Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Yasha Levine: "The Koch Brothers: Dark Lords of Derivatives" @ eXiled Online

[Excerpt from one of our favorite all-time guests on Radio Free Kansas.]

... What has not been reported is that a big part of Koch Industries’ expansion over the past few decades has occurred in the dark realms of unregulated derivative trading. The Kochs weren’t just playing the market for themselves, but provided financial and risk management services to other companies. Now their clients include airlines, utilities, oil companies, pension funds, hedge funds and endowments.

It’s no secret. You can read all about in a brochure put out by the good folks at Koch Supply and Trading LP, one of the Koch Industries subsidiaries that provides financial services. The company trades in all sorts of derivatives, including crude oil, fuel, natural gas, electricity, emissions credits, metals, fertilizer, currency, municipal bonds, interest rates…the list goes on and on. Hell, they even trade in Leninist carbon credits and brag about being the first to offer clients weather derivatives—that’s when you place bets on the chance of rain. ...

[Read the complete eye-opening expose by Yasha Levine @ eXiled Online.]

No comments: