Deutsche Bank Economic Collapse: Banking Reset
Deutsche Bank Economic Collapse: Banking Reset
Deutsche Bank Economic Collapse: Banking Reset
Author Jay
Has worked as a financial analyst for trading banks in Canada and Western Europe.
This educational book is not for sale. It aims to inform scholars from non-finance disciplines of
the fundamental principles of financial reports. Images in this book acknowledge sources. Royalty
free use is claimed under the fair illustration purposes in education. Cover page: © PNW 2019
This public exposure draft was penned without assistance. I am grateful to receive feedback
about errors and ideas from any source. You may e-mail the author at [email protected]
You may download a free copy of this book in PDF or print format at these home pages:
Statistics: Tricks p. 39
Selecting p. 40
Sidelining p. 45
Showcasing p. 46
Speculating p. 47
Suggesting p. 49
Phonies Conmen p. 53
Charismatics p. 56
Confusion p. 58
Crap p. 60
Panels Cronies p. 64
Predetermining Causation p. 67
P’s of marketing p. 75
Price p. 76
Product p. 78
Packaging p. 79
Promotion p. 81
Positioning p. 83
Placement p. 85
Politics Corruption p. 88
Predictions Conclusions p. 92
if/when you need a break from the cold, hard money magic truths that I present in this book.
Root (2018)
Those who accurately narrate the underlying truths about the deeply corrupt world of Finance
usually find few positive aspects to discuss. The narrator of this text holds a graduate degree in
economics and has worked as a finance analyst in Australia, Canada and Europe. He concludes
that the world of finance is a toxic system, staffed by champions like you at the base. The villains
of finance are apex predators. The imminent global economic reset will bring a better world.
The sentiment that underlies this book theorizes that the global economy is undergoing a massive
transformation. This flux, coordinated by so-called ‘elites’, behind-the-scenes, parallels and may
dwarf the futile reorganization of the global political economy in the aftermath of WW11.
Global financial markets are corrupt beyond repair. Fiat money magic systems are the root of this
financial evil. They further enrich multi-billionaires and decimate every nations’ middle class.
Fiat money systems, that dominate global finance, allow banks and other licensed financial
institutions to ‘financially engineer’ money and wealth out of thin air. Virtually all investment
assets that exist on the balance sheets of corporations and other collectives are ultimately backed
by nothing. How can this be so? Because every single unit of real investment wealth, such as a
single gold bar, has multiple owners. The diagram overleaf shows fiat currency flows visually.
The imminent collapse of the corrupt Deutsche Bank is a barometer and metaphor for the state-
of-affairs of global finance. According to its balance sheet, Deutsche Bank holds about four Euros
in equity for each 100 euros that it owes its creditors, including depositors (IMTrading, 2019).
If you or I continued trading under these circumstances, we would be prosecuted and imprisoned
for trading whilst insolvent. And insolvent Deutsche Bank is. As are virtually all other banks.
The $96 loan returns to Fiat Fairy Bank via depositor Jane Doe
The $92 loan returns to Fiat Fairy Bank via depositor Jack Doe
In this simple example above, the original deposit made by John Doe,
$100, has created additional cash in the economy of $188.
* Per national law, this bank must hold at least 4% of each client's deposit.
“How to Win Friends and Influence People”. I earnestly salute Dale Carnegie’s glorious legacy.
I confess that I have never read Carnegie’s book and probably never will. My view is that this
book’s title sounds manipulative (“influence”), desperate and scheming (“win”). The first chapter,
his priority, is titled “Fundamental Techniques in Handling People”. I have found that most people
don’t enjoy others using their minds and hands to guide them away from their free-willed path.
I am suspicious of ‘cultural influencers’ who boast rare Dynastic surnames and harbor the same
sentiment for clique bestseller titles. I suspect that most bestseller books are ghost written pay
to play scams. Publishers pay to list celebrity writers’ fledgling books. Buyers respond en masse.
People, as sheep – i.e. sheeple. I always assume that readers are astute persons with free minds.
This critique above aims to impart a constructive message of hope. Our world has been deeply
corrupted for millennia. The masses have been dumbed and numbed by this normalcy. The black
satin curtain that cloaks this vileness is unveiling. A better world of banking and thanking awaits.
I look forward to living in a society that rewards thinkers over ghoulish ghost writers and money
magic fiat currency. All fiat currency eventually resets to zero. We are there. The time is now.
The imminent collapse of the borderline-insolvent Deutsche Bank is well known in finance circles
and beyond. A straightforward mainstream media story such as this one may be a reasonable
gauge for some to self-determine if they are abreast of basic, major financial developments.
This story above is merely the opinion of Forbes and possibly its author Jack Kelly. Other
mainstream media stories are available. Deutsche Bank’s financial statements are available at:
This book is about the ways that certain banks, financial institutions and financial analysts
deliberately use statistics to lie or distort truth. This document contains five distinct sections.
The opening segments, the Prologue and Principles sections, establish the political and economic
context of covert power structures that control global financial affairs. I also outline the likely
The next section outlines the ways that false and misleading financial data is produced. The
Part Four discusses the ways that unethical financial agents can and do use marketing
propaganda to promote junk financial products and services that don’t suit investors’ needs.
The penultimate part of this report analyzes the ways that corrupt peak political institutions
deploy laws and the resources of financial institutions to protect corrupt financial institutions.
The final section explores the IELTS case. This institution’s transnational financial fraud crimes
that target international students is possibly the largest investment scam in human history.
I credit the inspiration to write this book to a video that I enjoyed on YouTube a few weeks ago.
I rarely watch motivational videos for my own personal reasons. From experience, I have found
that many, possibly most motivational speakers are people who have never achieved serious
vocational success in their lives prior to becoming a ‘life coach guru’. In contrast to a regulated,
respected title such as ‘Registered Nurse’, anyone can instantly become a motivational speaker.
This speaker in the video above dropped statistics about financial stress and despair. There were
no references to time, place, sources or methods. My cheeky, honest response appears above.
I conclude that the personal narrative of many motivational speakers often starts as follows:
“I was an unemployed, aimless, unhealthy dropout for years, prior to realizing my calling to
become a champion motivational speaker who can empower other people’s lives.”.
May you freely decide if you will take the advice of motivational speakers – sometimes, always
or never. Issues about charismatic personalities and free-thinking are core messages in this book.
This text encourages all people to decide for themselves. May you enjoy or reject this book as
decided by your own free will. This book has no price tag. The truth is free. Truth will set you free.
Covert global power structures that dominate global financial affairs operate at levels higher than
rubber stamp puppet parliaments. Laws and regulations passed by parliaments (e.g. Congress)
merely execute decisions that take place behind-the-scenes in secretive global forums that
purposefully shun media attention and public scrutiny. It is beyond the scope of this introductory
book to outline the complexities of these global systems, which are currently in a state of flux.
The two diagrams overleaf visually summarize the major institutions that have shaped the global
political economy during the post Second World War era. This Western centric, Western
dominated system is broadly known as the Bretton Woods Financial System. In its most simple
terms, the American economy is (or was) the global economic engine that drove world affairs.
The requirement for other nations to pay for crude oil in US Dollars elevated the prominence and
success of America’s economy under this system until the Global Financial Crisis emerged in 2008.
The rising influence of China and Asian manufacturing economies such as South Korea is rapidly
challenging the failed Bretton Woods System. The Bretton Woods fiat currency system has
created massive financial debts. Most financial institutions are technically bankrupt. The same
might be said of most people who live in Western economies. The BRICS economic pact between
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa aims to create a new financial order that centers
around China’s Belt and Road initiative that is constructing sea and land transport infrastructure.
Institution Founded Head Office Membership Official core objectives and website
Sovereign Military Circa Rome Circa 13,500 elites. A lay religious order of the Catholic Church since 1113.
Order of Malta 1099 orderofmalta.int
Society of Jesus ‘Jesuits’ c. 1534 France Circa 16,000 men. Roman Catholic order of priests and brothers. jesuits.org
18th England Circa 5 million globally. A global male-centric fraternal society that has no official
The Freemasons
Century (unofficial) central governing body. Example freemasonnetwork.org
Council on American political and A nonprofit thinktank that specializes in promoting
1921 New York
Foreign Relations business leaders. America’s foreign policies. cfr.org
New York; 193 sovereign nations. Promotion of International Humanitarian Law such as the
United Nations 1945
Geneva 2 observer states. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. un.org
An annual forum for informal discussions, designed to
By invitation.
