicans,"

===

You are wrong on this one. Soros declared war on Bush, literally, and has been giving the Dems huge amounts of money.

"On Monday, he (Soros) and a partner committed up to $5 million to MoveOn.org, a liberal activist group, bringing to $15.5 million the total of his personal contributions to oust Bush.

Overnight, Soros, 74, has become the major financial player of the left. He has elicited cries of foul play from the right. And with a tight nod, he pledged: "If necessary, I would give more money."

"America, under Bush, is a danger to the world," Soros said. Then he smiled: "And I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A24179-2003Nov10?language=printer

[FairOpinion]

And we also have those memos that they want to use 9-11 to attack Bush and promote their political ambitions. But those things dont' get very much coverage in the media.

[Mo1]

The idea was floated first by former Treasury secretary Robert Rubin, now the chairman of Citigroup

HEY BOBBY ... Made any phone calls to Enron lately????

[11B3]

The debt - along with every other aspect of an economy based upon fiat money - is run by the group of international bankers that we mistakenly call the Federal Reserve. They are a private corporation, with their own agenda. If they like the president, they will print more money and slip it into the economy. If they don't, they'll tighten the supply and drive up interest rates as well as inflation to influence the markets against him.

As long as we allow the Fed to exist, we're no longer a Constitutional Republic, we're economic slaves.

[FairOpinion]

You are right.

Unfortunately very few people realize the tremendous power of the Fed and that they are indeed using their power for political purposes, and there is nothing anyone can do about it, because of the way they were set up. It's ironic, they set it up that way to keep the Fed above politics, and instead, gave them more power than to the President.

[endthematrix]

It's time for Bush to pre-empt Soros and call him out. All Bush needs to do is have an hour of national air-time (hey how about the super bowl?) to show what Soros is about? Bush would even have truth on his side!