Fortune Magazine Gets the Vapors Defending Goldman Sachs

“I am really going to enjoy watching Goldman Sachs try to justify its nefarious schemes to a jury box with 12 Americans in it,’ he said.”

That was Fortune Magazine quoting me on January 28, 2011, regarding the escalation of Overstock’s claims against Goldman Sachs, in an article entitled, “Nastiest CEO lashes out at Goldman”. The title underscores their sympathies and journalistic objectivity.  Displaying identical logic and equanimity there were, perhaps, similar “Nasty Belgians Lash Out at Fatherland” articles in the Nazi press of May, 1940.

Expecting Fortune Magazine to provide critical reporting of Wall Street in this first decade of the 21st century would be like expecting  Sports Illustrated to provide critical reporting on Michael Jordan in the last decade of the 20th century. They cannot: it’s a fan-mag. But Fortune‘s choice of title betrays its orientation more clearly than a dozen deconstructions of my own could accomplish.

One should note, however, that beneath its hysteria there are two facts on which Fortune Magazine is reporting. Those facts are:

1.       As my Overstock colleague Jonathan Johnson, Esq., put it, “Recently discovered revelations of concerted action among certain market makers and these two brokerages necessitate that we amend our complaint to include additional claims. We expect that this conduct of Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch is fully actionable under anti-racketeering laws.”

2.       I wish to make Goldman Sachs explain its actions not to a White House to which Goldman is the largest donor (“Goldman Sachs was top Obama donor“, CNN, April 2010); not to FINRA, its own industry’s self-regulating body in which Goldman is the dominant member (“Goldman Action Highlights FINRA Facade“);  not to an SEC which has been hopelessly captured beyond repair (“Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail?“, Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone); not to members of the Senate Banking Committee from both sides of the aisle (“Goldman Sachs Congressional Inquisitors Also Beneficiaries of Firm’s Financial Largesse“). I simply want to see Goldman to explain itself to 12 Americans whom they don’t own.

Because Fortune Magazine is allergic to both of these facts, this is how they treat them:

1.       Regarding the escalation of our lawsuit to RICO, Fortune provides this anodyne description: “Overstock said it made a filing with a New Jersey court allowing it to seek triple damages in its 2007 suit against the brokers.” In comparison, note how the same fact was treated by various news organizations whose business model is not tied to  regular and profound supplication before Wall Street:

a.       Reuters:  “Overstock accuses Goldman. Merrill of racketeering. Overstock says RICO charges apply in case” (December 16, 2010).

b.      Associated Press: “Overstock adds RICO claim to short-sale suit: Overstock.com Inc. said Thursday that it sought to add racketeering charges against Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch….” (December 16, 2010)

c.       Benzinga:  “Overstock Adds RICO Claim To Goldman Sachs/Merrill Lynch Suit: As a result of evidence gathered through discovery in its prime brokerage lawsuit, Overstock.com, Inc. has filed a motion in California State Court to amend the suit to include claims under New Jersey’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.” (December 16, 2010).

d.      TechRockies: “Overstock Sues Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch Over Racketeering” (December 17, 2010).

e.      Benzinga: “Goldman Sachs Engaged In Interstate Racketeering, Says Overstock’s Patrick Byrne” (February 15, 2011).

2.      Regarding my insistence that Goldman answer for itself within the one system it cannot rig, Fortune’s title and subtitle say it all: “Nastiest CEO lashes out at Goldman: It is hard to know who (sic)to root for in this one”. Overstock conducted four years of discovery,  obtained documents to support a RICO action, and filed that RICO action, which in the eyes of Fortune Magazine makes me a “nasty CEO” who is “lash[ing] out” against Goldman Sachs. The thought of poor, defenseless Goldman Sachs having to answer to 12 Americans whom they don’t own and cannot buy clearly gives Fortune Magazine’s staff the vapors.

