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U.S. Banks Approach the "Zero Hour"; Gold, Discounting News, to Soar in Value

July 16, 2001

The recent hostile takeover attempt between Sun Trust, First Union and Wachovia underscores a problem that will soon become America's worst nightmare involving a domino of U.S. banking house collapses in 2002 and beyond.

The issue in question is one that is making great waves throughout the banking sector and headlines in the financial press. It centers around the bid made by First Union Corp. (FTU) in April to acquire Wachovia Corp. (WB), a major southeastern region bank for $14 billion. In may, the Board of Directors of SunTrust Banks (STI) countered First Union's proposal with a $14.4 billion merger proposal of its own. SunTrust Banks, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is the nation's ninth-largest commercial banking organization. SunTrust has total assets of $103.7 billion versus $171 billion for First Union.

As testimony to the acrimonious nature of the corporate battle, First Union has taken out a full-page advertisement in newspapers across the Southeast. The ads urge Wachovia shareholders to vote for the Wachovia/First Union merger via proxy. Such extreme tactics from normally staunch and conservative financial institutions highlight the high stakes involved, not only for this proposed merger in particular, but for the entire U.S. banking sector in general.

The battle for Wachovia has spilled over into the law courts, with First Union filing suit again SunTrust over its hostile takeover bid. The Federal Reserve Board is being dragged into the midst of the duel. Even Wall Street analysts are in on the action, issuing statements to the effect that one or other of the two warring factions has the greater chance of taking control of Wachovia. The war of words at this point is moot, however. The battle has already been decided, and it will become official when it is announced that Sun Trust has gained control over Wachovia.

Wachovia was saved from certain collapse by its two warring suitors, one of which (SunTrust) will rescue it from the financial oblivion it was certain to face within one year had it not been targeted for takeover. The battle over Wachovia is part of a much bigger battle being waged across the entire banking sector as dozens of banking establishments, including some well-known major regional banks, face certain destruction in 2002. In anticipation of this wave of bank failures, several high-ranking board members of various banks have already announced untimely retirements. What you are reading now is an advance version of what you will be positively pelted with next year in news headlines around the country. It concerns massive derivatives exposure on the precipice of unwinding as well as major scandals involving illicit financial investments. Call it "Bank Scam."

A comprehensive analysis of most major U.S. bank portfolios will show what the primary catalyst for this chain-collapse event will be. It centers mainly around the fact that funds from U.S. depositors is being used, quite illicitly by several major banking institutions for financing numerous communist Chinese enterprises, including huge infusions of cash to Chinese military operations. In short, U.S. bank depositors are unwittingly funding the "Great Red Dragon" for the Chinese menace.

To add insult to injury, China continues to receive openly favorable political and economic treatment from the U.S. government and most recently was gifted with being chosen as the host country for the 2008 Olympics. (History repeats! Once again America's #1 military foe ends up getting to host an Olympiad just before major war breaks out (e.g., Nazi Germany in 1936). Based on recent events-most prominently one of our top-secret military planes captured by China and returned piecemeal to the U.S. in humiliating fashion-it is obvious that the President, his administration and the Congress will be forced to kowtow to Chinese government demands from here out. All of this was made possible by the hard-earned savings and deposits of the U.S. citizen.

We now know which banks are going to go down… not merely banks which are "vulnerable" to collapse, but banks which are actually going to collapse and are merely keeping up appearances until the fateful "zero hour" approaches.

Citigroup (C) is one bank up to its eyeballs in the use of domestic bank deposits for illicit purposes. The banking establishment was fortunate to overcome a major scandal a couple of years back when two of Mexico's top drug kingpins were caught in a money-laundering scheme involving Citigroup. The bank is also involved in the China scandal and cover-up and will undoubtedly be granted top priority status from the Fed as it moves to protect one of its major banks from the coming domino-collapse of smaller banking houses next year. The larger banks that are in danger of collapsing are being made the target for mergers and hostile takeover attempts, such as the one presently involving Wachovia.

In other bank-related news, on July 1, a new law went into effect called the Financial Modernization Act, a.k.a., "Know Your Customers." It may just as well be the "Know Your Enemies Act," since banks treat their customers in the aggregate as enemies whose money they steal and use against their best interests. The legislation allows banks and all other U.S. financial institutions to share information with each other regarding their clients, i.e., U.S. citizens. They will be able to sell this information for their own financial benefit - a multi-billion dollar use of our personal data.

The U.S. banking scandal has been brewing for many years and only now is it about to come to a head. Americans have been conned by the banking scam of lending their hard-earned money to internationalists who use their money to fund communist military, economic and government projects against their own best interest as Americans. In return they are given pathetic interest returns for the "privilege" of lending the scam artists money to invest in irresponsible and anti-American ventures. Moreover, the customer gets lousy service, is practically treated like a potential criminal at the teller line, and has limitations on how much of his or her own money can be withdrawn at a single transaction.

As the U.S. banking system prepares for its worst nightmare in 2002, and as the government prepares to lead us into a war-time economy, you are faced with a set of monumentally important decisions. What will you do to prepare? Gold - or lack thereof- is one reason why U.S. banks are about to fail en mass. Get your funds out of banks and into gold. Gold, in the years to come, will be the prime monetary asset as the U.S. dollar and most equities crumble in value. There will also be value and safety in a financial portfolio composed of select precious and base metal mining/fabricating stocks, certain commodities, and of course, physical gold itself. The key is knowing what to buy and when to buy it.

It is time to de-fund U.S. banks and "repatriate" our money-to our own pockets and out of internationalist, pro-communist, anti-American hands. It's time Americans sent an emphatic message to the major banks. And since the only message that bankers understand is the message of money, let's take our hard-earned money away from the bankers and take control of over our own finances rather than entrusting it to them. If you do not take charge of your finances, you face a high chance of losing it anyway as the great bank collapse begins in earnest in 2002. You owe it to your country, to your families, and to yourself.

Clif Droke is the editor of the three times weekly Momentum Strategies Report newsletter, published since 1997, which covers U.S. equity markets and various stock sectors, natural resources, money supply and bank credit trends, the dollar and the U.S. economy.  The forecasts are made using a unique proprietary blend of analytical methods involving cycles, internal momentum and moving average systems, as well as investor sentiment.  He is also the author of numerous books, including “2014: America’s Date With Destiny.” You can view all of Clif's books here. For more information visit www.clifdroke.com.


The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848 when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma.
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