We are now in day 34 of the government shutdown.
This situation is really fucking ridiculous. It’s causing me a great deal of anxiety and irritation. Why? Because my job, which is to review trading educational products and services requires a great deal of interaction with governmental, quasi-governmental, and non-governmental agencies.
Our entire financial system is intertwined within a web of information sources. That probably sounds confusing and nebulous. So let me give a few examples of how this cluster fuck of idiocy is affecting me, and how the sewer pipe of my problems is about to burst.
Think of my problems as a ‘canary in a coal mine’ which acts as an early warning system to my fellow investors.
Not asking you to feel sorry for me. Fuck you. I just want readers to know how I leverage our governmental institutions to dig up dirt on scam artists and expose the fraudsters.
TradingSchools.Org relies heavily upon our governmental agencies.
Really? You are probably sitting in your underwear scratching your balls, wondering “how does TradingSchools.Org use any sort of governmental agencies and services?” Let’s explore the many ways. Jerkoff. (Told you I was pissed)
The following is a list of the governmental agencies that I use daily.
- FINRA or Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
- CFTC or Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- SEC or Securities and Exchange Commission
- All 50 state specific securities regulators
- Federal Court System online records system aka Pacer
- FBI or Federal Bureau of Investigations
- NFA or National Futures Association
- SIPC or Securities Investor Protection Corporation
- Federal Court System
- Depart of Justice, US Attorney’s Office
Let’s start with the FBI
For nearly five years, I have been writing about fraudsters-Big and Small. And some of these folks are extremely nasty. The type of people that show up at your front door and want to kill you.
Think I am kidding? I once had a lunatic that had gotten out of prison only a few months prior for trafficking methamphetamine. Once he got out of the halfway house, he quickly reinvented himself as a “Trading Guru” and miraculous medicine man of financial huff puffery. A real dirtbag that had spent nearly all of the past 20 years in Federal Prison. No, I won’t be outing this douchebag publicly, for fear of jeopardizing a pending Federal investigation.
This is not an isolated event. In another instance, yet another “Trading Guru” with severe mental illness parked his car in front of my house and refused to leave until I came out of my house and faced him in combat. Are you kidding me? Face him in combat? I am just an old man, a true keyboard warrior, and way beyond any respectable fighting shape.
Yet another instance, I wrote about a crazy lady in Israel that was running a multi-million dollar binary options scam, she hired a private detective in Los Angeles to follow me around. Thankfully, she got arrested.
What would you do in these sorts of situations? For me, my journey began with calls and visits to my local sheriff’s office. A place that is best known for capturing shoplifters, wife beaters, drunk drivers, and local drug dealers. When I would file a report or make a frantic call to a dispatcher to explain that my situation, they would ask what happened..my reply? I wrote something nasty about a person on the internet.
As you can imagine, I was met with nothing but blank stares and told to call back–after they had harmed me. Or while they were attempting to burn down my house.
Eventually, and with a great deal of fear and frustration, I contacted my local Congressman: Darrell Issa. I learned quite quickly that showing up at your local Congressman’s office is actually quite effective! They did whatever they do, and the next thing you know…I was assigned a local FBI agent that I could call when these sorts of events happen. In real time.
And I am not embarrassed to admit, I have literally hid at their office.
Now, the local FBI office knows me, they don’t like me, but they know me. And if I have a problem, I can pick up the phone and actually get something happening. Like another whack-a-doodle in Alabama that didn’t like my review, and decided it would be a good idea to send me graphic images of people being executed. Oh, and he would call me in the middle of the night and scream all manner of threats and insanity.
Well, the local FBI office made a quick call to the local FBI office in Alabama and they sent an agent to the idiot’s house. Do you know what happened next? The threats stopped. And they stopped fast.
However, you want know what is currently happening at the FBI local field offices? Not enough. In fact, nearly 5000 agents and support staff have been furloughed. Usually, when I call the field office for help, the line is promptly answered by a sweet voice. Not anymore. Every call goes straight to voice mail. As a person that has come to rely on law enforcement to protect my very life, I feel extremely vulnerable.
What about the CFTC or Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Another resource that I rely greatly upon is the CFTC. This is a massive agency that permeates every sector of our economy. It would take 100 articles to only touch the surface of what this agency does. But for practical purposes, I only want to write about how it’s affecting me.
I will keep this short and sweet…there is currently NO CFTC INVESTIGATORS WORKING. Normally, I can send an email and talk to someone immediately. However, since December 28, not a single one of my emails have been answered.
Are they simply ignoring me? No. They aren’t even opening emails. All of my emails contain tracking codes that notify when its opened and read. I have dozens of unopened and unanswered emails backing up.
It is complete lawlessness.
How is this going to affect you? If you have a Futures or Options trading account, I guaranteed that at some point, if you stick around long enough…a broker is going to steal your money. It happens all the time. Read the CFTC press releases. Every single month, someone is getting busted for shady behavior.
So you might be saying to yourself, I won’t worry because my brokerage account is protected to $500k by SIPC insurance! The guarantee that any monies stolen by shady brokers will be covered by this quasi-government agency.
Contacting the SIPC
Not so fast. This is yet another agency that I contact for information. Yesterday, I got on the phone with the SPIC spokesperson, Lucy Alexander, in Washington DC and asked her, “What the fuck is going on?”
She replied, “Well, the good news is that SIPC insurance is still active. But the bad news is that we cannot make any redemptions without an order from a Federal judge.