It is the thesis of DeepCapture that the banksters have hijacked not just the regulators and  industry self-regulators, but the politicians who oversee them, the academics who serve them, and much of the New York-based financial press. Of this observation Fortune once again provides fine confirmation. I am sure that Soviet apparatchiks could have wished for no more supine and obedient press coverage from their own state media services as Goldman Sachs (and by extension, Merrill Lynch) have received here from Fortune Magazine.

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  1. Keep punching, Patrick. The elite media belong to the bad guys, we can count on that being the case. And thanks to all of the OSTK people for fine performance last quarter and day-in-day-out.

    1. been experiencing much, if not all, of what’s being discussed on this board being LONG GERON CORPORATION…embryonic stem cells and such. the truth will fight on….thanks for the training patrick et al.

      1. oh yeah, i post all day long on the geron yahoo message board…currently under the id’s geronlaunch and tablesturning72…..and have been doing so for five years!!!!! all day long/365. so i know a little bit about this…..all the corruption….ALL….but i’m learning more everyday…..i’m learning how to combat these evil forces more every day. patrick you’re our leader…..and you have quite the active/exponentially growing following. there are others putting it ALL on the line….such as judd at antisocialmedia….who else….mark mitchell?? is the name? there, i’m sure, are tons more deserving of mention. the bad guys are on the run. thanks to ALL who fight this great fight.

  2. I am about 1/2 of the way through “No one would listen” by Harry Markopolos. Despite being a veteran of the DNDN battles (meaning that captured SEC and FDA gov agencies are not a surprise to me), I was still dismayed at what is revealed in this book. I am completely amazed at how out in the open the corruption on WS and the capture of the gov agencies are. It is an intrinsic part of their business. One telling passage is SEC auditors leaving their resume with Madoff’s secretary while there to investigate/audit Madoff’s operations. Anyway Patrick, thank you for continuing to fight the good fight. You have a lot of support. Have you considered running for office. This might be the perfect environment.
    Best regards,

    zino

  3. Mr. Byrne,I hope to meet you some day and shake your hand.Discussion around the dinner table sometimes goes in the direction of this topic. Educating our kids about the captured agencies that are supposed to be here to serve and protect us is as important as any instruction we lend them. Academic or otherwise. Thank you, sir. You are supported by word and deed.

  4. Dr. Byrne,
    Please consider running for public office. We NEED people like you at the helm. We have suffered enough criminality at the hands of the Wall Street Ogres, like Goldman Sachs. Please consider Chairing the SEC, for starters. Bring in Harry Markopolis for your Sheriff. Hopefully, Ron Paul will see things your way, after he gets in.
    Slainte!

  5. Bravo Patrick..bravo…you have been awesome from the get go…I will be watching this trial with great interest..watch em squirm…

    1. Patrick. I am somewhat surprised to see fortune act this way. I thought they had a bit of integrity. Oh well, such are the false illusions stripped by the truth. We have made massive progress though. Keep up the battle.

  6. It was the perfect crime, until they pushed Patrick Byrne.

    I’ve been doing this longer than Patrick, twice as long. And he’ll tell you that.But it was all for naught until a man of means stepped up and put it all on the line. And any reader of DC will tell you he put it all on the line.

    I guess I should have cozied up and made my illicit fortune, but alas, I didn’t. I have people who have scorned me for years come and say, “Oh my God. Everything you said…………..” Yep. I’m a genius. I sat at home in my underwear and figured all this out, but the, as Patrick said, Politicians, Academics, etc., they couldn’t. Or, were they blinded by that flash of green?

    I say to people, everyday people, and I say to you, look around. Go ahead. Could this devastation be an accident? How could it have happened? It did happen, and that’s not deniable. And for people who tell me it will never change. I can’t believe that. I personally believe that there is nothing left. We are broke, and the powers have no choice to listen the Great Man. And the masses are going to come forward and have their voices heard.

    There is one man, only one, who stepped up and took all the slings, all the arrows. He suffered hurt and rejection. But he did what he knew was right, and I know he was right. And now, his day is going to come and he will be able to thump his chest and take his bows. But he won’t . He’s too big a man. So, I’ll do it for him. Someone who knows told me this, and I believe it…….. “Patrick Byrne will go down in history as the greatest champion of the little man that ever was.”

