The “Secret Societies” of Washington

March 16, 2023

The Illuminati…

The Skull and Bones…

The Bilderbergs…

The Pentaverate

They’re all “secret societies” who, it is believed, exert some sinister influence throughout the world. Most are more exaggerations of what they actually are/were. (I’ll leave the Pentaverate up to you.)

But there is one secret society that’s very much real and very much involved in the financial system today.

That’s what I want to tell you about today…

It All Started in 1987

In October of 1987 the stock market crashed creating a market shock that few living investors had ever experienced. The market dumped over 30% of its inflated value in the span of less than a week…

The Crash of ‘87

Source: Barchart.com

It literally wiped billions of investor savings off the map in an instant. 

Those deeply involved in the market during the years leading up to the crash knew what the real cause likely was.  (If you’re interested, it was the result of years of something called “program trading.” Investment banks would sell stock index futures and simultaneously buy the basket of underlying stocks, profiting from the spread between the two. The rampant stock buying eventually inflated stock prices far beyond what they were actually worth.)

Confidence needed to be restored. The market collapse had to be explained to the average man on the street (who had no business knowing how Wall Street had been playing with the market). Failure wasn’t an option. 

So in 1988 President Reagan issued an executive order creating something called the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets otherwise known as… [ominous music] 

The Plunge Protection Team

In truth, it’s not really a “secret” society. It’s a very real group made up of very real (very powerful) people including the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairs of the Fed, SEC, and CFTC. The group is charged with…

“…enhancing the integrity, efficiency, orderliness, and competitiveness of our Nation’s financial markets and maintaining investor confidence.”

So while they are a real group, they’re not exactly what you’d call an “official” group. In fact, the group’s “official” description — “an informed but informal advisory group” — shows how unofficial they are. And then there’s the fact that…

As it happens, their meetings often are secret, they do not release their minutes, we don’t know their full mandate, we don’t know their full powers

So they’re real, but we don’t really know anything about them. Especially about how they enhance the integrity, efficiency, yada, yada, yada… 

BUT! 

Some say their presence is evident during big market reversals. For example…

Throughout December 2018, the Dow Industrials average had been getting hammered losing 4,188 points — roughly 17% (near bear market territory!). On December 24, the market gapped lower on the open and closed on its lows.

The PPT met on a teleconference that evening. (Yes apparently they work on Christmas Eve.)

When the market reopened on December 26, the Dow rallied over 1,000 points. On the 27th, it lost half those gains, until a late-day reversal stopped the slide, and caused the market to close 600 points higher. 

Spooky coincidence?

Who knows. 

But there is one tool we know these financial insiders use when things get really out of hand that does impact the market. And it’s one that’s caused a lot of trouble in the not too recent past.

I’ll explain that next week…

Make the trend your friend,

Bob Byrne
Editor, Streetlight Daily