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Last Night's Gold Slam So Furious It Halted The Market Not Once But Twice, And The Funniest "Explanation" Yet
Yesterday, just before the Chinese market opened, precious metals but mostly gold, flash crashed in milliseconds with a violent urgency never before seen. We documented the unprecedented event last night, but for those who missed it, the following chart from Nanex clearly lays out just how sudden the "out of nowhere" selling was, which led to not one but two 20-second halts in the gold futures market spaced out precisely 30 seconds apart as a result of a Velocity Logic (or lack thereof) event.
For those following the gold market, last night's event was not surprising: after all just on this website we have documented at least three occasions when furious algorithmic gold selling broke the gold futures market for at least 10 seconds, to wit:
- September 12, 2013: Vicious Gold Slamdown Breaks Gold Market For 20 Seconds
- October 11, 2013: "Stop Logic" Gold Slam Was So Furious It Shut Down CME Trading Again
- and January 6, 2014: Gold Flash Crashes, Halts Trading As "Velocity Logic" Circuit Breakers Triggered
What was most notable about the last "velocity logic" gold slamming event is that, as we predicted in January 2014, it was due to a stray and premeditated algo. The CME confirmed just that one month ago when it charged the futures trader whose trading software broke the market and led to that particular violent crash:
Pursuant to an offer of settlement Mirus Futures LLC (“Mirus” or the “Firm”) presented at a hearing on June 16, 2015, in which Mirus neither admitted nor denied the rule violations upon which the penalty is based, a Panel of the COMEX Business Conduct Committee (“BCC”) found that it had jurisdiction over Mirus pursuant to Exchange Rule 418 and that on January 6, 2014, Mirus failed to adequately monitor the operation of its trading platform (Zenfire), and connectivity of its trading system (Zenfire) with Globex. This failure resulted in unusually large and atypical trading activity by several of the Firm’s customers and caused the mass entry of order messages by Zenfire, which resulted in a disruptive and rapid price movement in the February 2014 Gold Futures market and prompted a Velocity Logic event.
The Panel found that as a result, Mirus violated Rules 432.Q. (Conduct Detrimental to the Exchange) and 432.W. (Failure to Supervise).
However, what was most critical and what the CME did not disclose was the identity of the Mirus customers whose gold selling led to "unusually large and atypical trading activity" and more importantly, what was the motivation behind a massive sell order whose only intention was to take out the entire bid stack in less than a second. Incidentally, the "penalty" was $200,000.
Also note how none of the market breaking events ever take place when there is a surge in buying of gold. Strange that...
Fast forward 18 months when we got not one but two Velocity Logic events in a row.
And now the mainstream media attention turns, as it always does in the post-mortem, to identifying who the seller was even if the same mainstream media was utterly incapable of suggesting that previous such selling events were due to HFT algos on full tilt.
For the record, we did offer some suggestions what may have caused the violent selling which was not catalyzed by any particular news of headline: "it could be another HFT-orchestrated smash a la February 2014, or it could be the BIS' gold and FX trading desk under Benoit Gilson, or it could be just a massive Chinese commodity financing deal unwind as we schematically showed last March, or it could be simply Citigroup, which as we showed earlier this month has now captured the precious metals market via derivatives."
Naturally, we won't know for sure until the CME once again explains who violated exchange rules with last night's massive orders.
As we also noted previously, while the actual selling reason was irrelevant, the target was clear: to breach the $1080 gold price which also happens to be the multi-decade channel support level.
At this point it is safe to wager that this support level will be taken out in short notice (even as the PBOC continues to add physical, of which for the record it allegedly purchased over 600 tons just in June when the price of gold dropped 3%) and soon thereafter there will be a spate of defaults and frenzied merger activity among gold miners around the globe who are forced to mothball money-losing operations until no new physical gold is mined except by the most price-efficient miners.
Still, there are many who do want to know the reason for the gold crash, which just like in January 2014 had a clear algorithmic liquidation component to it. Which means that until the CME opines on precisely who and what caused the latest gold market break, we won't know with any certainty.
That doesn't mean that some won't try to "explain" it.
The less amusing explanation was that the market was disappointed by the PBOC announcement that it "only" increased its gold by 57% in one month. Of course, the fact that the PBOC had been lying about its official gold holdings until May never crossed anyone's mind because clearly it did not add 600 tons of gold in one month. Accordingly this was interpreted as bearish for the market which had been expecting far more official gold holdings, even as few assumed that if the PBOC was lying until Friday it may well continue to lie and simply park its gold with other related entities.
