Former JP Morgan Trader Pleads Guilt to Manipulating Precious Metals Markets for Years

An “exhaustive” investigation of the silver market by the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission managed to miss serial acts of price manipulation in the gold, silver, platinum, and palladium futures contracts markets.  John Edmonds, 36, of Brooklyn, a former JPMorgan precious-metals major bullion trader, admitted he engaged in a six-year ‘spoofing’ scheme from 2009 to 2015 that involved placing orders for precious metals futures contracts with the intent to cancel those orders before execution in order to manipulate prices.  He recently plead guilty to commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, commodity price manipulation and spoofing and faces up to 30 years in prison, but is expected to get a lighter sentence.  He said that he learned this practice from more senior traders and that his supervisors at the firm knew of his actions.

  • John Edmonds, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of commodities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, price manipulation and spoofing.
  • Edmonds, a 13-year J.P. Morgan veteran, said that he learned how to manipulate prices from more senior traders and that his supervisors at the firm knew of his actions.
John Edmonds, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of commodities fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, price manipulation and spoofing, according to a Tuesday release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Edmonds spent 13 years at New York-based J.P. Morgan until leaving last year, according to his LinkedIn account.

As part of his plea, Edmonds said that from 2009 through 2015 he conspired with other J.P. Morgan traders to manipulate the prices of gold, silver, platinum and palladium futures contracts on exchanges run by the CME Group. He and others routinely placed orders that were quickly cancelled before the trades were executed, a price-distorting practice known as spoofing.

“For years, John Edmonds engaged in a sophisticated scheme to manipulate the market for precious metals futures contracts for his own gain by placing orders that were never intended to be executed,” Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said in the release.

Of note for J.P. Morgan, the world’s biggest investment bank by revenue: Edmonds, a relatively junior employee with the title of vice president, said that he learned this practice from more senior traders and that his supervisors at the firm knew of his actions.

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Mainstream Media Ignores Senate Investigation Report that Found Zero Evidence Against Kavanaugh in Sex Abuse Allegations

The mainstream media ignored the Senate Judiciary Committee report that could have influenced the midterms elections in favor of Republicans.  The investigation found ‘no evidence’ to back sexual assault claims against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and two accusers, Julie Swetnick and Judy Munro-Leighton, were referred to the DOJ for making false statements.  Munro-Leighton confessed that she made up the story that Kavanaugh raped her in a car because she was angry and wanted attention.  The false accusations against Kavanaugh degraded the culture and based it in lies and the presumption of guilt.

On Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee released a 414-page document presenting its summary report and exhibits regarding the allegations of sexual misconduct against now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. In the 28-page summary of its findings, the committee explained that after speaking with 45 individuals and taking 25 written statements, it did not find “any evidence to substantiate or corroborate any of the allegations” against Kavanaugh.

“The revelation of last minute allegations tested the committee in many ways,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in a statement Friday. “But these investigative efforts rose to the occasion and were critical to helping us obtain the truth. This was a serious and thorough investigation that left no stone unturned in our pursuit of the facts. In the end, there was no credible evidence to support the allegations against the nominee.”

In its announcement of the report, the committee notes that its investigators “spoke with 45 individuals and took 25 written statements relating to the various allegations made in the course of the Supreme Court confirmation process.” Citing the supplementary FBI investigation ordered by the committee, the committee states that neither found “any evidence to substantiate or corroborate any of the allegations.”

The committee also notes that it has submitted multiple people to the Justice Department for review for “potential violations of Senate rules, potential witness tampering, and potential false statements made to the Committee in violation of federal law,” including Kavanaugh-accuser Julie Swetnick, lawyer Michael Avenatti, and Judy Munro-Leighton.

“Despite the Committee’s best efforts to ensure a timely and thorough review, an eleventh-hour news report released the day before a scheduled Committee vote on Justice Kavanaugh’s nomination disrupted the Senate’s exhaustive confirmation process,” the committee states after summarizing the extensive background review of nominee it conducted. “On September 12, 2018, the media reported that Ranking Member Feinstein possessed a letter from an unidentified woman detailing an incident involving her and Justice Kavanaugh when they were in high school. As details of that allegation unfolded, the Committee’s Majority Nominations Unit paired with the Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Unit to investigate the allegations. These joint efforts, with up to 40 attorneys, law clerks, and other professionals from the Chairman’s staff, continued over the following month as the Committee received several additional allegations of sexual misconduct.”

“All interviews were conducted in an objective and fair manner aimed at producing a final determination of fact with respect to the allegations levied against Justice Kavanaugh,” the committee asserts. “In order to accomplish that, investigators conducted extensive interviews with individuals who knew Justice Kavanaugh in high school and college; investigators also conducted extensive interviews with individuals who knew the accusers in order to better weigh the credibility of their allegations. In sum, the Committee spoke to 45 individuals and collected 25 written statements.”