    So, anyway, back to my original point. If the little guys are coming to me, I wonder if the politicians, academics, “journalists” (and I use that word loosely) are coming to Patrick and saying, “Oh my God, everything you said…………”

    I doubt it. I sincerely doubt it. For they are forever captured.

  7. This says it all:

    “Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, declined comment on whether criminal charges would be filed against Gupta.”

    Alleged Crime committed, and no confirmation on a criminal charge !!!!

  8. How about this:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/business/22bank.html
    patrick, in his cc, said “Den of Thieves”. In it, in 1980, Dennis Levine was playing footsie with these guys. It took this long? Den of Thieves was published in 1990.

    There was another indictment today. The IMF reports that fully 1/3 of the wealth of the world is in tax havens. Yet, the States want us to pay taxes on internet purchases. So, to save a buck, you go to Overstock, but Illinois wants their 8%. How about we get the tax cheats first?

    1. Unless yet another provision to unconstitutionally allow taxes to be levied, taxes on Internet purchases CANNOT be levied. It is a violation of the Interstate Commerce clause. The only current qualification is if a business has a presence in the state where the customer makes an Internet purchase.

      Article I, Section 9:

      “…No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. …”

      tinyurl.com/yqm97q (link to the US Constitution)

  9. Outstanding response to those captured media whores.. Keep fighting the good fight .. all legal property holders will prevail. The markets cannot continue to be used against the people who produce goods and services while trusting that share ownership will be protected. The next generation is already on the brink of swearing off the markets for good.

    It is a gross perversion of capitalism that hedge funds can take naked shorting proceeds and transfer funds to terrorist organizations all with complete knowlege nd assistance of entities of the US Government sworn to protect investors and citizens . Just as bad is that these entities can loose trillions and pass the losses on to the US taxpayer as a back stop for fraud.

  10. Patrick finish the job and please keep posting I will send emails of your stories to everyone i know and newspapers to help you finish this, Disgrace and its still going on,,

  11. I am once again inspired with hope. Until this is over, please, no small airplane flights or other activities through which your demise could be whitewashed. We cannot afford to lose another John Walton or John Galt.

    1. You should automate your Doomsday Machine, with an RSS newsreader to trigger when X amount of stories are published with a combination of “Patrick Byrne”, “Killed”, “Overstock”, “Death”, etc.* A Doomsday System – if you will, with multiple redundancies.

      *I’m borrowing this idea from Daniel Suarez’s novel Daemon, and its sequel Freedom(TM); both of which are available on Overstock.

    2. MNKD – 19 million vapor shares shorted. Battleground stock. Shorts trying to hobble a great development stage company. Watch this stock, for a classic textbook case of FDA collusion with hedgefunds and manipulation in extremis.

    3. Needed is a method or system to get this information out to “joesixpack”
      99.5% of the citizens haven’t even heard of “Deep Capture”.
      They need to hear about it. I don’t know how. I’m sure some of our people can think of something.

  12. Patrick
    did you read the report today about the possibility the 2008 meltdown was caused/exacerbated by terrorists? It’s a great report that is available via scribd for download.

    Pages 41 and 42 make very ominous insinuations about two un-named firms that appear to have worked in cohesion. The report is very reminiscent of Miscreants’ Ball.

    I hope you will read and do a posting on your thoughts in the future. It felt like the US system was under attack in 2008, and this report supports that belief.

    It states 30 to 70% of the short trades on Lehman were naked. Amazing.

    Enjoy the report.

  13. We haven’t heard from Bobo in a long time. Was “he” Mary Helburn, rest in peace?

    I salute what Patrick is doing, but there is something bigger that rubs me the wrong way. I was just involved in a shareholder vote and none of the legitimate shareholders received their shares until three days after the meeting. Stuck in the mail, ya right.

    There’s something bigger than Patrick’s RICO complaint and that’s that these clearing houses are committing fraud. They are claiming to own securities owned long when they don’t.