Bilderberg Meeting 1954 Europe foster dialogue between Europe and North America.
Varies annually.
bilderbergmeetings.org
Italy, Canada, USA, UK, A forum of highly industrialized democratic nations to
Group of 7 Nations (G7) 1970s None
France, Germany, Japan. coordinate economic, security, and energy policy.
Circa 1,000 of the world’s Engages political, business and cultural leaders to shape
World Economic Forum 1971 Geneva
largest corporations. global industry agendas. weforum.org
Tokyo, Paris, Foster cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and
Trilateral Commission 1973 Circa 490
DC (USA) North America. trilateral.org
Notable societies and secret societies: (i) Skull and Bones (all-male), Yale University; (ii) Club of Rome (all-male); (iii) International Red Cross.
The Vatican Is ostensibly the Deep State’s major religious arm. The Catholic religion has the world’s largest number of subjects,
circa 1.3 billion adherents. vaticanstate.va
United States Regarded by some political theorists as being the Deep State’s major military arm. America’s Military Industrial
of America Complex has sustained the world’s largest military budget during the post WWII period. E.g. www.rand.org
References to the USA as variants of the noun ‘United States Incorporated’ undermine this nation’s sovereignty.
City of London (UK) Labelled by some geopolitical researchers as the Deep State’s major banking and finance arm. cityoflondon.gov.uk
A visit by Chinese Premier Xi Jiping and his apex-level delegation to Monaco during March 2019
was barely covered by mainstream media. At face-value, it is strange to imagine that the head of
the world’s second largest economy and the world’s most populous nation would find time to
conduct negotiation meetings with a square-mile micro nation that has around 30,000 citizens.
Monaco’s Royals, i.e. France’s de facto Royal Family, exert high political leverage in secret. This
observation supports my theory that inbred European royal families, who control Switzerland,
are covertly plotting the birth of a Swiss-based Quantum Financial System (see CERN, Annex 1).
Europe’s inbred royal families use the national education system to spread the myth that ‘Royal
families are merely figureheads that no longer hold power’. The secretive Bank of International
Settlements, based in Switzerland, is currently the world’s most powerful financial institution.
The Bretton Woods system is orchestrated by powerful banks that operate above the law with
impunity. This topic is worthy of a separate book. I merely summarize selected facts on this page.
Global banks flout national tax laws to avoid paying tax. They employ shrewd tax attorneys and
manipulate various tax planning regimes to avoid paying their true obligations. Examples of
schemes employed include parking money in secretive tax havens such as the British Virgin
Islands. Most banks use grossly inflated transfer pricing regimes within their group of companies.
Mainstream media stories dated 2018 and 2019 that accurately report the prosecution of global
banks for engaging in massive transnational organized crime are relatively easy to find using
online search engines. This feature article shown below is merely one example among many.
The article above by Winters (2018) is a watershed moment in contemporary banking history.
Prior to the appointment of the incumbent American administration, banking crime families such
as the Rothschild clan were considered ‘untouchables’ in elite financial and political circles.
Christine Lagarde has been Managing Director and Chairwoman of the criminal International
Monetary Fund since 2011. Lagarde’s résumé and professional record are indicative of endemic
corruption that pervades Europe’s criminal apex financial institutions and warmongering
globalist financial institutions such as the IMF that aim to destroy all nations’ sovereignty.
As shown above, global media outlets reported Lagarde’s conviction in a major fraud case in a
French Court during 2016. This major fraudster was not penalized. She remains head of the IMF.
In mid-2019, this convicted fraudster was appointed President of the European Central Bank.
There is ample evidence that major Western economies are teetering on the brink of economic
collapse. Fake government statistics are the norm. The bizarre scenario of negative interest rates
may receive zero interest or negative returns for depositing their money in financial institutions.
The likely imminent collapse of Deutsche Bank is a symptom of decades of financial deception.
Most major banks ‘engineer’ junk tradeable paper assets whose values eventually reset to zero.
Fantasy finance ‘products’ such as options, futures and derivates may impress naïve ‘mom and
dad’ investors. Unlike gold and land, these overtraded paper assets are mostly backed by nothing
tangible. Most elite financial institutions enjoy immunity from prosecution for major frauds.
Banks have collapsed in recent times in advanced Western economies such as Britain and Cyprus.
Doral Bank (Puerto Rico) and Northern Rock (England) are examples from recent decades.
Sometimes when banks and financial institutions fail one person is fingered by mainstream media
and government authorities as responsible. This infamous case study below is one such example.
Re: 1995
According to media folk lore, Nick Leeson accrued massive losses on the derivatives trading desk.
Nick used accounting fraud to bury these losses. Nick was aged 28 when he supposedly single-
handedly sank this bank. Barings was a famous elite boutique bank that was established in 1762.
Do you believe that it is possible for a rogue desk trader to single-handedly hide losses of 827
million pounds? This is equal to circa USD two billion dollars ($2, 000, 000, 000) in 2019 terms.
This page briefly introduces two fundamental principles of financial investing. These tenets are:
1. Consult widely;
Investing activities can be compared to sick people who engage medical advisors. It is usually a
wise choice to consult multiple professionals in multiple sub-fields. Most physicians prescribe
medications for most ailments. These may or may not work – dependent on the context. Most
naturopaths and dietitians center on changes to diet. By consulting widely, we can consider
different perspectives and options. We may apply trial-and-error to discover what works best.
The notion of not putting all your eggs in one basket for most is self-explanatory. And this clique
can be understood from the truth of its origins in nature. Female Sea Turtles are an example of
animals that lay their eggs in multiple places. This strategic act minimizes the chance that all eggs
from one egg laying cycle will be destroyed by natural forces (e.g. storms) and predators.
Investing in multiple products and markets decreases the likelihood that one specific disaster can
eradicate one person’s wealth instantly or in the short-term. If all financial markets in one nation
(e.g. Germany) are bankrupted, this will not bankrupt Germans who invest in other alternatives
products and markets such as gold coins stored in South Dakota and farm properties in Australia.
Much finance and economic data that is factually correct, i.e., measured accurately, may contain
numerous fundamental flaws that undermine its usefulness. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data
Governments can increase the GDP figure by changing the definition of how it is measured.
Free resources on Google Scholar that discuss this issue and others are analyzed in this book.
Readers may fare better if they consult multiple sources and freely draw their own opinions.
Yes or No
Question
or your own answer
If you answer yes to the question above, you may wish to make
a note in the space under this box, or in another space of
agendas that you suspect. You may consider offering other
comments such as concerns, insights and personal discoveries.
3. Please make a note of any ideas or questions below that you plan
to investigate in the future.
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21 | journalistethics.com How banks spin trends
Production
© ALC 2019
This section explores the basics of applied financial statistics. I use financial case study examples
that are relatively straightforward, well-known and practical. The two fundamental principles of
finance – spread risk and consult widely are more important than statistics. You may consider
ignoring an advisor and their advice if you feel that they are using tricky statistics to confuse you.
Historically, many unethical financial: planners, advisors and sales agents have purposefully used
complex formulae, terminologies and examples to confuse investors. Strangely, and sadly, many
naïve investors have this mindset: ‘if the sales agent’s financial terminologies sound foreign and
confusing, then s/he must be clever and selling excellent products’. Usually the inverse is true.
The following financial products, which are often scams, are among the most popular
terminologies promoted by financial sales operators because they sound ‘sexy’: options, futures,
derivatives and equities. This glossary section of this document defines these terms.
The first lesson of ‘Financial Planning 101’ courses, designed for investors, should probably be
this principle: Financial Planners are King (or Queen). Investment advisors invariably take their
commission from investors prior to purchasing their investments. No matter how disastrous your
investments perform, your investment broker always gets paid in advance. And paid in full.
Ratios;
Distributions;
Compounding;
Basic probability;
Relative and comparative analysis: percentages;
Arithmetic: Counting, subtracting, dividing, multiplying;
Linear regression.
Those who understand these basic principles, above, can feel confident that they are competent
in the sub-field of mathematics named “Applied Financial Math”. This noun is sometimes used to
market textbooks that center around the seven principles listed above as bullet points.
