Central Banks Dump Massive Amounts of Cash to Stave off Speculation in Oil and Gold
On Sept. 11, 2001 the two most visible symbols of American economic and military power were simultaneously attacked in a well-planned and well financed attack that will have enormous and permanent impact on the world economy and American culture. Just a day after the attacks, which brought the planet to a halt, both CNN and Reuters - after interviewing many financial experts - are reporting the likelihood of a worldwide recession.
As major central banks have acted swiftly, with as much as $70 billion in instant cash infusions to stem immediate spikes in oil and gold prices, the likelihood that perennial bogeyman Osama Bin Laden was the prime of origin of the attacks diminishes. In a number of media appearances beginning on the evening of September 11, former CIA Director James Woolsey has now begun pointing the finger at "state sponsorship," - the prime suspect being Iraq.
Continuing revelations as to the complexity of the attacks continues to suggest logistical, intelligence and financial resources beyond Bin Laden's known abilities. In addition, Bin Laden's lineage, as a prot�g� of the CIA from the Afghan conflict of the 1980s, threatens to raise serious questions which the American government might not want answered. [See other FTW stories at www.copvcia.com].
A stunning report from the respected military and intelligence report Stratfor (www.stratfor.com) has officially raised the question that many who watched the Trade Center towers collapse vertically, have been asking about secondary explosions and the likelihood that charges had been physically placed within the buildings before the attacks. In a bulletin yesterday Stratfor wrote:
Mounting an attack of this sort is not simple. In the case of the World Trade Center, the collapse of the towers indicates massive delayed explosions. This means either the planes were loaded with explosives or that massive explosive charges were planted in the buildings to go off later. This is supposition, but a secondary explosion is a necessary factor for explaining the collapse.
The attacks came at a moment when US and world markets were in dire straits and as two hidden factors threatened to disclose even greater weaknesses in the US economy. The first of these factors is a monstrous derivatives investment bubble -- orchestrated by JPMorganChase -- estimated to be near $30 trillion (US), on the verge of implosion and a gold price artificially suppressed by the US Treasury and Goldman Sachs that was scheduled to be publicly aired in a lawsuit by the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA) in US District Court, Boston on October 9th.
These revelations, on the heels of a near 900 point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the preceding three weeks, could have tipped the US economy even without yesterday's attacks.
As reported around the world, especially in London, gold and oil prices spiked in the first two hours after the attacks before the European markets closed. The price of London gold rose by 6% in less than two hours. Yesterday FTW reported that the Comex precious metals exchange had been destroyed in the attack. That is now uncertain. Three years ago the Comex moved out of the World Trade Center to a nearby building which has been reported to be heavily damaged. However, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which polices precious metals trading, had its offices in WTC Tower 1 and was totally destroyed.
World confidence in the security of US markets and the economy has been shattered. FTW correspondents in Moscow report a divergence between public and official government reaction. Three people reported from Moscow yesterday an immediate move by Russian citizens to sell US dollars - the most common form of savings in the economically battered country - resulting in a dramatic plunge in public exchange rates from 29:1 to as low as 15:1 overnight. However a Russian government source told FTW this morning that rates on MICEX (The Moscow International Currency Exchange) have remained stable. In early trading the Russian stock exchange lost 5% of its value.
Asian markets crumbled overnight.
As reported by MoneyNet, these are the results of post bombing trading on the Asian markets:
When the NYSE reopens, amidst what will certainly be massive sell orders, the first casualties will be insurance companies who face billions of dollars in immediate claims. Preliminary claims estimates, for fire, casualty, life, disability and workman's compensation claims have been estimated in the press as high as $50 billion. One of the largest insurance companies, American International Group (AIG), will surely be hard hit. On the World Trade Center Directory AIG Aviation Brokerage, Inc. is also the first listed tenant.
Of a certainty, consumer confidence -- recently touted as the savior of the US economy -- has been demolished around the globe. Asian economies, already venturing deeper into recession, had been looking for increased US orders, based upon consumer confidence, to boost exports as a life preserver. That life preserver evaporated yesterday. A CNN story today quoted Asian financial expert Andy Xie of Morgan Stanley as saying that consumer confidence had "tipped over."
"We are going down to the bottom," Xie said. "no one knows where that is."
Reuters quoted a Chief Economist at Wells Fargo as saying, "A full-blown global recession is highly likely."
The massive infusions of cash from the world's central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve may unleash inflationary pressures which will, in turn, act to increase the prices of gold and other commodities.
The fact that no one has yet taken credit for the attacks and the US government's short term inability to identify credible suspects, along with an obvious intelligence "failure" is diminishing US credibility around the globe. Excessive delays will only further erode investor perceptions in US efficacy and increase the economic effects in the US as the world looks for "safer" places to put its capital.
In the meantime, the US military and political pressure for an increased presence in Colombia and what are certain to be inflated military budgets can only increase global instability.
The URL of this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/RUP109A.html
Author Michael Ruppert, a former LAPD narcotics investigator and intelligence expert is the Editor of "From the Wilderness", a specialised monthly, subscriber newsletter. The web site is www.copvcia.com.
Copyright 2001. All Rights reserved. FTW Publications, www.copvcia.com. May Be Reprinted for Non-Profit Purposes only.