Although there is a new sheriff, it’s the same old story. Described as a “Brazenly display of collusion,” the U.S. Attorney General (AG) Loretta Lynch got five Wall Street banks to admit their guilt in the manipulation of the currency market. As a result, those firms will fork over $5.7 billion to the Federal Reserve and Justice Department. If you were caught up in the emotional swing of that period that began in 2007, it’s doubtful that anyone will make you whole or even partially mend the economic damage to your wallet.

So, we got a new AG, but the same old “justice” where banks pay off exorbitant fines with shareholder funds, and no one goes to jail.

On the contrary, not only does no one have to go to jail, but also, when Wall Street can’t use shareholder funds, it has access to the Federal Reserve money (always freshly printed) and taxpayer bailouts. Don’t buy into the hype that the bank bailout was successful. Close to $35 billion was written off and billions were redirected to large lumbering agencies ostensibly to control the collection of payments. In the meantime, the cash keeps rolling in.

Wall Street Bank Fines and Penalties 2009 through 2014:

Banks	Amount
Bank of America	$61.2 billion
JPM	$31.5 billion
CitiGroup	$10.1 billion
BNP	$9.0 billion
Credit Suisse	$2.5 billion
Wells Fargo	$5.8 billion
HSBC	$1.9 billion
Deutsche Bank	$1.9 billion
Morgan Stanley	$1.3 billion
Barclays	$733 million
UBS	$780 million
Commerce	$600 million
ING	$619 million

Just Us?

While many people know me as the stock guy, I’m really the empowerment guy who believes Americans can improve their lives because we have a system that rewards hard workers, risk-takers, and visionaries.

I’m also a law-and-order guy who believes in the death penalty, along with severe and harsh sentences for crimes that leave psychological and mental destruction. However, with our legal system, too many young Americans are tossing in the towel on all aspects of society and opportunities.

I want to reiterate that yesterday, five Wall Street banks were fined close to $6 billion and no one went to jail. Since 2009, Wall Street firms have been fined more than $130 billion. It’s clear they use shareholders money to pay exorbitant fines and even get bailouts to stay in business, only to pay fines later.

What about the rest of Americans who find themselves in trouble for criminal activities, with fines costing less than billions of dollars?

Prison Facts

• 2.3 million prisoners
• $24,000 spent per year
• 4.4% in U.S. population

I know that many people try to blame the boom in prison population on big business, but corrections unions have played the biggest role. To be more exact, the corrections union came up with the ‘Three-strikes’ law in California and it became a perpetual motion machine. The more prisons they build, the more powerful they become.

This is an issue that isn’t going away. On the other hand, watch for the felon voting rights movement to launch into another gear. Young Americans need to buy into the criminal justice system as one of the pillars that made America the greatest nation on the planet. That means a few tweaks have to occur or maybe they should start locking up people that steal billions like someone that steals a color television.

• It’s a moral dilemma
• It’s an economic story and a challenge

The Fed

Concerns over the Fed has pushed and pulled the market for a couple of years. Yesterday wasn’t any different. The pushing and pulling lacked oomph, leaving the market reality flat at the close. Coming into the session, experts felt that there was a 73% chance of a rate-hike in September. Although I’m banking on it being moved to next year, that’s probably where the number is today.

Not that I want that to happen; moreover, I wish the economy were healed enough to get the Fed out of the picture today.

Today’s Session

Interesting bifurcation in retail. Dollar Tree was down on earnings in the pre-market while William Sonoma gapped higher. Could this actually be a good sign for the economy? Are people moving up the retail food chain? It remains to be seen, plus a lot of William Sonoma’s beat were related to expectations.

The initial jobless claims four-week moving average came in at the lowest point since April 2000 at 266,250. This level is over 20,000 less than the amount observed in the April 18^th week and raises optimism for the May employment report.

Comments

As a student of history I find that some things remain the same. there is always a ruling class, they become royalty and are above the law. Instead of being good stewards over what they rule, they become greedy thieves. they get overthrown eventually and are replaced by another group that morphs into the new royalty, different titles,but royal thieves in actions. The other thing I have noticed about history is that there is always some individual that wants to conquer others and he gets a lot of people to go along with his conquest plans, war is glorious to the warrior. If you do not have the ability to defined yourself or your property, some one or some group will take what you have. this continues to this very day. To think otherwise is to be naive. David Huber on 5/21/2015 10:51:10 AM

how absurd is this continuing attack by the justice dept on wall street and the banking system! the justice dept gets banks to settle for billions of dollars paid for by shareholders. the $$$ goes to the government and ultimately reduces the amount of money that needs to be borrowed to finance the budget deficit. instead of the $$$ being paid out to the shareholders who would have to pay taxes on the income. AND NO ONE GOES TO JAIL. ron bloomfield on 5/21/2015 11:21:11 AM

While, yes, it is true that we will always have people like the Clintons who will manipulate their way to money and power, the real progress in society rests with the millions of folks who work honestly and hard at what they believe in. I just finished reading David McCullough's book on the Wright brothers. Their passion, dedication and risk-taking over just a few years brought an infinite return on investment for all of society. They are not alone. Just think of what we owe to Alexander Graham Bell, Edison and many others. In the end, it is these innovators who benefit all of us, while the cheats usually end up getting their just desserts like Bernie Maddoff. The Clintons will get theirs, too, if only going down in history as the most corrupt pair who ever occupied the White House. Lets hope they don't get another shot at it, but if they do, we can only blame ourselves for giving it to them. Dennis Howard on 5/21/2015 11:27:22 AM

Charles- Thank you for the insight from a law and order guy, we need more of this kind of insight. David Hubers comment is very insightful and we need to be reminded of this human behavior often. Walter Krapff on 5/21/2015 11:39:23 AM

Primates are still tribal. Some are more tribal than others. Until the lust for power is bred out of primates, Mr. Huber's cycle will continue. Z on 5/21/2015 11:46:31 AM

It's sad, but a banker once told me that "he who has the gold, makes the rules". William S. Brown on 5/22/2015 7:29:10 PM

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