Kerry Lutz's--Financial Survival Network

We sat down with David Enrich to discuss his new book, The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Math Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History. The book details the  actions of an oddball group of bankers, traders and brokers from some of the world’s largest financial institutions made a startling realization: Libor—the London interbank offered rate, which determines the interest rates on trillions in loans worldwide—was set daily by a small group of easily manipulated functionaries, and that they could reap huge profits by nudging it to suit their trading portfolios.

The anti-hero Tom Hayes, a troubled genius mathematician, became the lynchpin of a wild alliance that among others included a French trader nicknamed “Gollum”; the broker “Abbo,” who liked to publicly strip naked when drinking; a Kazakh chicken farmer turned something short of financial whiz kid; a broker known as “Village” (short for “Village Idiot”) and fascinated with human-animal sex; an executive called “Clumpy” because of his patchwork hair loss; and a broker uncreatively nicknamed “Big Nose.” Eventually known as the “Spider Network,” Hayes’s circle generated untold riches —until it all unraveled in spectacularly vicious, backstabbing fashion.

The Spider Network really makes one question the entire system. The underlings get fried while senior management skates and goes on to bigger and better things. But that's just the way things work according to David Enrich. 

Dr. Ted Noel is a retired physician and a real scientist. Throughout the presidential campaign he was one of the few people to give accurate, fact based assessments of candidate Hillary Clinton's numerous health issues. His conclusion that she was suffering from advanced Parkinson Disease was widely disseminated on the web and apparently closely monitored by the Clinton Campaign. 

When Mike Cernovich was interviewed on 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley accused him of reporting fake news for headlining Dr. Noel's findings. Cernovich quickly turned the tables forcing Pelley to admit that his source of Clinton's Health information was none other than the campaign.

Dr. Noel was mentioned in the full interview, but his name was lost on the cutting room floor. Now he responds and explains why the media is no longer fact based and untrustworthy. He also gives us an excellent account of how you can become an independent thinker. 

Ms. Smith is a former government official with great insight into the current debate. Expelling bad ‘hombres,’ building border walls and slashing trade deals, President Trump continues to assert a more nationalist and protectionist “America-First” posture. The President has promised to add millions of jobs to the US economy and to raise the gross domestic product by more than 4 percent annually largely through renegotiating existing trade agreements like NAFTA. At the same time, the President has vowed to deport up to 3 million undocumented immigrants and to curtail future entries.

Immigration reform remains a cornerstone of Trump’s efforts to reboot America’s standing. After Trump’s proposed travel ban was blocked again by the courts, what are the dynamics on the other side of the President’s immigration overhaul, which targets migrants from Latin America? What about… 

*Beyond the rhetoric, what are the possible economic impacts of a policy of mass deportation?

*How will the “America-First” agenda reshape U.S. relations in Latin America? And, why will it matter?

*What are the politics, logistics and legality of Trump’s new deportation plans?

*Taken together with the travel ban, what are the national security implications of Trump’s immigration agenda?

What's Happening Wednesdays with Andrew Hoffman:

Today's "disturbing trends" article, to be published shortly;

-retail, energy, automobiles, European banks;

PMs retake their 200 week moving averages;

The Fed's never ending punch bowl;

Major upcoming "PiMBEEB" (precious metal bullish, everything else bearish) events;

Etc.