The Next Crash

by Kevin D. Freeman on September 15, 2018

It’s officially been ten years since the Lehman Brothers collapse ushered in a wave of panic and a stock market crash. The Dow was wobbling but really took a dive in that fateful week of September 11-15, 2008. Readers of this blog are aware of all of the suspicious activity that took place including very unusual trading out of the Middle East on the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. All of this was connected to a couple of Sovereign Wealth Funds, one of which was under the influence of a truly anti-American Muslim Brotherhood leader. Frank Gaffney referenced this in his Secure Freedom Minute this past week:

Are We Ready for Lehman Brothers 2.0?

by Frank Gaffney, September 14, 2018

Ten years ago today, the global economy was rocked by the virtually overnight collapse of the major U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers. The cost was measured not only in terms of the massive economic damage done. Arguably, the attendant political turmoil propelled Barack Obama to the presidency, enabling his stated ambition to “fundamentally transform” this country.
Veteran financial analyst and best-selling author Kevin Freeman contends that Lehman was subjected to a type of bear-market attack known as “naked short-selling.” His forensic investigation suggests it was engineered by Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds of Qatar and the UAE. Worse yet, Mr. Freeman warns that the United States is dangerously vulnerable to economic warfare today.  That’s particularly concerning at a time when another, potentially decisive election looms in which the strength of our economy is an even more important factor than usual. 

The fact is that there was substantive financial terrorism and economic warfare underway in the last crash, including by Russia. It was never fully investigated and the findings of my reports to the Pentagon were swept under the rug for political narrative sake. The Obama team said then that it would look bad if anyone thought that a foreign nation would undermine our economy before an election as it might look like they were election tampering. Of course now we know that claiming election tampering is all the rage of the Deep State, RESIST movement, and the mainstream media. Ten years ago the weapon was crashing our economy. Today, it seems the weapon is buying a few Facebook ads.

The current question, however, is “What is next?” What will trigger the next meltdown? In my suppressed Pentagon report, the answer I gave was a massive buildup in Federal government debt combined with a big push to remove the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. We called that “Phase 3.” Of course, we have seen our total outstanding debt double in just 10 years from around $11 trillion to almost $22 trillion. And, the attacks on the dollar have become increasingly common. Ten years ago, there were more than a few raised eyebrows and quiet snickers among the elite. It is impossible to dismiss this threat today.

We also warned about cyber attacks and how they might threaten a new crash. Few paid much attention until recently. Harvard Business Review has an important article this week that makes the very points we have covered for a decade. It’s about time. I say “welcome to the party!”

Here is a brief excerpt:

How a Cyber Attack Could Cause the Next Financial Crisis

Paul Mee and Til Schuermann  September 14, 2018

Ever since the forced bankruptcy of the investment bank Lehman Brothers triggered the financial crisis 10 years ago, regulators, risk managers, and central bankers around the globe have focused on shoring up banks’ ability to withstand financial shocks.

But the next crisis might not come from a financial shock at all. The more likely culprit: a cyber attack that causes disruptions to financial services capabilities, especially payments systems, around the world.

You can read the full article at this link: HBR:  Cyber Attack Could Cause Next Financial Crisis.

There are several realities to keep in mind:

  1. Adversary nations know where we are vulnerable and are looking to exploit vulnerabilities when they view the time to be right.
  2. A financial crisis is remarkably beneficial for the political opposition.
  3. We are vulnerable in multiple areas and the next line of attack undoubtedly will be different.

This does not mean a crisis is set to happen next week or even next month. But with the stock market near all-time highs and on the heels of a decade-long bull market with a great deal of complacency, there is reason to be cautious. Our debt buildup and increasing reliance on complex systems only adds to the concern.

I had the opportunity to visit with several colleagues from the work done in 2008-09 this past week in Washington. The good news is that some of them are in very important positions and they are willing to listen. That was encouraging because there is always another crisis coming. Hopefully we can get better prepared this time.

Email
Facebook
Google+
Twitter

Previous post:

Next post: