Posted on 07/05/2006 3:05:42 PM PDT by toaster
It is now an open secret that when President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12631 on March, 18, 1988, he formed a cabal of Washington-Wall Street insiders, officially known as, the Working Group on Financial Markets, unofficially referred to as, The Plunge Protection Team. The PPT’s goal is to do whatever is necessary to keep markets operating under any conditions and to act to maintain confidence in the financial system, whatever that takes. If the group thinks something is a threat to the financial system, they will do what is necessary to reverse the situation...Could it be that in the eyes of the PPT, GM may be "too big to fail"? Is it too big a symbol of what this country and this government is all about?
(Excerpt) Read more at nizenotes.com ...
It's not even a certainty that the PPT exists anymore. There are all sorts of moribund Executive Orders out there not being uesed.
I'm not familiar with the writer but his other posts seem generally interesting. He's a gold bug, I take it. Nothing wrong with that.
You posted this, what is your opinion?
Any filings?
I think Nize also thinks it is just speculation. Afterall, he writes, "Is the PPT behind the recent up move in GM? We have no idea. But we feel the speculation is something worth noting."
But his comment about Warren Buffett is interesting.
I have been following Nize for awhile now and I have to agree with you that he seems to be generally interesting as a writer.
I thought the PPT was busy building burgers.
But no stock?
LOL
Hogwash! Why would you believe something on a stupid website?
SEC filings, 13s, etc...
Why bother?
GM has a market cap of less than $17 billion. The bankruptcy of GM might be symbolically upsetting. For a week. But it would have little effect on the stock market as a whole.
Even the symbolic or psychological effect would be limited, as folks have likely factored a GM bankruptcy into their thinking for a long time, now.
I assume the poster is referring to SEC filings.
Simplistically, institutional investors report their holdings to the SEC (I believe quarterly) and anyone accumulating significant portions (usually over 5%) of a company's stock must file their actions with the Securties and Exchange Commission on a timely basis (think it's within 10 days). Therefore, if anyone is accumulating or "manipulating" a stock, you can check the SEC filings to find out who is behind the moves in a stock. On the other hand, if it's general sentiment that a company is doing better (or worse) and the stock rises (or falls), the stock is essentially being moved by the collective actions of hundred or thousands of investors, and therefore you won't find SEC filings to help determine the cause of the move.
A contrarian keeps an eye on value. When a stock takes an irrational drop....time to buy.
This is especially true of Preferreds yielding great dividends.
GM was due to rise because it was too cheap.
Buffett may do some things to help out the Plunge Protection Team, such as, say "GM's prez is great, I think I will buy a GM car." But obviously, the man knows how to read a balance sheet which means he isn't going anywhere near GM's stock.
Sales of General Motors vehicles were down 25.9 percent in June, compared to the same period a year ago.
The company announced the figures in a news release issued today. GM says last June's performance -- with deliveries of 558,092 vehicles -- was the strongest sales month in 19 years, fueled by a promotion offering employee discounts to the general public. The Detroit-based automaker is not expected to offer the same incentive this summer.
The news comes as General Motors is weighing last week's announcement that the Nissan-Renault partnership is interested in buying a stake in GM. Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorkian, who holds a 10 percent stake in GM, has urged the company's board to consider such a move.
GM Reported June Sales of 429,742 units back in 2003 versus 413,500 units this year.
One thing that makes me doubt the whole claim is that the "secret team" wasn't able to bail out Long Term Capital Management in secret. That required meetings that were quickly made public, and appeared to be quite abnormal. Yet if a PPT exists that is exactly the scenario that they would act it.
I believe that GATA has ammassed quite a bit of evidence to support the idea that a number of Reserve Banks, led by the Fed, and in conjunction with major investmant banks especially Goldman's has had a big hand in manipulating the gold market through various accounting tricks and a tricky leasing scheme.
It's just a coincidence that both Clinton and now Bush appointed former Goldman heads to be their Sec. of the Treasury. I'm sure, really.
I am not sure if it is even a question of whether the Plunge Protection Team exsits. The Washington Post rported on them http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/blackm/plunge.htm
This is dangerous as hell for the Fed since they can't buck the true market forever. The last time a national bank tried that on a major scale, George Soros made a billion dollars.
Sorry, I should not have said what I said to you earlier. I apologize.
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