The committee also notes that a “large portion of individuals providing testimony in support of Justice Kavanaugh asked that their names be redacted out of fear that their statements might result in personal or professional retribution or personal physical harm – or even risk the safety and well-being of their families and friends,” so the committee respected those requests for anonymity and redacted their names from documents.

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France: President Macron Calls for a European Army to Counter Perceived Threats from Russia, China and Donald Trump

President Macron of France, now the ostensible leader of the EU since Merkel’s fall, is calling for a “true European army” to allow the EU defend itself from threats Russia, China and even Donald Trump in the US.  Macron cited Trump’s announcement to quit a cold-war era disarmament treaty with Russia was as a threat to Europe.  Europe is dependent on the US as Americans finance more than 22% of NATO’s budget. 

Emmanuel Macron has called for the creation of a “true European army” to allow the EU defend itself from threats ranging from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin.

The French president has pushed for closer EU defence union since coming to power last year but has been so far met with limited success amid foot-dragging by other member states.

“We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America,” Mr Macron told France’s Europe 1 radio in an interview.

“When I see President Trump announcing that he’s quitting a major disarmament treaty which was formed after the 1980s Euro-missile crisis that hit Europe, who is the main victim? Europe and its security.”

The French president continued: “We will not protect the Europeans unless we decide to have a true European army.

“We need a Europe which defends itself better alone, without just depending on the United States, in a more sovereign manner.”

Mr Macron was speaking in Verdun, northeast France, as part of a week-long tour of battlefields leading up to First World War Armistice centenary commemorations on Sunday.

The French head of state will receive world leaders including Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin for commemoration ceremonies in Paris on Remembrance Sunday.

The election of Mr Trump to the White House appears to have given more urgency to the cause of boosting the EU’s defence capabilities, with leaders warning they cannot simply rely on the United States.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said last year that “deference to Nato can no longer be used as a convenient alibi to argue against greater European efforts”.

France is the strongest and most vocal proponent of an EU army but Germany has also tentatively endorsed Mr Macron’s proposals for a joint command structure for military interventions.

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NBC, Fox News and Facebook Ban President Trump’s Campaign Advertisement that Features Illegal Alien Cop Killer Luis Bracamontes


NBC and the Fox News Channel both said on Monday, the day before the election, stopped airing President Trump’s campaign advertisement that includes footage of Luis Bracamontes, a twice-deported immigrant from Mexico sentenced to death in California for killing two police officers.  Earlier, CNN had rejected the same ad, declaring it “racist.”  Fox News, considered to be conservative, banned the President – will he be censored by Twitter next?

Fox News and Fox Business pulled Trump’s caravan ad after a huge backlash from critics who decried the 30-second video as “racist.”

First CNN refused to air the caravan ad and lectured Donald Trump Jr. after he took a swipe at CNN for refusing to show the real threats to the US.

Fox News has now joined CNN after it caved to pressure.

In a statement to Mediaite, Fox News ad sales president Marianne Gambelli said, “Upon further review, Fox News pulled the ad yesterday and it will not appear on either Fox News Channel or Fox Business Network.”

The ad focuses on the migrant caravan marching towards our border and features cop killer Luis Bracamontes, who was deported twice and snuck back in, murdered two police officers and was seen laughing in court about his crimes.

“The migrant caravan must be stopped,” the narrator of Trump’s caravan ad says after it shows cop-killer Luis Bracamontes lamenting he should have murdered more officers.

 

President Trump wants to secure our borders and keep Americans safe–this is now considered “racist” by the left and mainstream media.

 

President Trump also ran this stunning ad on NBC during Sunday night football and the left went ballistic.

NBC caved and pulled the caravan ad as well.

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The FDA Requested a $25 Million Study on Cell Phone Radiation, But Ignored the Results that Link the Radiation to Cancer

A $25 million comprehensive study on the effects of cellphone radiation on rats that spanned 19 years found clear evidence of tumors in the hearts of male rats and some links to tumors in the brains and adrenal glands of male rats.  However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which had requested the study in the first place, is casting doubt on the study’s conclusions claiming that the results on the rodents cannot be extrapolated to humans.  David Carpenter, the Director for Health and Environment at the University of Albany in New York, said that many studies have shown increased risk of brain cancer (glioblastoma) in humans due to excessive cell phone use, and that animal models like mice and rats in experiments are common because it is very rare for a substance to cause cancer in an animal, but not in humans.  If the FDA had accepted the results, the Federal Communications Commission would have had to update its regulations from the current standards that were set in 1996.