Goldman Sachs May Explain Plunge Protection Team’s Vanishing Act

[bobbyw24]

Goldman Sachs May Explain Plunge Protection Team’s Vanishing Act

Commentary by Caroline Baum

June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Where are they? What’s keeping them? Stock markets across the globe are getting hammered, and there’s no sign of the Plunge Protection Team.

Sure, there were some sightings of the bond vigilantes in places like Greece over the past month. But a worldwide equity meltdown is a job for real men, for the PPT.

Otherwise known as the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, the PPT was established after the 1987 stock- market crash to ensure the financial markets have adequate liquidity to function. Members include the U.S. Treasury secretary, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Somehow this group morphed into a government/private-sector cabal -- Goldman Sachs always figures prominently -- that secretly intervenes to prop up the stock market.

You know those gut-wrenching dives in the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index that are miraculously erased and turn into gains by the end of the day? The PPT.

So where are they when we need them? I started by checking some of the conspiracy theorists’ websites. If anyone knew what was up with the PPT, it would be the black-helicopter crowd.

Alternative Acronyms

Nothing. Nada. I tried a Google search. That’s when I really started to worry. A search for “PPT” produced nary a reference to our would-be saviors. The results directed me, in this order, to: Microsoft’s PowerPoint home page; the Pink Poogle Toy, which describes itself as a “resource for Neopets players”; and the Pittsburgh Public Theater. The first reference to my kind of PPT came at the bottom of the fourth page of the search results.

The last update on the PPT blog was July 9, 2008: “The return of the Plunge Protection Team coming soon.”

Not soon enough.

Then it hit me. Of course! The PPT had come out of the shadows and into the daylight. When the Fed first invoked the “unusual and exigent circumstances” clause of the Federal Reserve Act in March 2008 to lend to almost anyone, it removed the need to operate sub rosa.

Man in the Market

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...xplain-ppt-s-vanishing-act-caroline-baum.html

 

[bobbyw24]

What is the PPT>

MISH: The Plunge Protection Team Exposed

Tonight I am pleased to announce the first ever telepathic thought line two way conversation [TTL2] with an inquiring reader. It was about the Plunge Protection Team [PPT]. Here is the startling telepathic conversation in entirety with Bob:

Bob: Mish, did you see the PPT in action today?
Mish: You mean the late day bounce on 2007-08-01?

Bob: What else could I mean?
Mish: Was that the PPT?

Bob: Of course it was. Look at the chart.
Mish: A bounce on the 200 EMA was the PPT? Was this expected?

Bob: Heck yes it was expected. The PPT always shows up when expected.
Mish: Always? That's interesting. Did you play for it?

Bob: Are you kidding? Of course I did. Who wants to stand in front of the PPT?
Mish: So you bought right on the 200 MA?

Bob: Damn straight. I knew the PPT was waiting there.
Mish: What else has the PPT been buying?

Bob: Homebuilders. Isn't it obvious?
Mish: Homebuilders?

Bob: Yep. They have been buying homebuilders for months. And lenders like Countrywide Financial too.
Mish: Wow. That's stunning news. But it does not seem to be working very well does it? Look at BZH and AHM and CFC.

Bob: Don't get me started. Of course it's working. Share prices would be much lower if the PPT was not propping them up daily.
Mish: AHM would be lower than $1 if it was not propped up by the PPT? That's amazing. By the way, when was the last time the PPT was in serious action?

Bob: When the S&P hit 1520.
Mish: 1520? Wasn't that the 50 MA? And aren't we at 1460?

Bob: Don't get cute. They fail on purpose from time to time.
Mish: The PPT fails on purpose?

Bob: Of course they do. The PPT has to make it look like they don't exist. It's all part of the plan.
Mish: Wow. That's quite an elaborate plan. Did you buy at 1520?

Bob: Don't be silly Mish. Of course I did. You would have to be nuts not to buy where the PPT is buying?
Mish: What happened?

Bob: The PPT stepped aside so I had to bail. I figured the PPT would try again.
Mish: How unfortunate that the PPT would step aside right when everyone depended on them. Where did you figure the PPT would make another stand?

Bob: Mish you really don't get this PPT stuff at all do you? I bought right at the 200 MA where the PPT and 8,263 hedge funds were all waiting. Who wouldn't want to buy there?
Mish: Uh.. Thanks Bob for exposing the PPT.

I was hoping for additional proof about the PPT's actions. That proof was supposedly on its way but simply never made it through. I think sunspots must have been acting up because the telepathic connection quickly went into complete disarray. Nonetheless I am pleased to show the very last telepathic transmission that did make it through before the lines of communication were disrupted. The last message from Bob was this chart of the PPT in action.

Signature Actions of the PPT

http://seekingalpha.com/article/43403-the-plunge-protection-team-exposed