American Exit Strategy: Book 1

by Mark Goodwin

  Adam read the text to everyone.

  "Praise God, they are safe." Janice said.

  Wesley said "I didn't have any trouble picking up Shelly, but who knows how bad things are in the rest of the country. The news doesn't exactly cover the highway."

  "Did they have to go through Atlanta?" Shelly asked.

  Adam answered "They had planned to take the I-285 Bypass, but they didn’t have enough fuel to go any further out of the way than that."

  Matt, Karen and Miss Mae arrived at 9:30 that evening. They were received with much affection. They told the tales of their adventure and everyone listened with eyes wide open. Adam had seen much worse while deployed in the sandbox, but everyone else was shocked that things could be so bad here in America.

  Janice coordinated the sleeping arrangements. The kids went to sleep around 11:00, and the adults sat up discussing the recent events. All were speculating the timing and severity of the collapse that was upon them.

  CHAPTER 28

  “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”

  -Benjamin Franklin

  Treasury Secretary Chang and Fed Chair Jane Bleecher needed very little evidence of the impending collapse to convince President Al Mohammad of the need for drastic measures.

  President Al Mohammad dictated to his aid the list of those who were to attend the crisis control meeting.

  "Call Anthony Howe, this is all going to be his problem in eight weeks. He might as well start learning what this job is all about. Get someone from the Department of Defense in here, but not Allen Jefferson, someone who plays ball. This is too important. I'll lock up anybody who gets in my way. Make sure Gerald Brown is in here from HHS."

  "Have Tamara Slocomb from DHS bring a couple of her goons. I have a special project for them. I need chairs all around the back of the room for the Plunge Protection Team traders. I need everyone who is associated with the Plunge Protection Team, all the way down to the NSA analysts who gather Intel for the traders."

  "I need to make sure that Tamara's people can put the fear of God in the traders, support staff and analysts so they know how important it is to not speak to anyone about this meeting. The world is falling apart and we have to take any means necessary to hold it together."

  The Plunge Protection Team was the nickname that had been assigned to "The Working Group on Financial Markets". The group had been created in 1987 in response to the market crash that year. It consisted of the Fed Chairman, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC, the Chairman of the Commodity Future Trading Commission or CFTC and the Secretary of the Treasury. The group had grown to employ an elite force of traders and speculators who operated outside of the government. Most of the traders were tapped from among Howe Clancy's brightest. Their salaries were paid from black box spending allocated through the NSA. They were also awarded huge bonuses deposited into foreign accounts when they were able to manipulate markets successfully to reach specific outcomes.

  The 30 traders that acted on behalf of the group were sworn to absolute secrecy. In exchange, they were granted carte blanche on how they accessed their information and how they traded. They were jokingly referred to by support staff and NSA analysts who were assigned to mine information for them as 007 traders. They operated completely above the law. In financial terms, they had a license to kill.

  The access to trading information that the traders had from the NSA was so far beyond anything that could be termed insider trading, the 007 traders referred to it as omniscient trading.

  The NSA fed the traders information from tapped e-mails and phone conferences. Company reports on any computer could be viewed by NSA analysts and fed to the traders. Microphones on private laptops, tablets and cell phones could be hacked and remotely activated to get real time information from conversations by company executives. Company earnings reports, financial difficulties, market shortages; every conceivable bit of information regarding statistics and events that effect stock prices was available to the 007 traders. If one could imagine trading today's stock market with tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal, one would just be beginning to grasp the power of the 007 traders.

  Treasury Secretary Melinda Chang and Fed Chairwoman Jan Bleecher held a private meeting with the President before the crisis control meeting.

  President Al Mohammad displayed his flippant attitude about the crisis to the two women by saying "Well, I hear Mount Weather is nice this time of year. Actually, it’s a pleasant 56 degrees all year around."

  Both of the women cracked up laughing. Mount Weather, also known as High Point Specialty Facility was the nearby underground emergency management FEMA facility that was designed for continuity of government in the event of nuclear war or other catastrophe. It was well stocked with food, energy and everything needed to sustain life for an extended period of time for about 200 people.

  Al Mohammad continued "All joking aside ladies, you two are very important to this country and you both have your golden ticket to High Point if things get bad. That said, there is very limited spacing, so you would only be able to bring one immediate family member if you chose to come to High Point. There are other installations around the country that I could arrange to have other members of your family sent to if you want to serve your country from High Point in Virginia.

  So relax, if it does all fall apart, we'll go underground and come out after the zombies have all eaten each other."

  Both of the women were relieved to have received the invitation to Mount Weather.

  "Thank you very much Mr. President." Melinda Chang said. "I wish I had better news."

  "Now what?" Al Mohammad asked.