The following are advanced sub-fields in statistics: Confidence intervals, Chi square, Multiple
regression, Indices, Logarithms and Calculus. There is no need for investors to understand these
principles as a foundation for understanding financial literature and making financial decisions.
I encourage critical-thinking, free willed people to be suspicious of investors who claim that
investors must understand advanced statistics and/or trust the financial advisor’s claim that
these numbers are “true”. Sound multibillion dollar investing decisions are made by people with
limited financial knowledge. Prime Ministers who are trained ophthalmologists as an example.
Those who desire to explore basic or advanced statistics handbooks should be able to find copies
of free mainstream published textbooks on Google Scholar. Free books shown below are
available via the links in this book’s references section. Similar free books exist on Google Scholar.
Free quality research methods books are likewise easy to find on Google Scholar. For example
There are four main ways that finance professionals can visually summarize data. These are pie
charts, line graphs, bar graphs and data tables. Investors and others should be skeptical of finance
staff who claim that their advice or argument can only be demonstrated with other diagrams.
Pie charts
Pie charts show percentage share, i.e., the relative share of each component to the whole. Please
I encourage readers to read this FT article so that they can appreciate this example in context.
A bar graph is best for showing comparative size against another scale such as time.
Line graph
A line graph is best for showing size and performance over time.
There are five basic trends that a line graph can report: Upward, downward, flat, cycle and
volatile. Volatile means no trend. In this line diagram below, Boomers shows a downward trend.
Millennials’ trend is upward. Gen Xers is relatively flat (i.e. stable) during this 23-year time period.
This graph below shows a hybrid of two trends. The red line shows a cycle that trends upwards.
CE (2006)
A data table may be the best format to use when the creator does not want the reader to be
distracted by diagrams that display lines, slices and bars. This is an example of a simple data table.
Readers can access Deutsche Bank’s quarterly and annual financial statements online.
Are you able to find at least one example of the six data presentation diagrams shown on the
previous three pages? What other visual illustration diagrams do Deutsche use? Which ones do
you understand? Which financial presentation diagram/s can you not interpret?
Do you understand the difference between a bar graph and a stacked bar graph (example below)?
The light blue and dark blue component of each single bar equates to the total of that bar.
A ratio is the quantitative comparative relation between two amounts. A ratio shows the number
of times that one of the item sets repeats with reference to the other item.
© CCM
In the image above, there are 24 female students studying Economics 101 at this college and 6
male students in term 1, 2019. Numbers 24 and 6 share a common denominator – number 6. If
you divide 24 by 6 and divide 6 by 6, you can simplify this ratio to 4 females for each male.
It is correct to quote a ratio of 24:6 and 4:1 as these ratios are numerically identical. The ratio
24:6 may be a better citation if you want your audience to know the full population number. The
ratio 4:1 may be preferable if you want to simplify larger numbers for your audience.
Mathematics centers around the Western Arabic number system. This regime uses ten numerals
Statistics is an applied sub-field of mathematics. The notion of the ‘normal distribution bell curve’
Bhatia (2019)
The bell curve distribution is simple to follow. Numerous real-life examples exist in all domains.
For example, most students in an MBA course earn a mid-level grade at most colleges: an A- or a
B or C. Only a small percentage receive a top mark such as an A or A+ and a similar percentage
fail. In most cases, most numbers fall somewhere in the middle of upper and lower extremes.
A deck of playing cards is one of the easiest ways to introduce the notion of statistical probability.
A standard deck contains 52 cards; four suits and two colors: red and black. Consider this pack of
cards that has been randomly shuffled. These odds about the first card on this deck are correct:
There is one chance in 52 that the top card on this deck is the Ace of Hearts.
There are two chances in 52 that the top card is a red Ace.
There are four chances in 52 that the top card is any Ace card.
There are 48 chances in 52 that the top card is not an Ace.
formula for this last example, above, is [4 dived by 52] multiplied by 100. Answer: 7.7%
Percentages
Investors need to decide what percentages for risks and rewards are low, medium or high.
Consider this scenario: An honest financial advisor correctly informs you that there is a 10%
chance that your property portfolio will collapse next year and be worth $0. On the other side of
this coin, this means that there is a 90% chance that your property portfolio will not collapse next
year. There are nine chances in ten that your property portfolio will not collapse next year.
Bank ratings are a way that professional ratings agencies discreetly use probability to report
quantitative data. The highest ratings mean that it is near-certain that an institute can pay all
debts as they fall due. Most ratings agencies use a series of letters that could be interpreted as
strong, weak or neutral by novice investors. Industry analysis, such as the example below may
aid others to interpret credit ratings. It is best to consult multiple independent sources.
2019
Many investors take little notice of credit ratings agencies as a matter of policy. Some claim that
good credit ratings can be obtained by secret bribes. In certain cases, published numbers ratings
are a corrupted political process. For example, see this article by Gande & Parsley (2014).
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/21118/1/MPRA_paper_21118.pdf
Counting (addition), subtraction, multiplication and division are elementary level math.
Counting: The North America Free Trade Agreement involves three parties: America, plus Canada,
plus Mexico.
Subtracting: As of January 2020, analysts forecast that that European Union will comprise 27
nation state members. Its current total is 28. Britain is scheduled to leave this Union in 2019.
Multiplication: According to BEA.GOV (2019), real GDP increased by a multiple of 2.9% during
2018 compared to GDP recorded during 2017. Total GDP for 2017, multiplied by 1.029 equates
Division: America’s total GDP for 2018, divided by 1.029, equals total GDP for 2017 for this nation.
Statistical regression may sound like an intimidating term for those who are new to the world of
economic statistics. There is no need to be intimidated if a financial broker uses this term. There
is no urgent need for a financial advisor to quote this term when engaging novice investors.
In the world of plain English, the word ‘regression’ is the reverse of progress – to go backwards.
Your savings account may be increasing USD$100 each month, for 36 months, due to disciplined
savings by improving your controls over spending. Imagine that your discipline wanes. Naughty
you. Your spending more than you earn each month for three consecutive months and
expenditure is wasteful. Your financial management has regressed during those three months.
Variables and formulae are the basics regression. To work backwards and create a formula that
derives your monthly savings/overspend amount, we need to know the variables. For many,
these variables are: (a) monthly salary (b) monthly interest on savings and (c) monthly expenses.
Variable (d), the outcome, is your monthly cash saving/deficit. Your monthly saving/deficit
If (d) is negative, your monthly expenditure exceeds total income. Naughty you.
Compounded interest is interest paid or charged on interest. Consider this simple example:
2. Interest of 10% is paid on the principle at the end of each 12-month interval;
4. The investment deposit starts on January 1, 2017 and matures on December 31, 2018.
At the end of the first 12 months, the investor earns $10 interest. This interest earned is added
to the principle deposit, USD$100. The investment balance on 1 January 2018 is USD$110.
The compounded interest earned in dollars is $21. The investor earned an extra $1 in interest
during this two-year period, because the investment company paid interest on the deposit
Most investment companies pay compound interest. A company that does not pay compound
interest will only pay $10 in interest at the end of each year, i.e. 10% on the principle, $100.
Many respected economic commentators speculate that the world is transitioning into a global
currency reset and a new financial system (see Annex 1). This analysis ties in with the premise of
this book that global financial systems are bankrupt as multiple people own each single asset.
This free book about the so-called NESARA Act claims that compounding interest will be outlawed
in America under this new national system. The word “compound” appears 18 times in this Bill.
Using the online PDF document search function (Control-F) you can locate these 18 references.
You may download a free copy of this book at this link below. The 88-page NESARA Bill is annexed
Many unethical finance professionals manipulate statistics to produce fake or exaggerated data.
Lies, misleading statements and exaggeration are the mains ways that they do this. Synonyms for
‘lies’ used in this book include scams, fake, phony, false, fraud and fraudulent.
Lies are claims that are false. This statement is factually incorrect: “Private banks may print their
own American Dollars if they have a shortage of cash on hand”. Untrue. Such acts are illegal.
Misleading claims refer to communications that may be factually true but are framed in a way
that may guide the reader to draw a false conclusion. This statement in context is misleading:
“Our global investment firm is large – we employ 200 sales agents worldwide.” A more accurate
reference to total employees refers to Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff. Many small, amateur
investment brokers employ work from home agents and pay them circa two hours per week. One
hour of work equates to approximately 5% of one FTE employee, who is paid to work 40 hours a
week. This statement is misleading if this firm hires 200 work from home agents in China and
Canada only and pay them 2 hours a week. Their sales force is 10 FTE in size, and it is not global.
