Posted on 06/18/2009 1:28:36 PM PDT by Califreak
Todays Notes reads more like a John le Carre novel than an investment newsletter. But bear with us. It tracks one of the most fascinating news stories youve never heard of. The news reports are maddeningly sketchy. And the mainstream media is doing a damn good job of not reporting the story.
But its clear the arrests by Italian authorities of two Japanese-looking men allegedly attempting to smuggle $134.5 billion worth of US bearer bonds across the Swiss border is the biggest financial crime in history. And one with major implications for Americas economic security.
For those of you who dont know, a report surfaced on Monday, June 8, on an obscure Vatican-sponsored news website, AsiaNews.it, that Italys financial police (Guardia Italiana di Finanza) had seized US bonds worth US 134.5 billion from two Japanese nationals at Chiasso (40 km from Milan) on the border between Italy and Switzerland.
According to the report, these securities included 249 US Federal Reserve bonds worth $500 million each, plus ten Kennedy bonds and other US government securities worth a billion dollar [sic] each.
If the report is true (it has been relayed by the Associated Press, Bloomberg, The Times and the Dow Jones news service), it means these two as-yet-to-be-identified men were carrying securities amounting to the GDP of New Zealand or enough money to fund three Beijing Olympics in non-negotiable bonds in their suitcase.
As Bloomberg put it, If economies were for sale, the men could buy Slovakia and Croatia and have plenty left over for Mongolia or Cambodia.
The story is filled with bizarre and incongruous details. Enough, in fact, to make the mind of even the most determined news hound spin.
(Excerpt) Read more at contrarianprofits.com ...
I haven’t seen any verification that the bonds are real and not forgeries. It’s a really weird story, but I can’t get too excited about it yet.
Al Qaeda has reportedly threatened economic attacks along with bombs.
The American public may have never been fully briefed about what happened then either.
And to think I get worried about the wind taking a freshly withdrawn $20 bill from the ATM dispenser.
bookmark
N. Korea makes very fine counterfeit US$100.00 bills.
Genetically Koreans and Japanese are very very close (although saying so could get you knifed in either country).
Connect those dots however you wish.
Slant angle?
WOW!!!!
What is a “Kennedy” bond, please?
No way. At this point we are building a case against the N. Koreans for war. If they were trying to do this the Pres and others would be talking about this.
This is something more shady.
I think Zero knows something
We? We? What does He care about we?
Japanese men look very different from Chinese men. The Chinese are different in skin color, have broader faces, lighter hair, broader noses.... and, wider shoulders.
North Korean men are far skinnier, and have rounder eyes.
Give me a lineup, and I could correctly identify each >95% of the time. I'd probably be 100% telling the difference between women! ;-)
But... your point is well taken. Who the heck were these guys?
If the bonds are real, then it probably means that some government has lost confidence is trying to dump them without starting a stampede. If they are counterfeit, then it bodes ill because they are so good that they can pass for the real thing. Either way, the ramifications for economic upheaval are very scary.
Japanese have small penis
As a matter of fact, one can.
I worked for years in downtown Seattle that has large amounts of all, throw in Filipino to boot.
I was fairly astute at telling the difference.
Apparently the Italians didn't think so, they released the 2 men and have no idea where they are now.
Me neither! The story smells. Only a government would own that amount of bonds and if they wanted to move them why not use a diplomatic pouch as the article suggests?
I read a WSJ article in Feb. It was about Feng Shui and the Chinese way of investing.
What caught my eye was that one of the experts predicted a Financial Terror Attack between June 6 & July 7.
I wrote it down. I dunno if this $134 Billion is part of it. But the guy knew something, here is the link and article.
Some See a Rat in the Year of the Ox For Investors Seeking Advice
"He's negative on the U.S. for now. President Barack Obama, he said, may want to consider wearing the emblem of a rat to balance the traditional misfortune of being an ox in the Year of the Ox. "Maybe someone should present him with a Mickey Mouse hat," Mr. Yeo said.
He told his audience to watch out for a "financial terrorist attack" sometime between June 6 and July 7."
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