    That’s what I want to see get up in front of the jurors.

    Who gave these thieves the right to introduce fiat stock ownership where stock ownership is only fractionally backed by real shares?

    Madoff could learn a lesson from the pros on Wallstreet on how to really run a ponzi scheme.

  14. Recipe:

    1. Dot com’er comes to you and asks for $10 million. Give him $500 million instead, but with the caveat in the fine print that he can’t sell until you make back five times your investment. He will never make a penny, but will be the stupid front man to take the fall.

    2. Pump the stock to all the clients downstream from your mighty perch for two years. Counterfeit sell into the volume as you are the only seller as everyone else is panic buying.

    3. Purposely crash the dot com market in 2000, making fun of 18 year old CEO’s that are obviously to blame and cover your phantom short. Hire media to tell stories about how the CEO’s stole the investment money.

    4. Use your ill gotten profits to set up for the mortgage fraud ponzi scheme.

    The real crime in the mortgage fraud isn’t that they lent money to bad borrowers. The real crime is that same f’cking house backed a dozen different bonds, with each bondholder thinking he had a claim on the house.

    Wallstreet has become organized crime on a massive level and for some reason, they’ve convinced Obama and Bush on down not to arrest them.

    We need a little more Egypt in our blood to get rid of these parasites that are sucking our economy dry.

  15. Has anyone else noticed the sheer amount of what I would call ‘pre-revolutionary’ discourse on blogs and message boards as of late?

    Astonishing. Parallels with Egypt, Libya?

    Does America have the guts to raze wallstreet and rebuild it correctly?

    1. “The foregoing receive-deliver fails offset figures also are concerning because they mean that 65 percent of transactions are naked fails.”

      1. This report revealed and interesting bit of info I could never reconcile. Why don’t failures to deliver equal failures to receive?

        The answer:

        Fails to deliver = Fails to receive + Phantom Shares

        No one is receiving the phantom counterfeit IOU shares as they were never lent out.

        It’s scary to see the discussion over ETF’s. People are buying gold and silver ETF’s not realizing that their claim over the underlying gold and silver is next to nil because they can’t ask for delivery unless their shares are real.

  16. The saddest thing about the Kaufman report mentioned above is that is but just one lonely voice.

    Why does a matter of such great import disappear in the light of day, or in the halls of congress?

  17. The Fed mocks Presidents who tried to fight the establishment of it by putting their faces on its currency.

    Andrew Jackson
    Abraham Lincoln

  18. This is a reminder — On March 2 hj (above) gave a link to a very good paper on fails. I will give it here again. The Kauffman Foundation seems to be on the right side. This paper contributes to our knowledge and understanding, but many readers of Deep Capture already know these things. The difficult part is raising broad awareness that there is a cancer eroding our financial system, and it is hard raise general awareness. How often do you think about the sludge building up in your plumbing (either in your house or in your body)? It’s not a pleasant subject. We don’t want to look.

    http://www.kauffman.org/uploadedfiles/canaries-in-the-coal-mine-report.pdf

  19. Glad to see you putting up a post, Patrick. I had the wonderful opportunity to share a drink with Lord Monckton and I specifically asked him about the personal side of his quest to present his own information. Of the many things he said, the most poignant was this, “you can’t stop the truth, you can only slow it down.”

    This is what you have been up against for so very long, but the truth is emerging. You may not be appreciated by all the “right people” for it, but I know you aren’t working for appreciation. You are about solutions, fairness, and the continuation of a free and prosperous society.

    People like me only remain hopeful because titans like you fight on. Thank you, sir. We’re behind you and doing our own small part. Rank amateurs we may be, but we’ll continue doing our part.

  20. Google is now using business reviews to determine business ranking. A search for your business shows at least one negative review.

    We can help you.

    512-275-6123 http://www.postinggoodreviews.com

    How does posting positive reviews help in your businesses Google ranking?

