Trump is driving us toward a big recession: It will be ghastly — but is it deliberate?
I have a theory that Trump and his cronies may be manipulating and shorting the markets,
reaping vast profits off the declines.
Every time Trump tweets or blurts new tariff threats or economic bellicosity aimed at China, the market takes a dump.
As we all know, Trump hasn’t divested from his business interests.
We also know that
Trump has manipulated the markets before,
based on a massive investigation in the New York Times indicating that Trump engaged in a scheme with his dad, Fred Trump, known as “greenmailing.”
During the 1980s, Donald Trump became notorious for leaking word that he was taking positions in stocks, hinting of a possible takeover, and
then either selling on the run-up or trying to extract lucrative concessions from the target company to make him go away.
It was a form of stock manipulation with an unsavory label: “greenmailing.” The Times unearthed evidence that Mr. Trump enlisted his father as his greenmailing wingman.
Seriously, ask around. Even some of his supporters have to concede that
Trump is entirely capable of exploiting the bully pulpit to enrich his family fortune, not to mention the fortunes of his buddies.
If he wasn’t interested in all that, he would have divested from his business. He didn’t.
Now his tweets move the entire market up or down on a predictable and routine basis, making Wall Street ripe for exploitation.
For example:
Just before he tweets something incendiary about China,
it’s entirely possible he gives his boys a subtle heads up,
triggering brokers to swing into action,
betting against the market with short positions on whatever could take the most damage from his trade-war posturing.
Not only does it drive down those stock prices,
but the entire market, including your retirement savings, takes a colossal hit.
it’s unlikely he’d reveal any breadcrumbs in those disclosure forms, and
it’s possible that his manipulations and short sales are made through trusted third parties.
A serious investigation by the FTC
or the House of Representatives might be in order, especially given that
Trump could be betting against the American economy.
Why else would he so gratuitously destabilize the markets with his trade war?
Bottom line:
Trump’s tweets and pronouncements do, in fact, trigger market movement.
The open questions are: Is it intentional, and does he profit from it?
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/08/trump-is-driving-us-toward-a-big-recession-it-will-be-ghastly-but-is-it-deliberate/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1113