Exaggeration is a subjective notion. Claims such as “our firm is successful” may mean different
such vague claims. For example, “last financial year, our firm earned USD$3 million profits after
taxes. This is just 1% higher than the industry average for our region of focus – Eastern Europe”.
How we evaluate things is primarily influenced by variables and factors that are included in the
topic of interest. For example, we cannot assume that the best performers or benchmarks are
always included in an entity or in the data put forward by financial analysts. For example, consider
the case of Hall Capital – a firm which the writer randomly found using Yahoo. According to their
website (2019), its leadership is comprised of three members of the Hall clan: Fred Hall, Kirkland
Hall and Brooks Hall Jr. Are these the best qualified professionals to lead this firm? Quite possibly.
However, to the critical reader, it may appear that leadership recruiting is a ‘family affair’.
What do you know about the NASDAQ index? Does this index measure performances of all stock
traded on Wall Street? The answer is ‘no’. Many people think that NASDAQ measures all US stock.
Only certain stocks are included in the NASDAQ index. These inclusions are weighted towards
technology industries. I encourage people to independently consult multiple sources to find out
what stocks are included in the NASDAQ index. It is best to consult the authority direct, and not
Unethical, aggressive financial services sales agents invariably ‘cherry-pick’ information that
supports their argument. This is one of the most widely used tricks among corrupt sales agents.
These line graphs show the performance of Deutsche Bank’s stock price. A one-month analysis
of this price set makes it appear that this is a somewhat volatile stock that is trending upwards.
Analyzing this stock over a 12-month period shows that this stock is plummeting downwards.
Investment advisors may showcase a graph that suits the agenda they push on naïve buyers.
Financial analysts who construct line graphs can manipulate the X or Y axis scale sizes to
exaggerate facts. For illustration purposes, consider these simple line graphs that report the
average total corporate customers for illustration company ABCXYZ Finance Incorporated.
Using a higher scale range on the Y axis deemphasizes total growth optics over these five years.
Smallman12q
Selective use of images can be used by real-estate agents and others to sell assets. Real estate
has its own language. ‘Tidy’ = crummy. ‘Renovators delight’ = Rotten. ‘Immaculate’ = Over-priced.
Would you like to buy this private Kowloon apartment? Please see our brochure photo below.
It’s best to visit a property and the surrounding neighborhood before handing over your cash.
Mainland China has millions of rotting, never used apartments in empty ghost cities. Beware.
The FTSE index is a famed stock market index that is selective. FTSE is an acronym for Financial
Times Stock Exchange. The FTSE lists the top 100 companies by market capitalization that are
This index may provide a brief snapshot of the British stock market as its components account
This image of the FTSE100 index for January 2018 to July 2019 was published by Trading
Economics. This is not an official source. There may be accidental errors in this line graph.
This site is the official source to confirm FTSE100 index data. www.londonstockexchange.com
Deliberately excluding data to promote false, misleading or exaggerated messages is the inverse
of selective cherry-picking. There are exceptions to this general rule. Sometimes corrupt and
ethical financial advisors extract the full population of data and strategically work backwards by
excluding a handful of data that undermine the truth, as they see it, that they aim to promote.
Average figures, also known as ‘mean’ figures are a popular number cited by financial advisors.
This concept is simple to illustrate. My age is 39. Your age is 29. Our average age is 34. Age 39
plus age 29 = 68 years. 68 years divided by two persons equals an average age of 34 years.
Coulter (2012)
Those who cite trimmed mean figures, and do not disclose reasonable justification for doing so,
may be engaging in unethical selectivity if they covertly exclude data from population analytics.
Finance professionals may emphasize certain facts over others that are relevant to the data they
promote. These four examples are among the most popular techniques used by sales agents:
Selectively bolding certain figures and/or enlarging their comparative font size;
Agents changing their voice tone (e.g. raising) to emphasize/promote certain facts.
Exploding one or more pie slices on a pie chart is a classic example of data emphasis. What core
message/s, if any, do you think that AVAC aims to communicate in this financial diagram below?
AVAC (2019)
You may refer to the link in the references section to view this diagram in its full, original context.
Finance professionals may use words, gestures and images to communicate speculative
information. The use of gestures in official settings is rare. Using two thumbs up to signify “yes
this sale will likely happen” is an example. This is not professional behavior due to its ambiguity.
The adjective ‘speculation’ refers to claims that some act may occur in the future. An event that
is ‘statistically likely’ to happen has more than 50% chance of occurring. ‘Statistically unlikely’ is
the inverse. It means that there is more than a 50% chance that the event will not transpire.
Single word synonyms for the adjective ‘speculate’ includes forecast, predict and hypothesize.
Users of financial information should always distinguish between statements of fact and
“The US Government manages an insurance program known by the proper noun ‘FDIC’.
This scheme offers various levels of protection for member banks and their depositors”.
“Your money should be safe for now with DB … Deutsche probably won’t collapse until 2021”.
Investors should always confirm the accuracy of statements that are conveyed as factual.
Diagrams such as the one below is a standard way that investment advisors classify investment
products. It is normal for advisors to show speculative investments at the top of the investment
pyramid. There is no consistent logic that explains why speculative investments are placed at the
top of a pyramid. It may be because these investments types offer the highest percentage return.
Quora (2018)
The glossary section of this book defines several investment terminologies shown above.
Financial recommendations are the core role of sales agents and brokers who work in the Banking
and Finance industry. Prior discussion in this section: selecting, sidelining, showcasing and
speculating collectively underpin the ways that finance professionals may recommend products.
Astute financial investors should always be wary of the advice offered by financial advisors. Not
all financial advisors are corrupt or unethical. This does not mean that you can drop your guard
if you are working with an advisor who you fully trust as an honest and ethical professional.
Honest and ethical workers in all fields can offer bad advice in good faith. Sometimes they are
using corrupt data and they are not aware that this information has been compromised.
When engaging financial advisors, it may be useful to boldly ask/obtain information such as:
The professional body that regulates their trade and the status of their registration;
Conflicts of interest – is your broker an owner of the products that they promote?
Criminal convictions – has the advisor been charged with financial crimes in the past?
How many years of experience does s/he have in this sub-field of finance?
This list is basic. For example, you may inquire about a broker’s forecasting record. Quantitative,
objective feedback is superior to subjective adjectives such as “she’s very good at her job”.
This web page is a random example of a corporate profile of a professional investment advisor.
Most professional financial advisors publish personalized blurbs online. Investors may investigate
whether their advisor is a full member of a registered professional body such as the Chartered
Financial Analysts Institute, based in Virginia. Academic degrees in any field are not qualifications
per se. They are prerequisite foundation programs for graduate professional registration courses.
Yes or No
Question
or your own answer
If you answer yes to the question above, you may wish to make
a note in the space under this box, or in another space of
agendas that you suspect. You may consider offering other
comments such as concerns, insights and personal discoveries.
3. Please make a note of any ideas or questions below that you plan
to investigate in the future.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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51 | journalistethics.com How banks spin trends
Phonies
ntgent (2018)
Fraudsters exist in all industries. History shows us that no sector is exempt. Some licensed
undertakers and religious ministers have scammed large sums of cash from vulnerable people.
Rogue operators are more likely to transact as sole traders or in small collectives such as
partnerships, alongside likeminded criminals. In many jurisdictions the noun job title ‘Financial
Consultant’ is not regulated. Any fraudster can lawfully place this title on their business card.
Established financial institutions rarely hire or retain professionals who are known criminals. As
shown by the Barings Bank case, one rogue operator can ostensibly destroy an elite enterprise.
This does not mean that people can automatically trust the intentions and advice of large
established financial institutions such as commercial trading banks. Such powerful enterprises
may shape toxic finance regulations, for example, via generous political donations. It is not the
intention to prove this fact on this page. This argument is the premise of this entire book.
Having worked in large financial institutions in several nations, I can confidently say that most
brokers face heavy pressure to meet annual commission targets. It is common for some brokers
to sell useless products to certain demographics to attain profit forecasts and retain their job.
Madoff Securities is one of the most famous Ponzi Schemes reported by media in recent decades.