Furthermore, that explanation kinda, sorta forgets that the PBOC announcement took place on Friday, well before US futures markets were open, and if anyone was truly in a hurry to liquidate following the PBOC "shocker" they could have just sold either on the CME or the ICE, or even via the US-traded GLD ETF. That none of this happened confirms that PBOC had nothing to do with the underlying selling motivation.
But the funniest "explanation" we have heard yet, comes from Reuters. It is as follows:
"We do see a lot of people in China selling gold to get fast cash to go back into the equity market," said a Singapore-based trader.
So... threatened by arrest if they sell stocks, habitual Chinese gamblers, farmers and elderly stock traders are now liquidating their gold to get "fast cash to go back into the equity market", a market which even the most lobotomized permabulls now admit has been manipulated by China in the past month beyond anything seen in history just to preserve a clearly popping bubble.
* * *
In retrospect we don't know what is worse: that someone actually believes this, or that this may, in fact, be true.
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Something is going on and I don't like it.
I kept reading as gold rose and then plunged to a 5 year low that most were still averaging down or, as some say, "still stacking", but what sense can this make is such an easily manipulated market?
People keep talking about the "manipulated market".
The reality is the market is very easily manipulated DOWN. Manipulated up is much more difficult and impossible to sustain without worldwide demand by the general public. Manipulating up is almost never done except for short, limited blips.
The Hunt brothers tried manipulating the silver market up in the 70's. Didn't work out so very well for them.
So... the price crashes and it halts, then it crashes again (more) and it halts again. Where is the PBOC and Chinese Government with the no shorts mandate when you need them?
Find hard evidence.
Gold at 1000 $ ?
More cheap Gold for the Chinese lulz.
Bullish.
It's funny...if you want to own gold in this market, the last thing you would want to do is buy it with $. Or at least for people that only operate within an economy based on US $ gold is a bad deal. Ofcourse, if you have been buying gold with only $ and spent your money abroad then you haven't lost much. In some instances, during the Greek tragedy at it's worst few weeks ago, gold was only down like 5% from the peak of 2011 compared to 2-3 weeks ago.
Gold 2011: $1920
Gold 2015: $1100
Even though gold is down almost 50%! from the peak in US $, in most other currencies, gold is trading not too far off 2011 peak. In Norwegian krone, gold hit around 10.000kr+ per ounce in 2011. Today, it is trading at 9.100kr. 9-10% loss from the 2011 peak. It was at 9.600kr during the most dramatic Greek tension.
With JPY, it's literally at the same. The price is "just" Y15.000 shy off the 2011 top.
Don't worry. It's only in USD that gold is losing traxtion. In most other currencies, it is holding on quite well!
Tell me about that "Store of Value" thing, and let's see if you are able to preserve internal logic and intellectual integrity.
There is no such thing as 'SOV' in any one asset, as anything and everything under the sun that is of value, has been and will be manipulated (in its price, quality or availability).
Too bad so many ZHers refuse to either accept or admit this bit of reality. Otherwise they would not have been encouraging people to buy PM on the way up and also on the way down. When people behave/talk that way, you have no choice but to question their IQ, their ability or their agenda.
A reminder... "Nothing is more predictable and reliable than the Laws of Nature and laws of Human Nature." Both will serve you well, even when Keynesian or Austrian laws of economics won't.
That's a simple fact that the hoarders don't understand. Whether the price is going up or down, they justify their decisions with illogical rational.
An example I've used in the past is comparing gold with a (cherry picked) stock.
If you bought $1,000 worth of gold in 1970 ($35/oz), today it would be worth about $30,000. But if you bought $1,000 of Berkshire Hathaway, it would be worth $5.5 million, and you'd be able to buy a LOT of gold with that. I use BRKA as an example becasue they don't split or pay dividends, so it's easy to compare. Even investing that $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be about $100,000 today.
You make a very stupid assumption. Who is to say a person did not diversify and do both?
Unless you have balls made of crystal, you are just tossing shit onto the wall to see if it sticks.
Seems you've stuck to that wall really well.
