“Dark Money” Runs the World

Few people know financial markets' biggest secret…

For the last 40 years, most people believed the stock market always goes up. Simply buy and hold long enough, the theory went, and you could sit back and watch the money accumulate in your account. No thought or hard work needed.

It was a nifty strategy — until the idea burned most investors in 2008. Almost a decade later, the scar tissue is still fresh for many investors.

Even today, after the U.S. stock market has rallied by 271% since the bottom on March 6, 2009 — nearly tripling investors' money — only about half of Americans are invested in the stock market, according to NPR. That's down from two-thirds compared to a decade ago.

The rest are in cash on the sidelines. Maybe that's been you.

And who can blame you? "Fool me once, shame on you," the saying goes. "Fool me twice, shame on me."

Last June, Fortune surveyed readers. 71% of respondents said "the economic system in the U.S. is rigged in favor of certain groups."

A few years earlier, the Los Angeles Times reported "Poll finds 64% of voters believe stock market is rigged against them…"

They're not wrong.

Somebody's made gains from all of those sectors in the stock market. It just hasn't been Main Street.

Since I've left the world of big banking, I've made it my mission to change that. That leads me to the catalyst for my new project…

Dark money.

Dark money is the #1 secret life force of today's rigged financial markets. It drives whole markets up and down. It's the reason for today's financial bubbles.

On Wall Street, knowledge of and access to dark money means trillions of dollars per year flowing in and around global stock, bond and derivatives markets.

I learned this firsthand from my career on Wall Street. My first full year working on Wall Street was in 1987.

I wasn't talking about "dark money" or central bank collusion back then. I was just starting out.

Eventually, I would uncover how the dark money system works… how it has corrupted our financial system… and encouraged greed to the point of crisis like in 2008.

When I moved abroad to create and run the analytics department at Bear Stearns London as senior managing director, I got my first look at how dark money flows and its effects cross borders.

The "dark money" comes from central banks. In essence, central banks "print" money or electronically fabricate money by buying bonds or stocks. They use other tools like adjusting interest rate policy and currency agreements with other central banks to pump liquidity into the financial system.

That dark money goes to the biggest private banks and financial institutions first. From there, it spreads out in seemingly infinite directions affecting different financial assets in different ways.

Yet these dark money flows stretch around the world according to a pattern of power, influence and, of course, wealth for select groups. To be a part of the dark money elite means to have control over many. How elite is a matter of degree.

These is not built upon conspiracy theories. To the contrary, alliances make perfect sense and operate publicly. Even better, their exclusive dealings and the consequences that follow are foreseeable — but only if you understand how the system works and follow the dark money flows.

It's easy to see how this dark money affects the stock market at a high level, because we can monitor its constant movement.

Here's the smoking gun:

 

The black line shows you how much "dark money" the Federal Reserve has printed since 2008.The gray line shows  you the S&P 500. They move together — more dark money drives the market higher. Much higher.There are dark money charts from around the world, just like the one I showed you for the Federal Reserve and U.S. stock market. Look at this "dark money" chart from Japan, for example:

The blue line shows the dark money created by their central bank, The Bank of Japan. The red line shows Japan's major stock index, the Nikkei 225, going up as well. The dark money drove the market much higher over the past eight years.

Or, look at this "dark money" chart from the U.K.:

Again, the blue line shows the "dark money" created since 2009 by the U.K.'s central bank, The Bank of England. The black line shows how the FTSE 100, their stock index, has followed higher in lock-step.

To invest profitably in financial markets, you need to understand the hidden power relationships that drive financial and political events. Ideologies and personal associations among elites are oblivious to political party lines and international boundaries. So is dark money.

But even when the data is as clear as these charts, it's hard to know how to trade around it.

For an individual investor like you, looking to manage your individual portfolio positions, this dark money is invisible. Without help, it's hard to identify and execute trades based on dark money.

Which begs the question: What are you supposed to do with this information?

If you know where this dark money is coming from… where it's going… and how it will be used… you can position yourself defensively and securely for the future.

I'm not suggesting anyone become a cheerleader for the bubble dynamics in today's financial markets. I'm not suggesting anyone "fight the Fed," either.

I'm suggesting it's possible to find the opportunities to trade around the dark money flows that Wall Street thrives on.

I believe that — equipped with the right approach, tools and systems — you can make protect your money.

A key part of the process involves understanding how governments and markets function.

Another part involves knowing how both are intertwined. Yet another part requires interpreting central bankers talk.

There is one thing I have learned over my career. People matter just as much as data. Relationships matter.

Central Bank Money Rules the World

Central bank credit that supports markets — is not just creation of the Fed, but by central banks and institutions around the world colluding together. Global markets are too deeply connected these days to consider the Fed in isolation.

Since last month's correction, the world has been watching the Fed because its policies have global implications. And worldwide sell-offs sent a clear sign to Fed Chair Powell to relax with the rate hikes.

When fears arise that central bank QE will recede on one side of the world, we see more volatility and rumors of hawkishness. To counter those fears, there will be a move toward dovish policy on the other side of the world.

Central banks operate in collusion. When the Fed signals it is raising rates, or markets over-react negatively to the threat, another central bank steps in. By colluding, other central banks offer even more dark money-QE to keep the party going.

The net result is a propensity toward the status quo in global monetary policy: a bullish, asset bubble-inflating bias in the stock markets and caution in the bond markets.

Here's what's going on with some of the most powerful central bankers right now, starting with Japan…

While U.S. markets were correcting earlier this month, Japan's financial benchmark, the Nikkei 225 index fell more than 1,200 points. At the same time, the rumors of Japan's central bank curbing its dark money-QE programs are just that.

While investors have speculated that the BoJ could be moving towards an exit from dark money policy (despite the BOJ denying this), we know that central banks are too scared of the outcomes.

In an economic pinch, the Bank of Japan (BoJ), will keep dark money flowing.

Confirming my premise, when Japanese Government Bond prices were dipping too fast, the BoJ announced "unlimited" buying of long-term Japanese government bonds. This is simply the continuation of the policy the BoJ already has in place.

It was also, as CNBC reported, "the first time in more than six months that the BOJ has conducted special operations to buy bonds to achieve the yields it wants to see…"

That's a clear sign of more manipulation of the bond market. And now we have confirmation that Japan likely has more dark money coming…

For the past year, there have been media rumblings that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe would relieve current Bank of Japan (BoJ) head, Haruhiko Kuroda. The dark money maven was set to end his term on April 8.

Seeing through the media craze, I have repeatedly detailed that it would not be the case. Abe and Kuroda go together like peanut butter and jelly. Abe specifically chose Kuroda to implement a massive dark money strategy in what has been referred to as a monetary "bazooka."

A piece in Japan Today confirms this view. It concludes that 73-year-old Kuroda will stick around for a second five-year term, through 2023. So as the article notes, "He would be the first BoJ governor to serve two terms in half a century."

Kuroda has implemented the most aggressive dark money manufacturing on the planet since taking the helm of the BOJ in 2013. Prime Minister Abe has become the longest-standing Japanese prime minister in years with the success of the snap elections he called for last fall.

Logically, why would he seek to end a partnership that is lifting the Japanese markets and making its economy appear rosy? (Though as in the U.S., wage growth and consumption remain tepid.)

With core inflation rising just 0.5% last year, well below Kuroda's 2% target, you should expect that he'll be pumping even more dark money into Japanese markets. For investors that means more opportunities in Japanese stocks. Currently, I'm focused on sectors related to the 2020 Olympics and the infrastructure projects that come with it.

Japan offers us a clear roadmap. Financial markets in Japan are clearly addicted to dark money.