She did her best to keep me calm. But sometimes you just know when someone is really nervous and trying their best to make you feel better. Lucy was not in a good place.
It had the eery feeling of when an airplane is upside down and nosediving towards earth, and yet the stewardess is telling everyone to stay calm. And the drinks are free.
Frozen Federal Courts
Whether you have SIPC or FDIC insurance, nothing is going to happen without a Federal judge ordering it to happen. And guess what? The Federal Courts have now run out of money and are not even processing civil cases.
They are on a skeleton staff and only processing criminal cases.
US Attorney’s Office
Do you have a pending criminal matter? Well, this is great news if you are a criminal. Because the US Attorney’s have also been furloughed and are sitting at home doing nothing, not getting paid. Not meting out justice.
And what about the shady broker that stole your $50k trading account. He can sleep well knowing that as long as the government is shut down, his case will languish and weaken. You cannot ‘toll’ a criminal complaint tied to a statute of limitations, that is slipping away due to a government shutdown.
Maybe that is all part of the plan. To create such chaos, misery, lawlessness, confusion, and helplessness amongst our institutions of justice–that they simply no longer function.
We should all be disgusted.
Shall I continue?
If you made it this far, without pulling your hair out. Then congratulations.
As I am writing this article, it has been announced that the government will reopen for 21 days. And some other bullshit about a border wall and landscapers stealing our white women. Rediculous.
Well, I guess this process will start all over again, in another 21 days.
We used to live in the worlds greatest democratic republic. Instead, it seems, we are stuck in a really bad, reality TV show.
Just stumbled upon your website.
All I can say is thank you for your service, and FUUUCCCCKKKKKKKK!! I had no idea the securities world was so…soo…god damn dude.
Yeah; that is true like Trump says: the rank-and-file are disgusted with Comey & co.
Stone we covered Manafort is a case of its own ..Gates? :p Bush’s Defsec comes to mind ..Flynn, now, http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/12/01/mike-flynn-says-plea-deal-best-interests-family/ Mueller’s game is bankruptcy ..
Emmett, have you read yet either Hatching Twitter (or even BETTER, in fact maybe the best book I’ve ever read), American Kingpin? Both by Nick Bilton. PLEASE read at least AK, it’s such an eye opener about the Dark Web, and while there was such in fighting in all the govt. agencies, all wanting the “glory” of taking down the Silk Road, it also gave us regular American citizens a vast new appreciation for the heroes in our country (esp. during 9/11) but also just casts a new light on why govt is SOOOOOO damn important!
Let me know if you do get a chance to read it. INCREDIBLE writing and reporting right there…
So weird. You are the third person, in the past week, that has mentioned this book.
I just ordered it! Lol. Thanks for reaching out.
Whoaa..chill ..happy new year Emmett!
oh no, the FBI is doing just fine/ain’t it ..shit; Roger Stone is a 66yr old he has never threatened to flee or resist law enforcement, has no history of violence Stone has always gone willingly into interviews with authorities
So why did the FBI use tactical gear & assault rifles like a bin Laden raid ?
And the DOJ is also doing fine w/ colluding ..
Emmett send me an email (got my address) and i’ll give you a fcking bonanza/ of leads (tradingwise/I’ll make it worth your while)..
The U.S has been bankrupt; living on borrowed money for eons ..
As to ..penetrating institutions ..https://mises.org/sites/default/files/The%20Austrian%20vol%201%20no%206%202015.pdf p. 7 “Play the Long Game”
Yeah; good news; Trump didn’t cave; a wall is needed – take it from Angel Moms – as to the white women .. um, no; that’s not what they’re talking abt; I mean white genocide is real/stats, it’s ok to be white, etc. ..
Chk out the lighthouse comment from Confessions of an Economic Hitman ..
Yeah, I got really stressed out. Was feeling really vulnerable.
It’s important to remember, that I have straddled both sides of the fence, with regards to the FBI.
At one point in my life, the FBI took me down…in a very big way. And I mean really took me down. I had multiple offices, many employees, plenty of assets, and they took me down big time. TV cameras, on the local and national news, and let me tell you something…these are some extremely scary and smart people. I was not a big fan of the FBI. They put the knife to my throat and it scared the hell out of me. To say that I was not a fan is an understatement. I know exactly how Stone, Manafort, Gates, Flynn, Poppa-whatever-his-name feels in this situation.
Now lets fast forward 20 years. Time, reflection and maturity have tempered my feelings.
And, for whatever crazy reason, I have now found myself writing about fraud and shady characters. The FBI is an institution that we all must greatly respect. Sure, you are going to have a few boneheads and dancing FBI agents, but on the whole…this is a noble and honorable institution. I am a big fan.
At the end of the day, it’s our institutions and system of checks and balances that we are constantly tweaking. Sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse.
Let’s hope that whoever is in charge, does a good job.
Yeah; that is true like Trump says: the rank-and-file are disgusted with Comey & co.
Stone we covered Manafort is a case of its own ..Gates? :p Bush’s Defsec comes to mind ..Flynn, now, http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/12/01/mike-flynn-says-plea-deal-best-interests-family/ Mueller’s game is bankruptcy ..
test
Ok sorry meant to answer you for some reason went as a default reply pls. delete all my replies from today in this thread except for the direct reply to you
Ok sorry meant to reply to you instead went as default pls. pull all my posts from today ‘xcept my direct reply to you