I thought the purpose of buying physical metal was for something happening like the zimbabwe currency. Would that farmer prefer to have a spec of gold or a barn full of Rock Star font currency?
In your example, with a cherry picked stock, from what I have seen people prefer to buy stocks in companies that sell for a loss and make it up in volume. Right now looking at the manipulation of the stock market, with the MSM interviews backing that up, I wouldn't want to trade unless I knew what was going to happen. This would be considred illegal for the majority of citizens. Plus what happens if another larger glitch on the exchange happens? How much is a stock worth that can't be sold?
In Zimbabwe they used, and currently use the US Dollar. The Zim notes were only used to pay civil servants and public expenses.
The Zim dollar going to zero didn't happen overnight, It took place over almost a decade, and even the worst hyperinflation lasted several years. Why does everyone assume that fiat will go to zero overnight?
The S&P 500 average STILL outperformed gold by 3 times in the long run. And as for BRKA, well that's why Buffet is sitting on $72 billion and you are playing with a few gold coins.
'Buy when others are fearful' I think he said....
Every hyper-inflation epsisode in history has been preceded by a lengthy period of "elevated inflation", but the actual crack-up boom stage, when the currency loses all its remaining value, always happens in a very compressed time frame, usually no more than a few months.
Of course, they are pretty fucking quiet over that at King World News and Jim Sinclair land. And who's that other total ass moron clown, Bo Polny or some shit? But, look at the bright side...they are fucking great contrarians.
Think the Chicoms have told the elite we are going to free this stock market thing up so have liquidity ready ... hole-lng for the masses coming.
Thanks to these low silver prices, we have a zero Vampire and Werewolf problem in my neighbourhood.
We also have a zero savings account in a goddamn bank problem as well.
sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
When it's Padron it's more than a cigar
...and sometimes it's a dildo, ain't that right Monica darling?
"We do see a lot of people in China selling gold to get fast cash to go back into the equity market,"
Everyone in China sold within the same ten seconds too, they're all like synchronized and shit. Awesome.
I think you've hit on something with the synchronicity idea, https://youtu.be/_VviSsvH2-E?t=1m25s
I suggest we start an account at Go Fund Me for all the Chinese millionaires living in cardboard boxes in LA. /S
Chinese share market drops 30%.To halt panic Gov't freezes shares (selling) for six months.This means to
make margin calls on loans they have secured with shares,they will have to sell real property,gold,what have
you,to keep their positions viable.The insurance against default (derivatives,here we go again) are tied up in
litigation over A)has a default event occurred,and B) what was the last price on market on Shanghai,because
price discovery was not allowed due to Gov't of PRC stepping in (no free market price,mark to fantasy).
Meanwhile,their bolthole cash causing a bubble in Vancouver real estate may not be liquid,as it is unlikely the
Canadian gov't would allow everyone to "firesale" during one week,exploding the bubble in B.C.
good hypothesis on the Chinese margin calls.
And this happens within seconds at the most illiquid time of the market and in futures? I don't buy that.
S&P is at a all-time high and gold plummets over night. The great crash is coming.
Great crash always proceeded by crash in oil prices. The time is near.
Again the US army supplied weapons to the Islamic state by airdrops
Read more: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED | The History The US Government HOPES You Never Learn! http://whatreallyhappened.com/#ixzz3gSZXKruf
Old news.
Not related to this thread either.
Man... I sure hope that flash crash doesn't impact the delivery of those 4 shiny new 2015 maples I ordered last night...the ones i was going to order on Friday but thought "let's see what happens over the weekend"..
and so it goes....one ounce at a time. (or 4 in this case)
Don't worry. They'll just do what they do ever time the price goes down... raise the premium.
So now some high school student in England caused this one?
Or maybe china. A remedial math student in China, that's the ticket.
B(i)S trading... nuff said.
Looks like a BTFD opportunity, but of course you can't actually buy actual gold at these prices.
Nonsense. You can buy as much gold as you want at "these prices".
Perhaps I am bat shit crazy, but Gold looks as attractive as it has been in years. At some point I will be tossing some cheddar at it.
Is it that gold is worth less, or that the chances of the dollar being worth less is increasing?
so jim rogers was right? is there a bow-tie ETF i can invest in?
Perhaps a street lampost necktie ETF.
Will someone please take the price of Paper Gold & Paper Silver to ZERO... thanks.
Despite shanigans, the top was in back in 2011. The stock market has done nothing but shrug off the worse of news and go higher since then, despite shanigans here also, so there really is no surprise here. Things go up, things go down. For now, golds just another chart to play.
The stock market has done NOTHING!
This is all bullshit pumping by central banks. DUH!
It would seem to me that most traders / investors would prefer a fair open market to the perpetually manipulated and gamed markets we have today.
HFT has given those who choose that strategy a true "fair?" advantage. But what they're doing is "gaming the system", and people trying to use the system for another purpose surely don't like that.
Instituting a competing market that adds a small random delay to each transaction would eliminate any HFT strategy but would retain a responsive trading characteristic for investors.
I prefer competition to legal and regulation oversight. Actually, the "look the other way, then fine for 10% of the ill-gotten gain" is the regulator's new income model. Seems to me there are more investors out there than gamers and the business would logically move to this more appropriate model, causing existing corrupted trading systems to wither on the vine.
Its nice to see that we have an emproving economy and everything is getting all better... :-)
On another note: I was reading comments on an economy article and the subject of the middle class got brought up..Several said the middle class is gone, and gave their explanations. But many were saying the middle class is fine, they and their neighbors are doing fine, the better restaurants are full, etc etc. Any comments here on the middle class and whatcha think?
When any market (and I use this term very cautiously) bottom or top is in, what we need is a good old fashion and very hard, fast, and extreem capitulation. In a bottom, this is when all the weak hands get finally shaken out, when basically all of press, advice, guidance, etc. offered is negative, when all hope is lost, and just about everyone throws in the towel. In a top, this is when nothing but hope and opportunity abounds, when everyone joins the party, when all of the press, advice, guidance, etc. offered is positive and leverage reaches excessive levels.
it's been this way for as long as markets have functioned and it is no different today. The only question is have the commodity (bottom) and equity (top) markets really capitulated? Here's my perspective/thoughts and by all means feel free to shoot me down as needed:
- Commodities: The bottom is not in yet, especially with PMs and gold (of course when priced only in USDs). The next stop down will be $1,080 then $1,050 with a battle then fought at $1,000. The short-term battle will be lost with gold losing its footing and most likely not finding it until $800. At this level, junior miners will be under severe stress and most likely lining up for BK or liquidation. Senior miners will be basically trading all in the single digit range and have significantly curtailed production. This is when capitulation will be reached/achieved. The reason for my forecast is as follows (beyond the US raising rates):
- The USD will continue to appreciate as the rest of the world is completely screwed. China's boiler room stock market (i.e., you can buy but not sell) is nothing short of outright fraud. The Greek deal is a complete and total joke (just watch their economy be driven into submission with lower income and higher taxes) which of course awaits Portugal, Spain, Italy, and France. This will eventually bring down Europe. And as we all know, Japan and the Yen is the worst criminal of all when it comes to debt levels and currency manipulation.
- The Fed and its proxies (i.e., JPM and Citi) have a mandate to destroy PMs as they simply cannot allow for a competing currency which would undermine the USD. The US doesn't have to worry about the Yen, Yuan, or Euro as these three economic regions are doing their very best to destroy any credibility in their currencies. Hence, the only remaining battle is with PMs and more specifically, gold as they will stop at nothing to keep this in check.
- Emerging markets have a serious problem on their hands with debt issued in USDs. As the USD increases in value and emerging market currencies depreciate (see fall in Mexico's Peso to new low), the pressure to service the debt will escalate and then reach an extreme where a mass rush into USDs could unfold in order to build enough USD foreigh reserves to service the debt not just today or this year, but for years to come. This will drive the USD higher and gold (at least priced in USDs) lower.
Other factors are at play but I suspect these events will all accelerate/amplify over the next 6 to 24 months and push the USD well above 100x on the FX global market and potentially closer to 120x. With a 20% rise in the USD we can expect at least a 20% decrease in gold priced in USDs (and much worse for miners). Of course the outcome of these events will be as follows:
- Gold supply will begin to reduce, slowly at first, and then more rapidly as miners are forced out of business (as capital vaporizes). BTW, this same event is occuring in the oil industry as it usually takes 12 to 24 months after a decrease in the price of oil to work through to reduced production and increased business failures (as companies can hold on for a while and leverage oil production from producing assets but will not have enough cash/capital to invest in new assets).
- Physical gold demand in emerging markets will increase as it offers a hedge against inflation and depreciating currencies.
- The increase in the USD will finally be "accepted" by Wall Street as a real negative on the earnings/valuation front and equities will suffer the double whammy of higher interest rates with lower earnings, a lethal combination. But remember, equities are usually the last to actually get and accept the message as it will most likely take 6+ months after the Fed starts raising rates for it to really sink in.
- Equities: The top is probably not in yet as I see the Dow at 20k before reality finally sets in (i.e., higher interest rates, damage from an appreciating USD, lower global demand from failing economies in Europe and China, stealth inflation in housing, education, and healthcare eating the consumer alive, and a day of reckogning with financially engineered financial statements). However, I really only see the rally occuring in the bluest of blue chips as breadth will decrease (already has), trading volumes will decline (already occuring), and financial engeering will explode (I'm sure we'll see our first non-GAAP proforma results presented with the USDs surge factored out or this would have been our results if the USD was at 90x, a more fair value). I could see the Dow hitting 20k moving quickly to 22k and the NASDAQ 6k before capitulation occurs at the top.
In the end, investors in PMs (disclaimer I am one and have been since the late 1990's) and for that matter all investors really need to ask themselves only one question. That is, are the world's economies truly fixed from all of the messes, problems, etc. that have occured over the past decade? If you believe the answer is yes, then PMs are not needed in your portfolio as are other hedges (and all hail the world's CBs and centrally planned economies). If the answer is no, then starting to buy all forms of insurance (not just gold but VIX, VXX, commodity indexs, etc.) when they are absolutely dirt cheap is a prudent strategy.
For all of the PM investors out their, these are going to be trying times as PMs are heading for a capitulation within 12 to 24 months that could be very ugly. I'm in your boat and have learned not to get too consumed in the day to day movement as my horizon is 10 to 20 years out. But what is so ironic about this environment is that PMs and commodities in general (including oil/energy) are actually adapting to real market/economic conditions based on the laws of supply and demand. That is, excessive/mal-invested capital was deployed over the past five plus years in economic models that were not sustainable (I'm speaking about oil directly but also environments as large as Greece) and now, the bill is coming due (with nothing left in the account to pay it). This event will eventually work its way through all industries including tech, healthcare, manufacturing, etc. but as usual, equities will be the last to get the message. Excess capacity is present in almost every industry thanks to $10+ trillion of CB QE over the past decade, it's just a matter of time before the real market returns and re-prices every asset (and I mean every asset) to a fair level. Commodities, energy, and PMs are just ahead of the curve, that's all.
I generally agree with you but: "The USD will continue to appreciate as the rest of the world is completely screwed." << eh lol ;)).
TPTB are pulling as much revenue from the future as possible, rat holeing as much of it as feasible, then when the time is right, and the fruits of labor are ripe, they will deploy the excess reserves to satiate their needs.
The gears of inflation and disinflation are used to grind our bones to make their bread.
Well this is good news for the US Mint. Now they can buy more pm's at a cheaper price because they are all sold out of their inventoiry. Funny how physical markets can work ... y'know as opposed to digital paper markets..
i am beginning to wonder whether gold is being manipulated or we gold bags are being manipulated!
turn ion the TV for 15 minutes. listen to what is the "norm".
Debt is good. We must disarm oursekves to be safe. Debt is wealth. Consume beyond your means. We must attack to remain safe. What's good for Israel is good fo the US. Illegal immigration is good for the economy....blah, blah, blah..
Think abot what is said with an ounce of logic.
Make your own decision.
You know, Martin Armstrong (who is often quoted here)... believes that gold conspiracy theorists are in fantasyland, that gold is not money, that is rises and falls with demand like every other commodity and that he has been calling for $800 or lower gold for 3 years now.
Compare that to Tyler D, who when gold was at $1920 claimed it was going "to $3000 within weeks if not months." It's time to realize that Armstring was right. Gold IS a commodity and in global deflation you can print all the money you want and it does not always mean inflation or a high gold price. Gold has NEVER tracked inlfation or even money printing. If so, then how do you explain a 45% loss when money printing continues unabated? Oh... thats right... conspiracy (rolls eyes.)
