Weapons of Mass Financial Destruction!…”It is important to understand we will see things going forward we never expected or ever dreamed of.”
By Bill Holter
GoldSeek.com
Friday, 29 January 2016
Every once in a while it is a good thing to review something we already know and have known for quite a while. What we’re talking about are derivatives and the very basics of how they work… or not. We have seen massive volatility since the Fed raised rates last month. The humor (tragedy), admitted to yesterday by the Fed, the 4th quarter saw slowing economies all over the world and “Nobody Really Knows Anything Right Now”! I say “humor” because the Fed tightened rates just as the economy was weakening again. Many have said the Fed raised rates at “exactly the wrong time”. History may agree with this, I do not. In fact, there has not been one single day since the end of 2008 the Fed “should have” raised rates simply because of the massive debt embedded in the system and those pesky weapons of mass financial destruction called DERIVATIVES! Higher rates will only serve as a “margin call” in a system with no margin left!
First, derivatives are generally a zero sum game contract between two parties “betting” on something. They can be looked at as a speculation, a hedge, or even “insurance”. For this missive, let’s look at the “insurance aspect” of derivatives as literally $10’s of trillions in gains and losses have occurred just this month alone worldwide.
For example and as you know, the price of oil has collapsed. Ignoring the gains and losses directly on oil, let’s look at companies who’s business is oil. Whether it be production, exploration, transport or even “trading”, huge sums of money have been gained or lost depending on which way your bet was. Many oil related companies have CDS (credit default swaps) written against their debt. These contracts have been rising and rising in value as oil has dropped and the possibility of bankruptcies have risen. Huge gains by owners and losses by the “writers” of CDS have accrued.
This is just ONE AREA as derivatives are everywhere and written just as bookies would regarding almost anything. In fact, CDS is even written on the debt of sovereign governments …including the U.S. Treasury. Please think this through for a moment, who, or what “company” could possibly perform and payout the “insurance” to someone who bet (and won) the U.S. Treasury would default? Would anything even be open? If the U.S. Treasury defaulted, would stock or bond markets be open? How about your bank? How about ANYTHING (including your local Walmart)! Do you see where we are going here?
The Rest…HERE