AB (2019)
Covert Ponzi schemes, which are illegal, take advantage of a basic fact of finance. Most people
leave most or all investments parked in the same place for years. Fund managers who run a Ponzi
Scheme steal a portion of the assets that they hold in custody on behalf of their clients. Clients
who cash in their investments are funded by liquid assets (e.g. cash) deposited by new investors.
Trading banks that accept deposits and loan these deposits run Ponzi Schemes that are doomed
to eventually collapse. Governments provide banks with a license that authorizes them to run a
lawful Ponzi Scheme. In Germany, banks are required to hold just 4% in liquid assets (e.g. cash)
to fund total deposits held on behalf of their clients. Governments lend banks money if there are
a ‘run on banks’, i.e. a situation where masses of depositors demand their cash at the same time.
In 1989, Australian businessman Christopher Skase’s debt funded property development and
luxury resorts business empire collapsed due to fast rising interest rates. Skase fled Australia.
Investors lost hundreds of millions of Australian Dollars in 1989 prices (circa 1+ billion in 2019).
A luxury resort in North Queensland was the emerald in Skase’s Empire. This resort was named
MIRAGE. The theme song used to promote MIRAGE in TV adverts was TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.
Many fraudsters advertise their scams in plain sight with phrases such as ‘unreal returns’.
If something sounds too good to be true, this is a massive red flag. It probably is a scam.
Mainstream media ridicule certain candidates who run for office as “lacking charisma” and
therefore unworthy. This is ridiculous. I don’t get it. I tell a lie. I get this perverseness perfectly.
Charisma is subjective and means different things to different people. Sammy thinks you whine,
and Tammy thinks you shine. Charismatic personalities seem to convey an inner spark; a
magnetic charm that endears people. Charisma per se, is not automatically good, bad or neutral.
Charismatic politicians and smiley sales agents may be able to use their charm to convince people
to make choices that go against their deepest instincts. Decisions that lower their quality of life.
Charismatic brokers may use several techniques to take advantage of their clients. Flattering a
client is a popular tool. For example, they may lead a conversation by saying “I will only offer you
the best advice today Roseanne, because I know that you are an intelligent, astute investor”.
I am wary of advisors and others who never accept “no” for an answer. In most contexts, it is
acceptable to politely clarify once that the first offer of “no” is what the respondent intended to
say. Here’s a suggestive tip, should you encounter a broker who refuses to take “no” as your
answer. Pick up your bag and silently exit in a drama-free fashion. This may be sound advice. This
author proudly has no charisma. That’s for you to decide. You wise, awesome Adonis legend.
According to mainstream media folk lore, self-appointed spiritual leader Bhagwan Shree
Rajneesh owned 93 Rolls Royce vehicles during the 1980s (Leonard, 2018).
Most mainstream media commentators who report about this ‘spiritual’ leader finger him as a
classic example of a charlatan charismatic cult leader who used his personality to extract large
sums of money from his followers. Ninety-three Rolls Royce vehicles seems to be a lot of luxury
cars to own by a man who claims to preach anti materialistic values to impoverished followers.
Ashdown (2016)
I am naturally suspicious of mainstream media stories that attack people who aim to carve out a
niche lifestyle that diverges from the mainstream. Colossal multibillion dollars media empires
such as Fox and Time Warner have their own agenda. The replication of the status quo crony
capitalist system suits their agenda. They profit handsomely from it. An open mind is helpful.
Many professionals confuse their clients by using professional jargon that is difficult for outsiders
There are numerous reasons why finance brokers may deliberately use industry specific jargon
in a manner that perplexes their customers. Some people feel important using complex words.
A more sinister explanation is the phenomenon known as “bamboozling”. Many naïve investors
assume that a financial option must be savvy if they cannot understand their broker’s gibberish.
“You can leverage the equity on your home and divert this liquidity into derivatives, options and
futures in a mutual fund”. Many hard-working mom and dad investors have lost their life savings
acting on such advice. Purchase of these junk paper assets are complex, high-risk options.
This document’s glossary defines 11 terms which bamboozle novice investors. It divides
investment products into two categories. The first category lists those backed by tangible assets
such as land and gold that the investor owns individually. The second category are investment
assets owned by collectives such as mutual funds. These assets are sometimes called ‘paper
assets’. If the collective fund sinks, you own nothing more than useless (toilet) paper certificates.
According to US News (2017), these terminologies are among the most misunderstood
Source: https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/saving-
budget/articles/2017-02-16/say-what-decoding-ubiquitous-financial-jargon
The glossary section of this book defines other frequently used investment terminologies.
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. This famed idiom applies to the world of Finance
and Banking. It is impossible to label any financial investment asset (or instrument) as being
‘good’ or ‘bad’. It depends on the context and the expectations of those who own the asset.
‘Junk bonds’ and ‘penny stocks’ are examples of assets that blatantly inform the market that
these investment instruments are high risk and statistically unlikely to offer a competitive
financial return to investors. So why do people willingly buy junk bonds and penny stocks?
Reasons vary by context. As their name implies, penny stocks cost one cent or a few cents per
unit, because the managers of the business venture think that it is highly unlikely that the venture
will succeed. Speculative deep oil drilling ventures in regions that probably don’t hold any oil are
a classic example. Oil may exist in the region, but it is not cost effective to extract it due to
geological barriers. Some investors are willing to buy these shares as they just might strike it rich.
Massive accessible oil reserves may be discovered under a seabed that was thought to be barren.
Some financial products that are marketed as superior may be junk products. This may be so if
the likely returns offered by the product are miniscule compared to the risks offered. Many paper
-based assets such as derivatives fall into this category. The onus is on buyers to conduct due
diligence and not rely on slick sales brokers – some whom are honest, some whom are not.
Many naïve investors do not realize that their purchases of gold will deliver them nothing more
than a piece of paper that claims that they own a block of gold in an offshore vault. They do not
realize this until they hand over their cash. The scam claim that their gold will be delivered as a
certificate of ownership may be buried in fine print or at the end of the sales contract. There are
various formats to this scam. In some cases, the gold never exists. You can trade your gold
certificate for a profit, loss or breakeven. Why do you think that many assets and wealth holdings
are called “Paper Assets”?. The truth often hides in plain sight. You own a piece of toilet paper.
Licensed scam brokers avoid prosecution as they have various tricks that they can use to make
themselves appear as honest agents. If you demand that your gold is delivered to your door, your
broker may oblige by saying “We can only send that to you by armored courier services – to send
your block of gold from Canberra to London will cost you USD$10,000 in security guard fees”. In
many cases, a block of gold exists that relates to your certificate. However, 100+ people may hold
a certificate that claims they also own the same block of gold. Fiat fractional banking runs the
world. Many gold brokers have no shame trading gold that they secretly know does not exist.
Many independent journalists claim that Bitcoin’s birth was publicized by The Economist, in 1988
(Durden, 2017). They point to January 1988 edition cover that showcases a gold coin dated 2018.
Durden in Zero Hedge (2017) Free book on this home page (2019)
I suggest that you conduct your own research to confirm if this magazine cover is authentic or is
a computer-generated imagery internet myth. The archives of most research libraries store
backdated microfiche editions of The Economist. Apparently, the civilian and military intelligence
apparatuses of major nation-states cannot trace the owners of this secretive cryptocurrency.
In recent decades, real estate salesman Neil Jenman has established his brand as an insider–
outsider who claims to share industry knowledge to advantage those who are vulnerable to the
covert and unethical practices of real estate agents. Between circa 2000 to 2003, Neil offered
free seminars and literature on this topic. Nowadays, Neil’s books are available for purchase.
Given the large number of tricks of the trade in real estate, Neil focused on presenting a core
message to naïve property investors – DON’T SIGN ANYTHING! Neil suggested that people never
sign a real estate contract until they have consulted widely. The manipulation of property buyers
and sellers is often established at the first meeting with a broker. The buyer/seller agrees to sign
a contract without reading its content in full, comparing alternatives and consulting an attorney.
Who is an ‘expert’? Dictionary definitions of this adjective-noun are abstractly sterile. In practice,
an expert is a person who another party, such as a government, quotes to support their position.
