Friday, May 3, 2013

U.S. investigators say JPMorgan "manipulated" power trading-NYT

Ah, that name Blythe Masters of JPMorgan keeps popping up (click here for other blog entries mentioning Blythe Masters, the doyenne of JPMorgan's commodities trading desk), this time for manipulating the energy markets.  Manipulating LIBOR and energy may be (now) understandable, but manipulating the COMEX and London gold and silver exchanges is impossible--the realm of conspiracy theories and nut jobs, right?

Not only is she a central player in the manipulation of commodities and futures markets (including equities, foreign currencies, and interest rates--which essentially means JPMorgan and its too-big-to jail banking peers manipulate all markets--see Matt Taibbi's latest rant), she was also one of the architects for that beautiful man-made, financial thermonuclear invention: credit derivatives.  You know, the structured investment vehicles that almost plunged the world economy back to the stone age in 2008, and will some day de-industrialize the first world.  Warren Buffett dubbed them the "financial weapons of mass destruction" (it is strange that Buffett uses them in his mergers and acquisitions, as hypocrisy has no bounds among octogenarian billionaires).

Again, it takes a British paper to provide whistle-blowing commentary on American bankers, and it'll take US regulators to fine British bankers on LIBOR manipulation.  Where is CNBC and Bloomberg on this breaking story?  Hell, even the New York Times is all over this.  Somehow I don't sympathize with any of the characters involved.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/03/jpmorgan-ferc-idUSL3N0DK0EV20130503

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