Does anyone benefit if the US defaults?

[CoffeeCat]

I seriously don't know the answer to this question, and I'm wondering if anyone
has any information?

I seem to recall that many elites made out pretty well--by betting against the
mortgage and housing industry. It's as if those who knew and understood what
a house of cards it all was--were determined to financially benefit.

Is it possible that the kingmakers, the neocons and other assorted elites could
benefit from the US defaulting? Could people have certain investments or short
positions that would be fruitful should the US default? And do we have any
way of knowing who has made those investments?

Would be interesting to know the answers to even some of these questions.

I'd love to know what positions/interests/investments Dick Cheney, Henry Kissinger,
George Schultz the Bushes and the rest of the PNACer/neocon scumbags have going on, right now.

[Renew Deal]

1. Eric Cantor

He's got a bet in against the country.

[Chan790]

4. GMTA!!!

I clicked on this thread to post just that.

[CoffeeCat]

9. Seriously?

He's would profit from investments that bet against American interests?

I hadn't heard.

[Chan790]

11. Yes.

http://www.politicususa.com/en/unamerican-eric-cantor

What Eric Cantor doesn’t tell anyone is that his investment portfolio reveals that he is rooting for and willing to profit from said fiscal train wreck.

According to A Completely Unofficial Blog About Eric Cantor, the conflict is even more extreme than the Salon article made it appear. From his 2009 disclosure form, here are the investments Cantor selected for himself,

$1-15,000 ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury ETF (TBT)
$1-15,000 iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund (TIPS)
$1-15,000 WisdomTree International Basic Materials (DBN)
$1-15,000 SPDR SP Metals Mining (XME)

So yeah, that acronym TIPS ring a bell? It should if you read Paul Krugman..
TIPS, as I read it is basically the interest difference between nominal U.S. Bonds and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. Eric Cantor’s bet on the iShares Barclay’s TIPS Bond Fund is ANOTHER bet that U.S. Treasury Bonds will lose value (relative to inflation).

Cantor has a history of betting against America. The difference is that in 2011, he now has the power make sure that his bets pay off.

[CoffeeCat]

14. Thank you for taking the time...

...to dig that up and post it here.

That's unbelievable. And he's been the biggest jerk throughout this entire
process, as if he didn't even want a deal--just a fight.

Unreal.

[CakeGrrl]

15. Surely you wouldn't expect the MSM to bring it to people's attention

knowing who owns the media.

[ixion]

2. anyone who shorts the dollar

should stand to make a tidy profit.

[Earth_First]

3. Every bankster, trickster and 1%er who spent the last 48 hours positioning themselves properly...

You see, it's a lot easier to accomplish when you have the game plan whispered in your ear.

[rucky]

5. Savers win, borrowers lose.

Swiss Franc savers, more specifically

and guess who's hoarding that kind of cash?

[Earth_First]

6. Willie Wonka?

:shrug:

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. If there is fear of a default or if one occurs, the price of existing Treasury bonds will be bid...

down. Since yield and the price of a bond move inversely, yields will rise as prices fall. The way to profit from this is to sell short Treasury bonds, basically selling what you currently do not own, only to buy them later at a lower price and pocketing the difference.

There are Exchange Traded Funds that do this for you, though they are extremely risky, as they tend to be geared to produce results on the daily changes, as opposed to the long term trend.

[CoffeeCat]

10. Thank you for....

...taking the time to explain that.

I'm sure many people appreciate your post!

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Short term, Eric Cantor

long term, nope, nobody does

[lonestarnot]

12. Interest collectors. I don't plan to pay any do you?

[drokhole]

13. Good lord, I was going to ask the EXACT SAME THING! (wondering about Rothschild example)

Was just having trouble posing/constructing the question, which you did in a fantastically comprehensive way. So, while I apologize for having nothing of value to add to the conversation, I greatly appreciate your efforts. Anyway, here's what I mean about the Rothschild family (and how they accumulated a vast amount of their fortune):

"The Rothschilds already possessed a very significant fortune before the start of Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), and the family had gained preeminence in the bullion trade by this time. From London in 1813 to 1815, Nathan Mayer Rothschild was instrumental in almost single-handedly financing the British war effort, financing the shipment of bullion to the Duke of Wellington's armies across Europe, as well as arranging the payment of British financial subsidies to their Continental allies. In 1815 alone, the Rothschilds provided £9.8 million (at 1815 currency rates - a huge sum in today's money) in subsidy loans to Britain's continental allies.

