"The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape from it."
-Goebbels
Despite hearing it over and over, the meaning of "all markets are rigged" is completely lost on the most hopeful. Of course, hope is fear gone badly.
Investors want desperately to believe that the real market exists. They believe that the pricing mechanism is legitimate - a fair expression of the markets.
And that if the markets point toward recovery, then the recovery is real.
Worse than that, they believe they can be a part of it - master it, profit from it; even when the money is broken. Because as long as they are making money, who cares?
Qui bono? Who really benefits?
The Exchanges
The for-profit exchanges perpetuate the illusion that it's possible to make money or create wealth trading these markets.
They should be a beacon of trust and reliability when they are the vortex of obscurity and massive fraud.
They allow the markets to become distorted to the extreme, providing the perfect conditions for abuse.
Algorithms and high frequency trading allow front running, unfair advantage, and cheating. They create the perfect storm for flash crashes. And they perpetuate layers of misconception that lead to even more destructive decision making.
By definition, the "wealth effect" is a behavioral concept meant to alter the perception of reality.
There is ample financial interest in spreading that myth over hundreds, if not thousands of services that offer the skills to gamble the system.
So you want to be a gambler? The Pareto principle applies here as well, in extremis.
When it comes to risk, rarely will you here about the majority of losses, compared with the tiny minority of success.
The professionals never complain. They preach.
Institutional investors rarely have true skin in the game. Losses are socialized, while prudence is sacrificed at the altar of share holders and short term performance.
Most people fail to notice. Complexity is like personal magic.
This is the heart of dark darkness and corruption. Some get fired. Maybe a fine amounting to the cost of doing business.
Certainly no one "significant" will be prosecuted. No one that big enough to shift faith.
Awareness of manipulation seems not to matter.
Consider gold and silver price suppression, the COMEX, or the CME. The London fixings. The more we accept this news, the more the public perception changes toward acceptance.
While the paper markets levitate, the timing is perfect. To practically anyone observing from afar, it feels like they are missing out on an investment supernova.
Most never blink an eye with regard to the fact that gold and silver, and not other commodities need "fixings". They never seem to wonder why that is.
And they never ask. They don't need to care.
The next precious metals price fixer will be the CME.
We go from being fixed by giant banks to an exchange that facilitates the ongoing crime. A crime committed by the very banks that are being absolved from outward participation.
We spent the last 30+ years educating an entire generation how to extract wealth from our economy through the application of ever more complex financial instruments.
The added complexity didn't produce any real, tangible value.
It's a fiscal Jenga pile, and now the wood is needed. We don't have the luxury of time to fix anything or to re-establish the relationship between human productivity and the value of money.
And so the monetary masters and its media will act astonished when architects grab the low hanging fruit.
The easy-to-reach wood from the remaining supports.
In addition to running a busy medical practice, Dr. Jeffrey Lewis is the editor and publisher of Silver-Coin-Investor.com, where he provides practical guidance for precious metals investors.