The term ‘expert’ is dubious. Some people argue that an experienced Consultant General
Surgeon who holds a Doctor of Medicine coursework Degree and is a member of the College of
Surgeons, is qualified to pass an expert opinion about brain surgery. Others may reject this claim,
if this Surgeon is not a sub-specialist Brain Surgeon. Others may argue that a medical surgeon
must hold a PhD Degree in a specific sub-specialty to claim expertise in that narrow field.
You may earn a PhD in German Banking Law without ever visiting Germany or speaking German.
Many university Law Professors have never been admitted to practice law in any jurisdiction.
The core message above is that no one or everyone can be an expert. When dealing with financial
sales brokers, I suggest that you be wary of people who label themselves or others ‘experts’.
Those who label others ‘experts’ may be using people’s profiles to promote a deceitful agenda.
Governments are adept at hand-selecting panels of sycophants who they conveniently label
experts. These so-called experts know in advance why they are being selected and what policies
they are being paid to promote publicly. They are paid handsomely to prostitute their credentials.
Australia’s big four crime banks: the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ, Westpac and
National exert massive leverage of Australia’s politicians. It is difficult to overstate their influence.
The so-called ‘Gonski Reports’ published in 2011 and 2018 epitomizes two facts of Australian
politics: the mass influence that Australia’s banks exert over this nation’s political economy and
how Australians often quote the ‘wisdom’ of political cronies who they know nothing about.
In Australia, it is common to hear students, parents, educators and others criticize Australia’s
Government for not instigating all recommendations of The Gonski Reports – named after its
chairman, David Gonski. Why did the Gillard Australian Government select banker-lawyer David
Gonski to chair a national inquiry into education funding? Gonski, a career banking executive,
does not hold an earned graduate degree. He has never been employed as a career educator.
The résumé of Gonski, a ‘philanthropist’, boasts directorships at some of the most toxic media
empires and banking crime cartels in Australia. One only needs to read the transcripts of
Australia’s ‘Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial
Services Industry’ (2017-2019) to comprehend the mafia mobster modus operandi of this sector.
“A placard outside the royal commission [my emphasis] set up in February to investigate
Much financial analysis, that measures a specific quantitative outcome, produces a set of
numbers that are determined prior to the data collection and data measurement processes. In
virtually all cases, such acts are unethical in the personal and professional senses. In many cases,
such acts may be illegal. Deliberate publication of fake numbers in public prospectuses is a crime.
All financial calculations are classifiable as variable analysis. Two or more variables produce an
outcome. Please consider this simplistic example. Melania’s annual revenue for modeling fees
were USD$5 million during 2015. She spent USD$1 million in private jet fees to attend these
events. There were no other expenses. Her taxable income for 2015 was USD4 million. Melania’s
taxable income is dependent on two variables: total fee earnings and private jet expenses.
The following is a list of the most commonly cited reports that investors consult to evaluate an
organizations’ past, present and future financial performances. Historical (actual) and forecast
versions of these documents exist for most entities. These are: prospectuses, balance sheets,
income statements (profit reports) and cash flow statements. Earnings of large corporation such
as Facebook are subject to hundreds or thousands of variables. Examples include sales, staff
turnover, personnel pay rises, criminal fines/penalties and changes in federal income tax laws.
Certain entities, large and small, can and do manipulate variables to produce dubious numbers.
They aim to balance the competing desires of stakeholders such as future investors and owners.
Some accountants talk about ‘smoothing numbers’. Income smoothing is rarely taught in
classrooms which focus on theoretical principles. You learn this trick on the job. A search of
popular search engine yields numerous results that discuss this unethical, unprofessional act.
Accountants can manipulate variables such as transfer pricing contracts and capital expenditures
(transferring expenses into the balance sheet) to produce a desired set of numbers. The goal of
income smoothing is to make profits appears stable over the short to medium term. Many
investors are wary of listed companies that record volatile profits. In practice, accountants may
try to create the perfect profit number that satisfies investors (and maximizes share prices) and
minimizes tax liabilities. These are inverse, competing objectives that are difficult to balance.
Yes or No
Question
or your own answer
If you answer yes to the question above, you may wish to make
a note in the space under this box, or in another space of
agendas that you suspect. You may consider offering other
comments such as concerns, insights and personal discoveries.
3. Please make a note of any ideas or questions below that you plan
to investigate in the future.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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70 | journalistethics.com How banks spin trends
Propaganda
What’s the difference between propaganda and communiqués issued by public relations staff? I
don’t know. Seriously. Public relations officers almost never directly admit fault or culpability.
Marketing communications plays many serious roles in the betterment of society at-large.
Messages about genuine medical breakthroughs, that save lives, deserve to be spread far and
wide. Marketing communications professionals are adept at aiding such worthwhile projects.
This chapter is structured around key P marketing concepts. These are, in order of discussion:
In practice, most marketing campaigns aim to advantage the owners of the goods and services
that they promote. In a similar vein to finance tricks discussed in prior chapters, marketing staff
invariably highlight or exaggerate the positives and ignore or downplay product weaknesses.
This chapter shares the author’s knowledge of marketing theory and applied professional
practice, gained from graduate study, graduate teaching and professional practice. This ‘insider’
information is merely common knowledge among marketers and other professionals. Open-
access, quality scholarly resources likewise share this information to those who act to obtain it.
Free books on applied marketing theory are easy to find on Google Scholar. This is an example.
http://www.academia.edu/download/56146614/international-marketing-strategy-and-theory-4th-edition.pdf
Subliminal advertising uses tricks to tap into the subconscious of your mind. Examples include:
Embedding hidden emotional words inside photographic images and moving images;
Inserting images into a setting that may arouse purchasers; an example may include
photos of famous, smiley, wealthy celebrities hanging on the walls in brokers’ offices;
Releasing aromas and chemicals into an atmosphere that are likely to arouse people’s
desire to engage in risky consumption behavior, such as buying premier real estate;
Creating associations that have no direct relevance in most cases; an example may be
playing popular ‘cool’ rock music in the background of an advert that sells investments.
Packard (1961)
Modern Marketing Theory textbooks teach about the famous 7 p’s of marketing. The diagram
Talisman (2017)
The best way to counter the unethical deployment of professional knowledge, is to understand
the theory and applications of core principles. Information about physical evidence is covered in
previous discussions in this book. I encourage investors to root out a range of independent
information about financial goods and services prior to making informed decisions.
The reputation of a brand says much about the goods and services which fall under its umbrella.
Such physical evidence may impart deep information about the processes that underpin the
Most people who visit a financial planner to purchase investment assets have a budget in mind.
For example, they may know that they plan to invest circa USD$90,000 to $100,000. This is what
they can afford. They also have a broad idea about how they plan to invest their money. Examples
include the desire to purchase only physical assets such as land and gold that they own outright.
Virtually all investment advisors have their own agenda. They are more likely to promote
products that earn them the highest commission. Some independent investment advisors who
sell the most shares in a certain bank are more likely to be recruited by that bank in the future.
Brokers may use price to bait you to purchase products that don’t suit your needs. Examples:
Offering special ‘buy today’ discounts on products that they investor does not want;
Claiming that today’s prices for certain stocks are far below market value;
Offering bulk buy unit price discounts for products that the investor aims to purchase.
These transparent tricks are no different to the stunts seen in virtually all domains that sell goods
and services. The last trick listed above is a way that brokers can extract more money from an
investor, from a product that the investor genuinely wanted to buy. Such ploys can still be
unhelpful to investors. If you know that you can only afford to invest $100,000, then you are
possibly setting yourself of for bankruptcy of you spend $200,000 for a bargain price purchase.
Some people speculate that banks who offer free money are ‘desperate’. I will leave this
interpretation to your imagination. What do you think about these cases from recent years?
© Santander
© TCF
The product dimension of marketing looks at the design components of goods and services. There
are potentially thousands of issues to consider, given the mass diversity of all product markets
at-large and the finance sector specifically. Please consider these basic issues below:
Product names: Some high-risk, low return paper assets backed by nothing use exotic
Bundles: Some investment products combine multiple assets, which forces people to
buy assets that they do not want or need. Example: massive parcels of new land may
only sell house and land packages – you cannot buy a vacant block of land.
Emotions: Some product designs incorporate images that aim to tap into people’s deep
emotions. Examples include commemorative silver and gold coins that feature historical
figures such as Presidents. A $1000-dollar gold coin may contain $700 worth of gold. The
Fads: Marketing a good’s image as a rare treasure that is the hottest trend; FOMO (fear
of missing out) is the product’s image – you may miss being part of the ‘in crowd’.
The best way to avoid being deceived by product marketing is to maintain a rational mind and
objectively analyze all components of the product. Substance over emotions is a rule-of-thumb.
Most mainstream marketing courses incorporate goods and services packaging issues into
product design theory. Packaging issues are worthy of special consideration. This is one of the
most devious and persistent ways that unethical sales agents push their products.
This miniature list contains a select handful of examples of the many packaging tricks.
Product disclosures such as warnings and disclaimer clauses may be buried at the back
Investment packages include numerous thick brochures, documents and booklets. Key
information that empowers the broker and asset manager, such as exemption clauses
and product risk disclosures, is scattered and buried throughout these documents;
Product packaging and stationery use color combinations that are associated with
success and wealth; Examples may include gold, silver and white combinations;
Using elite quality paper on documents to convey an image of wealth and success.
I reiterate the point above that packaging is an important component for astute investors to
scrutinize objectively. Many brokers believe that financial products comprise a package beyond
the actual good/service. Examples include selling prestige, status and peace-of-mind.
Marketing material for banking and investment products often feature gorgeous glossy
brochures. The pictures and fonts are rich. They feel oh so nice in the palms of your hands.
Just because a brochure looks professional, doesn’t mean that it is selling a truthful message or
a product that you need. Yes, Barclays, you law abiding citizen, you. Sleek association branding.
https://www.barclays.co.uk/content/dam/documents/personal/security/LittleBookofBigScams_v3080116.pdf
Promotional tricks of the trade extend beyond packaging. A simplistic definition of promotions
equates this term with ‘advertising’. Advertising communications may occur in numerous forums
and formats such as: television, radio, newspapers, direct mail, events and trade exhibitions.
This list contains a few tricks that advertisers may manipulate to win investors’ confidence.
Using manipulative psychology to label current and future investors with flattering
Offering tacky lottery possibility prizes such as ‘holidays in Las Vegas’ for purchasers;
Using fear to sell products; for example, doomsday claims that the world economy is
about to crash and only silver and gold commemorative coins will be tradeable;
The Las Vegas example above is a good illustration of how subjectivity and personal taste are
relevant issues in the realm of advertising. What this author considers tacky and a red flag may
not ring true for other free-willed, independent thinkers. If you are fair and think critically about
the motives and modus operandi of advertisers, you are well placed to make sound decisions.
Capital One Bank has used celebrities to promote its products more than most major American
Banks during the past decade. To what extent, if any, would an actor’s advice influence your
financial choices, if you knew that the actor had no experience or credentials in finance?
Product positioning may refer to the target segment. The intended audience may be one
dimensional. An example are house and land packages by the beach targeted towards retirees.
Target audiences may be multi-dimensional. An example is Blue Chip stock portfolio packages
targeted towards young professionals who live in large urban areas, such as major capital cities.
This diagram is an example of a two-dimensional product positioning schema that shows how
products and services can be promoted based on firm image. This example looks at bank image.
Agusalim (2018)
Market segmentation and product positioning is not automatically a good or bad thing. It is useful
for people to know that the advice offered to you by a broker may be secretly customized because
of factors such as your age and education level. Products that are targeted towards ‘mom and
dad’ investors are possibly referring to a demographic of working-class people who are financially
illiterate. This is a vulnerable demographic that are often scammed by slick brokers.
Which segment or segments do these magazine covers target? Do you think that this author is
reading too much into these covers? Perhaps these are just generic images of everyday people.
Product managers are strategic about where they promote and sell their products. A shrewd
product manager will not sell their goods and services in any outlet that accepts them. For
example, elite brands such as Rolex don’t sell to grocery stores as it undermines their prestige.
Savvy investors should evaluate whether product placement is a factor that aims to manipulate
their situation. For example, some investment products are advertised in funeral parlors. These
brochures may aim to reach single widows who feel overwhelmed about no longer having a
partner to manage their financial affairs. Widows are an example of a vulnerable demographic.
overwhelmingly discusses issues that concern current or imminent retirees. Its target market are
older persons. Advertisements that appear in this magazine are usually targeting older persons.
School banking schemes are an example of a service placement that target child demographics
in educational settings. Snaring a child customer can cultivate a lifelong banking relationship.
Finance placement strategies are not automatically good, bad or neutral. It depends on context.
Buyer beware. Please always think critically and consider how others strategize their acts.
Why does a community bank have a .tv domain? What is a .tv domain? What information can
you find about this bank from your own searches? Is this a community bank, in your opinion?
https://www.communitybank.tv/history-mission.htm
Yes or No
Question
or your own answer
If you answer yes to the question above, you may wish to make
a note in the space under this box, or in another space of
agendas that you suspect. You may consider offering other
comments such as concerns, insights and personal discoveries.
3. Please make a note of any ideas or questions below that you plan
to investigate in the future.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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87 | journalistethics.com How banks spin trends
Politics
BBC (2019)
The global political economy is endemically corrupt. It has been this way before the Bretton
Woods global financial order was established in the 1940s. Mainstream media and orthodox
academic textbooks rarely discuss this fact. They are part and parcel of the elitist, nepotist, crony
capitalist economy that dominates global affairs. This statement does not criticize capitalism and
free market forces. I explicitly and strongly attack crony capitalism. There is a major difference.
Crony capitalism is a fake capitalist model. Ultimately it serves the 0.001% such as banking crime
families, inbred royal crime families, trillionaire family dynasties and a global trillionaire church.
Easy credit debt traps and fiat currency are the cornerstone of the Western global economic
order. Fractional reserve banking authorizes banks to lend out the bulk of deposits that they hold
on behalf of depositors. This government sanctioned Ponzi scam is legal for banks because the
government says so. If small financers replicated this model they would be prosecuted for fraud.
Perpetually rising personal and household debt has been socially engineered by bankers and
other elites who own congress and parliaments. Bribes, blackmail, extortion and the like are their
modus operandi. If this description sounds extreme, you may wish to reflect on the Deutsche
Bank debacle. One of the most famous, largest, connected banks is on the brink of rapid collapse.
Perhaps it will not collapse. The German or European Parliaments may bail out this criminal bank
and pass the bill to its favorite debt slaves. Tax paying individuals like you and me. History repeats.
The Panama Papers are circa 11.5 million leaked documents that contain information about client
and attorney data that relate to around 215,000 offshore entities. Within this collection, is
information about high-profile ultra-wealthy individuals and politicians. These papers were
leaked from the world’s fourth largest offshore specialist law firm, Mossack Fonseca in 2016.
These papers prove what is common knowledge. Certain ultra-wealthy elites use complex
networks of offshore trusts, legal tax planning provisions and transnational banking transfers to
avoid paying tax. In many cases, these arrangements fall in the grey known as ‘aggressive tax
planning’. It is dubious if many of these offshore, tax avoidance schemes are illegal. What is clear,
is that there is no political will at the national parliaments level to seriously address this issue.
I encourage people to read widely, consult primary data and draw their own conclusions.
Who owns puppet Prime Ministers? How many current and former Government Ministers were
previously executives at the Goldman Sachs banking empire? Turnbull, Emmanuel Macron et al.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_employees_of_Goldman_Sachs
Wikipedia is a corrupt entity. May diligent researchers independently investigate its claims.
Source: https://twitter.com/johndory49/status/687726899934531585
This image shows how some Twitter users tweet unsubstantiated commentary via memes. The
creation of a dollar bills suit is a propaganda tactic that may aim to convey a subliminal message.
© University of Sydney
The International English Language Testing system is a classic example of how common
knowledge global financial scammers who are protected by wealthy powerful governments can
engage in mass global fraud with impunity. For a discussion of this topic, see www.ielts.agency .
Canada’s and Australia’s Governments distribute global marketing propaganda. They claim that
international students who complete an eligible course in their country can migrate to the host
country after graduation – if they can pass the rigged English test after graduation. IELTS use
fraud to ensure circa 80% of graduates repeatedly fail this test and must exit Australia and
Canada. IELTS Australia and IELTS Canada earn massive profits from repeat scam exam sales.
On average, an international student spends around USD$200,000 in the host country on tuition
fees, living expenses and numerous repeat phony IELTS tests (USD$350 per test). Canada and
Australia have defrauded circa 500,000 international students since 1989. You may do the math.