The brothers helped co-ordinate Rothschild activities across the continent, and the family developed a network of agents, shippers and couriers to transport gold across war-torn Europe. The family network was also to provide Nathan Rothschild time and again with political and financial information ahead of his peers, giving him an advantage in the markets and rendering the house of Rothschild still more invaluable to the British government. In one instance, the family network enabled Nathan to receive in London the news of Wellington's victory at the Battle of Waterloo a full day ahead of the government's official messengers.

The basis for the Rothschild's most famously profitable move was made after the news of British victory had been made public. Nathan Rothschild calculated that the future reduction in government borrowing brought about by the peace would create a bounce in British government bonds after a two year stabilisation, which would finalise the post-war re-structuring of the domestic economy. In what has been described as one of the most audacious moves in financial history, Nathan immediately bought up the government bond market, for what at the time seemed an excessively high price, before waiting two years, then selling the bonds on the crest of short bounce in the market in 1817 for a 40% profit. Given the sheer power of leverage the Rothschild family had at its disposal, this profit was an enormous sum."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_family


Is this at all a possibility? Already obscenely rich folks buying up and turning over government bonds at huge profit down the road? Forgive me for being fairly naive on the situation.

[CoffeeCat]

18. I think many of us wonder about...

...the same things, and it's always good to post here. DUers are great
at filling in details and posting relevant facts and articles.

Great information on the Rothschild family. Amazing info.

We all know what greedy, amoral punks our politicians are. They allowed
the corporations to purchase our government and pervert it for generations
to come. So, it wouldn't be surprising if they were orchestrating a terrible
event from which they would financially gain.

[Jon Ace]

16. Gold holders IMO.

Gold might skyrocket if the US defaults.

[MyshkinCommaPrince]

17. According to NPR on Thursday,

persons invested in gold stand to gain. A caller pointed out that the Tea Party is part of the Glenn Beck faction of the RW, where buying gold is a big idea. The host and guest expert taking the call didn't disagree with the core idea, but were quick to disclaim the idea that anyone involved might be engineering the situation while being poised to profit from it.

Personally, I keep thinking of Mr. Potter increasing his wealth and power by taking advantage of the 1929 collapse, in, y'know, that Jimmy Stewart movie.

[CoffeeCat]

19. I have always wondered by gold-buying...

...ads are so prevalent on right-wing radio/tv talk shows. I understand that
some of those ads are on left-leaning shows as well, but I hear them CONSTANTLY
on right wing radio (Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, Mark Levin, Michael Savage).

It's obvious that there's some kind of gold and right-wing/tea-party connection.

I wondered if the neocons/right weren't trying to inflate and prop up the price of
gold by fearmongering to the right-wing sheep listeners. If the big dogs had invested
early--then started this "gold campaign" blitz on their shows--it makes sense that they
would benefit from the price increases as the little guys are terrified into buying gold.

And that's not to say that gold is a bad investment. It's a good investment. However, it's
a big bubble right now and a good portion of the demand has been created by fearmongering
and terrifying impressionable right-wing radio listeners.

[moondust]

20. Gold is up $145/oz in the month of July.

http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/au0030lnb.html

[Go2Peace]

21. The ultra wealthy will make out well

In the modern age they are diversified and have been buying commodities and alternative currencies.

They will lose some net worth but will gain in relation to the wealth of others. Then they might be able to turn around and buyout real estate for almost nothing.

I know it's popular to think they will get hit hard, but that just won't be the case.