Gold goes up when people distrust their government or feel their currency is no longer trustworthy, NOT when money is necessarily printed. It is time to wake up and see gold for what it really is. Gold is going to sub-$1000 and it won't go up again until even the gold bugs give up. If the global economy tanks, gold will keep dropping, just like oil and copper.
yup. You should sell every ounce you have (if any), right now, You are super smart.
Just remember one thing....USA gold holdings are tiny compared to India and to a lessor extent China. We have no say at the gold table.
"If so, then how do you explain a 45% loss when money printing continues unabated?"
Should I let you elaborate on this one yourself or not? Probably not..
The reason is quite simple. Gold is a hedge against whatever foolishness governments do. Most of the QE-money has found it's way into get-rich-schemes like equity markets, property, bonds, derivates, luxurious assets(only rich can afford them so more money chase paintings, rare cars etc). There is a reason why pretty much every major indice around the globe is well and above post-2008-collapse and are in what one might call states of a bubble! And no, it's not the regular Joe who has been seeing increase in their wealth. Why?...I'll let you figure that one yourself. NOW, while the little guy has been accumulating PM to hedge himself from the foolishness of the wealthy, the wealthy (who control most of the worlds assets) can and will do whatever they want to keep the status quo.
There are several reasons why those who dominate the financial markets do not want PM to appreciate in value. One obvious reason is to keep the sheeple blindly attached to the fiat and keep them in complete trust in it. What do people run to when loss of confidence in fiat occurs? You don't have to look further then what happened in Greece just recently. People where running out of fiat and into physical assets. Gold in Greece was sold out.
Which takes me to another point. You say gold is down 45%. In dollars that may be true. In other currencies not so much. Here where I am, gold is trading some 12% off it's ATH. During end of June it was down only 6-7%.
Note the 5 year chart:
http://www.goldrate24.com/gold-prices/south-america/brazil/
200 million people in Brazil. Think they're happy they didn't buy gold?
Good spotting PF!
A store of value...simple as that. I've mentioned this so many times; an economy that is functioning like it should, with price discovery, free markets and no government intervention, needs no gold. It acts like a drag on the economy.
BUT, in times that we've been experiencing for the past 15 years and especially these last few years, gold is the only hedge against insanity of our financial leaders who think expanding the money supply is the only way to creating wealth. Monarchs throughout history have attempted to replicate such illusions and they all have failed. Every currency was "printed" to its own death. This is no exception. The only exception here is that today we have so many fancy investments, models, papers etc. and the whole world has become a marketplace, not just an isolated country. Which means it takes time before every corner gets filled. Once we get there, it's over. Finito.
If printing infinite amount of paper ever was an option, we all could just have used leaves of the trees as barter. At least you'd save the tree itself from being cut down for making the damn thing. And also, everyone would join the fun! -> (sarcasm).
You mean the "Marty Armstring" who lost more than 600 million in his clients' money trading silver in the 1990s? Re: "Gold goes up when people distrust their government or feel their currency is no longer trustworthy, NOT when money is necessarily printed"
Certainly this is one of the conditions under which gold will be going up, but one wonders then, why did gold go up by more than 200% from 2000 to 2007? I saw no-one lose trust in government or the currency during that time. However, the money supply did expand by leaps and bounds.
As an aside, I agree that the conspiracy theorists are largely in fantasyland. There is of course some degree of short term manipulation in every financial market, but I think officialdom couldn't care less about gold at this juncture. Gold was only a concern as long as it was still backing government money substitutes to some extent.
Off topic but can someone explain to me why the emasculation of Greece is any different than the isolation of
Cuba for fifty years? If you go rogue,off reservation,then we will boot you out of club.If you want to fly to visit
Cuba you will have to fly from Canada? Great climate,cheap real estate,healthy populace (No Big Macs),a
health care system that works,and no medical malpractice lawyers yet.I don't understand those idiots in
Brussels.The biggest industry in Greece is surely Tourism.Are tourists flocking to Athens,and then finding their
ATM cards won't work? Sounds like the holiday from Hell....
One last point: the mafia lost big when they were tossed out of Havana.Hotels,gambling,brothels,abortions,ITT
and Coca Cola,Banks,Autos sales,etc. Did the Mob go crying to Congress for a Bailout? This was a huge
revenue stream,but they shrugged their shoulders,moved off to Las Vegas,and started over.
Oddly enough this sounds more like the true American spirit, ACCEPTING THE ELEMENT OF RISK.