    1. Positive reviews increase your business rank by linking important and relevant websites to your website.
    2. A constant stream of positive reviews improves your online reputation.
    3. Positive reviews drive traffic to your business.
    4. Positive reviews restore a tarnished reputation by pushing down negative reviews and links.
    5. Helps protect against competitors or anyone else from attempting to run your ranking.

    512-275-6123 http://www.postinggoodreviews.com

  21. Now I wonder what scandal is about to be revealed that would make Goldman Sucks Stock go into a freefall during the last few trading sessions? HHHHHHHMMMMMNNNNNNN! Get ready folks this MAY be the big one. (We can only hope)

  22. It is interesting that referencing Deep Capture’s content, concerning much of the illegal activities of major players engaged in illegal short selling, in particular the influence of the known criminal element, gets one banned from Yahoo message boards. Try it and see.

  23. As you guys follow the Raj Rajaratnam insider trading trial play out don’t forget that abusive naked short selling is actually the ultimate form of “insider trading”. In these cases you typically have a tipper and a tippee. The tipper has access to something that the tippee wants. Usually it’s market moving nonpublic information about a publicly traded corporation.

    In the case of abusive naked short selling the abusive MMs typically have several things that corrupt investors want. Firstly, they have a superior visibility of buy orders. Every buy order has money attached to it. If you want to steal somebody’s money you need to gain access to it. Secondly, abusive MMs have the ability to ILLEGALLY access the bona fide MM exemption from making pre-borrows or “locates” before making admittedly “naked” (no borrow involved) short sales. The easy to kill development stage corporations typically attacked often have shares that are nonmarginable and have little institutional ownership. These are the two main sources of legitimate borrows for legal short sales. Simply refusing to deliver that which you sell while pretending to be injecting liquidity as a bona fide MM circumvents expensive or unavailable borrows.

    Abusive MMs also have access to market moving nonpublic information. Who needs to get a hot tip on quarterly earnings when you can see buy and sell orders queuing up right in front of you? Obviously the abusive MMs willing to prostitute all of these advantages and play the role of “tipper” now only needs “tippees” to sell this information to. This is where abusive hedge funds, abusive clearing firms, naked short selling cartel, etc. come in.

    In the Raj Raj trial we see where Raj allegedly had one of his tippers set up an offshore a/c into which he allegedly deposited $500,000 per year of “service”. In abusive NSS-ing cash is not typically the currency used for the tippee to pay the tipper. Instead, order flow is the currency of choice. Abusive MMs then typically convert this into cash. After all, a corrupt hedge fund has the right to direct order flow to any “securities intermediary” he so chooses.

    As this trial plays out, ask yourself what is more the heinous of an act, is it a corporate insider whispering to a buddy that earnings are going to be lousy so he would recommend shorting the stock or an abusive MM ILLEGALLY renting out his bona fide MM exemption so that a party willing to “bribe” him with order flow can take an ILLEGAL short position by refusing to deliver the securities he sold while circumventing an expensive or unavailable borrow. There are going to be some valuable educational opportunities available in following not only this case but also the developments in the Fairfax Holdings case (Fairfax v. SAC Capital) and the upcoming Overstock case.

    1. Most importantly, if hedgefund shorts don’t have any “market moving nonpublic information”, they will just make some up to drop the shareprice. That’s what pisses me off. Where is the SEC?

  24. the citizens are learning that ron paul is a phony populist. he’s part of the cartel and is being used as a relief valve. we need a true populist to rise

  25. “fail the first time”- The cartel wants ron paul to stall the american people long enough until they can completely bankrupt this country

    Rep. Ron Paul, a longtime critic of the Federal Reserve who has called on a return to the gold standard, has praised Hilton’s efforts.

    “Efforts such as yours in states around the country highlight the importantance of returning to sound money,” Paul wrote in a letter to Hilton. “Even if such efforts fail to achieve legislative success on their first try, their importance lies in bringing to the public’s attention the problem of the ever-weakening dollar and the necessity of returning to a sound monetary system.”

    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/03/utah-considers-return-gold-silver-coins/#ixzz1GOdlsWhh

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