I estimate that Australia and Canada have scammed circa USD$101 billion from international
students – most whom are citizens of India and China. Will the imminent global financial reset
hold Australia and Canada to account for this massive, global human trafficking crime racket?
I predict the answer is ‘yes’. And IELTS will be relegated to the history books as the MOAFS.
The ultra-wealthy, cash-rich, University of Sydney provides a classic example of how corrupt
As shown in the image below, the University of Sydney is the global public relations face of the
IELTS human trafficking crime syndicate that targets Asian and Arab international students who
invest their families’ life savings in an Australian education and promised migration opportunity.
The University of Sydney blatantly prostitutes its established global brand to promote trust in
IELTS’s secretive, fraudulent academic assessment regime. The image above shows that the
University of Sydney astutely identifies youthful Asians as its most profitable target demographic.
This false image above is devious. These innocent actors are paid to sit and smile. The vast
majority of IELTS’s clients are scam victims who experience poverty, debt and depression for
repeatedly failing their writing test by 0.5 due to examiner fraud. The reference to “3 million”
above is an exaggeration. IELTS does not test 3 million smiling clients each year. It uses its
monopoly power to scam fail circa 500,000 Asian students approximately 5 times each per year.
Most of the slick marketing gimmicks deployed by financial sales agents and other related
professionals overlap with those seen in other industries. The banking and finance focused
examples in this book aim to shine a light on this sector for good reason. The unethical activities
and crimes in this toxic sector are a/the dominant force that underpin the perpetually delayed
global economic collapse and the secretive finance reset that is imminent and essential.
Specialist product terminologies such as ‘derivates’, ‘options’, ‘futures’, ‘hedge funds’ and
‘negative gearing portfolios’ are often code word for junk financial products that too many
people own and are backed by nothing. If you have a gold coin in your safe, and you own this
coin outright, you are true owner of an asset that has intrinsic value and investment possibilities.
Fake fiat money underpins the junk financial sector that dominates global affairs. Banks and other
so-called ‘financial engineers’ perpetually create money out of thin air. These criminal deceptions
mean that potentially thousands of people think that they own the same gold bar that supposedly
exists in an unaudited bank vault offshore. I term this insanity ‘toilet paper asset syndrome’.
I encourage free thinkers to consult widely, think deep and ignore marketing gimmicks. Physical
assets that you own outright are probably a smart buy. No investment has zero risk. Governments
may increase taxes on your land by any rate and tax you and I till our deaths. This is their plan.
I would like to write more about this interesting Bank. It is difficult to find public information.
Yes or No
Question
or your own answer
If you answer yes to the question above, you may wish to make
a note in the space under this box, or in another space of
agendas that you suspect. You may consider offering other
comments such as concerns, insights and personal discoveries.
3. Please make a note of any ideas or questions below that you plan
to investigate in the future.
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97 | journalistethics.com How banks spin trends
Glossary
Physical assets
Bullion – A synonym for gold. This precious metal has intrinsic value as it can be employed for
useful purposes that add value such as coating silicon computer chips and dentistry.
Commodities – A grouping of physical assets that may include bullion, agricultural products and
a range of mining resources such as precious metals (e.g. gold), nickel, oil and uranium.
Land – Real estate that is supported by a title of ownership that demarcates ground
Liquid assets – Currencies such as legal tender bank notes and precious metals (e.g. gold coins)
that are not necessarily legal tender but can traded at short notice (e.g. within a day or so).
Negative gearing (real estate) – An investment strategy that aims to accrue zero tax liabilities
from an investment, because the tax-deductible expenditures exceed the taxable income
earned from the asset. This is common with rental properties. Mortgage payments, home
repairs and minor installations (e.g. carpet) cost more in total than income earned rom rent.
Precious metals – Rare metallic elements that have intrinsic value such as silver and platinum.
Derivates – As their name implies, these products, which claim to be some sort of speculative
Please consider this simple example. Industrial farmer John Doe plants 1,000 genetically modified
soybean seeds in January 2020 and contracts to deliver 10 to 12 tons of soybeans to Monsatano
in December 2020. Monsatano sells the value of this contract to another party based on the
assumption that John Doe may deliver 10.5 tons. Future buyers and sellers of this contract may
trade this piece of paper, the contract, based on factors such as (a) the anticipated delivery
amount in tons (which may be 0 to 12 tons) and (b) the anticipated resale value of soybeans on
or after December 2020. A disaster such as a flood or bankruptcy could result in John Doe
delivering zero tons. If such a disastrous event is considered likely, this would decrease the
It is possible to split this contract into shares; e.g., 10 people may each own 10% of the contract.
Derivatives tend to end up as scam speculative investment products. Ridiculously heavily traded,
over-bloated trade prices bear little resemblance to the realistic value of the originating asset –
such as a farming produce contract. The last person holding the paper asset – in a market where
no one want to pay close to the resale value, is the ‘lucky’ last loser.
A sexy word for stocks. Stocks are known as ‘shares’ in certain countries such as Australia. The
word ‘equity’ implies ownership. If you own your family home outright, i.e., 100% ownership,
your equity in the home is 100%. If you have a mortgage on your home with a bank, and you
have paid 88% of this mortgage, then your equity in your family home is 88%.
Futures
In a similar vein to derivatives, futures contracts are a tradeable paper asset that are
underwritten by a trade contract of some kind. Two unknown parties may agree to trade a
commodity at a future date for a predetermined price that is not yet established in monetary
terms. For example, both parties may agree to buy and sell one ton of gold, as determined by the
price of gold as reported by the COMEX Market on the maturity date of the contract.
See https://www.cmegroup.com/trading/metals/precious/gold.html
Futures are a type of derivative product, because the paper asset that is traded has been adapted
from a separate asset. Factors such as (a) the price of gold (b) at a future date may determine the
Definitions of ‘hedge funds’ vary widely among institutional investment sources. You may
confirm this yourself via online investigations using search engines such as Yahoo. These
definitions are vague, because hedge funds are an ambiguous speculative investment instrument
exploited by the wealthiest investors. This definition is somewhat representative of most others.
Some hedge funds and billionaire hedge fund managers are fronts (i.e. agents) for organized
money laundering crime rackets. Hedge funds are well-suited or this role. Dozens of hedge funds
seemingly create billions of dollars of wealth out of thin air. Hedge funds don’t manufacture
goods and they don’t invest their staff labor in managing physical assets such as land.
Mutual fund
Investment portfolios that pool together multiple investors’ funds to purchase one or more
assets. The portfolio may contain paper assets, physical assets or both.
This book centers around the ethics of financial advisors and financial institutions. It assumes
that a critical mass of investors require protection from certain unethical and criminal agents.
I invite free-willed, law-abiding citizens to reflect on the ethics of ‘flipping houses’. Buying and
selling a house merely for profit is perfectly legal, per se, in virtually all jurisdictions. Buying a
bargain house, that you have no intention of using for medium/long term rental or personal
occupancy, mostly likely pushes up the value of that house’s value. At the macro level, this may
gradually push house prices up for years or decades. Eventually a market bubble will burst.
In some parts of America, double income couples with no kids cannot afford a modest family
House flipping is not without risks. The last person holding the property when the bubble pops,
funds the easy profits made by the string of owners who sold the property at the right time.
Global citizens should be concerned with any covertly created financial system that is based in
International Settlements. Swiss banks have hoarded stolen Nazi war loot. These esoteric warped
images are from the opening ceremony of CERN Quantum Computing System in Switzerland.
CERN’s institutional logo proudly boasts the ‘mark of the beast’, 666 – see www.home.cern.
It’s possible that the masterminds of CERN’s opening ceremony (see RT, 2016) aim to puppeteer
reports any details of its mysterious directors on its webpage. See www.ethereum.org .
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<https://www.investopedia.com/insights/what-is-a-pyramid-scheme/>.
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Ka-sing, L. (2018), Moody’s sees Hong Kong home prices tumbling … half of Hongkongers agree,
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Investment Bank, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2019/07/12/deutsche-bank-an-
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Quora (2018), What is the safest and high return option for long term investment?,
<www.quora.com/What-is-the-safest-and-high-return-option-for-long-term-investment>.
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Investors and others use this basic template at their own risk.