  "Several sovereign funds, including China, Japan, Brazil, Taiwan, Switzerland and others have contacted the Treasury over concerns about U.S. Bonds. They all fear staying in U.S. Treasury bonds, but they know that any large sale by any of the others would trigger a stampede out of Treasuries. They are asking us for a solution since it is everyone's interest to keep the prices stable." Chang said.

  "Did you ladies come up with a solution." the President asked.

  Jane Bleecher responded "We have a tentative agreement to purchase the bonds at face value and the respective countries will agree to keep the bonds and never sell them."

  "So we’re going to give them the cash for the bonds and let them keep the bonds?" Al Mohammad asked.

  "We have no other choice sir." Chang said. "If they start dumping bonds, the values will crash anyway. This is the last hope of propping up the dollar."

  Al Mohammad's desk phone buzzed, "Yes?" he responded.

  "Anthony Howe is here, sir." the voice replied.

  "Send him in." Al Mohammad replied.

  "Mr. President." Howe greeted with a smile.

  "Sit down Anthony." the President said with a scowl.

  The group proceeded to fill in Anthony Howe on the details of their conversation up to that point.

  "So did the representatives of the concerned countries agree to the deal?" Howe asked.

  Chang replied "If we settle in gold."

  The room was silent as Howe and Al Mohammad processed the implications of the deal. Howe had a better handle on the situation than Al Mohammad.

  "So we have about 8,000 metric tons of gold?" Howe asked.

  "That’s what is on the balance sheet sir, but we don't actually have access to all of that." Bleecher replied. "Some of it was leased and delivery was taken. The gold we lost possession of was scheduled to be re-accumulated but price volatility has made that impossible. Most all of the remaining gold is presently leased, but we still have physical possession of it."

  "How much is that?" Howe asked.

  "About 3,000 metric tons sir." Bleecher replied.

  "Well at over $7,000 an ounce, that’s still a nice sum." Al Mohammad said.

  "It is about $680 billion sir. China's holdings of US debt are near $2 trillion alone." Chang said.

  "Could the plunge protection tea
m drive up the value of gold to $14,000 an ounce by the time we actually finalized a deal?" Al Mohammad asked.

  "It would likely float to that level on its own if we quit suppressing the price sir." Bleecher replied.

  The Plunge Protection team had been suppressing the gold price for years to provide a false sense of value for the U.S. Dollar. The team would slowly make small purchases of gold and gold futures contracts throughout the trading day using money from the Exchange Stability Fund. They would then dump the gold and the gold contracts in after-hours trading. As there were few buyers in the after-hours markets, each successively lower price buyer would be quickly taken out as they bought the gold and the contracts. The result would often be a $30 or $50 per ounce price cut in gold. That lower price would be in place at the beginning of the next trading day and would generally set the trading range for the day.

  The team also used lease contracts on the gold reserves held by the Fed to manipulate the markets lower. As the free market started to recognize the value of the discounted gold price, delivery was often taken on the leases that had been anticipated to expire.

  Mohammad was not that well versed in finance, but he knew all about manipulation. It was an international language that most everyone in D.C. could speak fluently.

  "So if we pushed it back up, how high could gold go by the time we had to settle?" Mohammad asked.

  "I don't know." Bleecher replied. "$15,000 maybe $20,000. But it would absolutely crash the dollar."

  "Which is happening anyway," Al Mohammad quickly stepped in to make sure he was still in control of the narrative. "But it would buy us some time."

  A deal was struck between the sovereign holders of U.S. Treasuries for a partial settlement in gold and a partial settlement in cash. Additionally, the settlement was pushed back until January 1st of next year. The extra five weeks would give the traders plenty of time to work their magic. In exchange for the deal, the foreign holders of the U.S. debt agreed to never sell the treasuries but find some other means of creative accounting to liquidate the bonds from their balance sheets slowly, over time.

  The plan was finalized and presented to the attendees of the crisis control meeting. The Federal Reserve was to inject $3 trillion dollars into the Exchange Stability Fund with which the traders would prop up the Dollar and the stock market on Monday following the Thanksgiving Holiday. Prior to driving up the price of gold, the traders were instructed to acquire as much physical gold as possible. The acquisition was to be made by shell corporate holding companies and held in Zurich. This was to be the most top secret operation in recent U.S. history.

  The $3 trillion in newly created Fed monies would never be reported on any balance sheet and were to be retired after the crisis was brought under control. It was completely illegal, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

  Al Mohammad readied himself to give his speech to the American public. It was only 11:00 a.m., but this had already been a very tiresome day.

  All the news stations were broadcasting the speech.

  "My fellow Americans. We have more to be thankful for tomorrow than we have had on any Thanksgiving day since the first time the pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving over 400 year ago. We have finally achieved the American dream of oil independence. With new technologies being used in the Eagle Ford oil field in Texas and the Bakken oil field in North Dakota, our country is now producing 85% of the oil that America uses. The other 15% is supplied by countries that are friendly with America like our good neighbor to the north, Canada.

  This has enabled us to sever ties with hostile regimes in the Middle East and other regions of the globe that treat their citizens unfairly. America can no longer claim the moral high ground while we support governments that abuse women and people with beliefs that are different from theirs. Just as America's first independence required sacrifice, this independence from foreign oil does not come without a cost.

  We are going to be temporarily rationing gasoline until production in our own oil fields can be adjusted. Every American will be allotted five gallons per week for necessary travel. For those who have to travel farther than that, we recommend public transportation and car pooling. Beginning Monday, you will be able to go on the Department of Energy's website and sign up using your social security number to receive your new Gasoline Independence Card. The Independence cards will be mailed out within two days of your application and with them we will start getting back to normal.

  America has never been more resilient than it is right now and we will become even stronger in the days and weeks to come. Being able to shed this addiction on foreign oil will make our future brighter than you can imagine.

  Anytime there is an abrupt event, markets get spooked and indexes plummet. We have seen this time after time throughout history. As we look back, those were some of the best times to have purchased stocks. These things always work themselves out. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see a major relief rally when markets reopen for trading Monday morning.

  Tomorrow morning, get up and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade with your loved ones, eat turkey till it comes out your ears, then sit back and enjoy some football or watch 'It's a Wonderful Life', because it truly is a wonderful life. That’s what I will be doing. Be thankful to the universe and yourselves for all you have. Take care of each other America. Happy Thanksgiving."

  Al Mohammad smiled like he didn't have a care in the world. For once, it wasn't an act. He couldn't wait to be free of this office. His Thanksgiving would be as wonderful as anyone could imagine. America had always bought his lies before, why wouldn't they buy it now? He gave them the confidence they needed to get through these hard times. He thought to himself, "If they knew what I had just saved them from, they would be thankful to me, rather than some mystic being in the sky."

  CHAPTER 29

  "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."

  Psalm 1:1-3

  Matthew and Karen Bair woke up much later than everyone else. Janice offered to make them a big breakfast, but they only wanted coffee and toast. Adam had already spent a couple hours cutting wood that morning and was getting ready to watch the president's speech that was scheduled for 11:00. Wesley and Shelly had been hunting early that morning. Providence had blessed them with a wild turkey. It was cleaned and they were just bringing it in.

  "Wow" Matt said. "That’s a big bird you shot Wes."

  "Shelly shot it" Wesley replied.

  Adam joked "If thing don't work out between you two, we will keep Shelly and send Wesley packing."

  Shelly smiled and blushed just a bit. She fit like a glove in the Bair Family. She had been nervous about blending in when Wesley picked her up the day before.

  Janice commented "This certainly will make a nice Thanksgiving bird tomorrow."

  The president's speech started and they all gathered around to hear what he had to say.

  Karen said "It’s almost pointless to listen to him. Whatever he says, you know it’s going to be a lie."

  "We have eight years of experience of trying to decipher the lies and make an educated guess of what is really going on." Wesley replied.

  "Unfortunately, I never perfected that skill." said Janice.

  They listened as he explained the gas ration cards. Wesley shot Matt a look as the president mentioned the possibility of a relief rally on Monday.

  "Sounds like he might have some inside information." Wesley said to Matt.

  "Careful Wes. There is a thin line between conspiracy theory and treason." Matt joked.

  Wesley said "Yeah, if you can't prove it, it’s conspiracy theory. If you have proof, it’s treason."

  Shelly made a mock gagging gesture as she heard the president clos
e with the part about being thankful to the universe and to yourselves.

  "So the collapse of the petro-dollar system was the best thing that ever happened to us?" Adam said. "Then why did I spend six years in the sandbox getting shot at to prop it up? If it was that great, we could have let that happen a long time ago. We could have also saved $1 trillion bucks a year on defense spending; not to mention the men and women who sacrificed their lives, their limbs and their minds"

  Matt said "Anthony Howe has a tough act to follow. I don't know if anyone can be as much of a dirt bag as Al Mohammad."

  Wesley replied "I have a lot of faith in Howe. I think he will surprise you with what a tremendous dirt bag he can be. He has dirt bag skills you have never dreamed about."

  Janice started preparing a few items for the Thanksgiving feast that was to be on the following day. She started her prep work and made a batch of cornbread for the stuffing. Shelly wanted to make sure she made a good first impression so she went in to help.

  "Thank you so much Shelly, but you have already done enough by providing the turkey." Janice said.

  "God provided it, I just took the shot He gave me." Shelly said.

  Janice though to herself "This girl is too good to be true." She was happy to have Shelly around. All of Wesley's girlfriends hadn't been this sweet.

  "So I guess the 'universe' had nothing to do with it either?" Janice laughed.

  "Not at all." Shelly replied with a chuckle.

  Adam and Wesley drove Matt and Karen over to look at the property they were considering. They walked around and looked over the exterior and the out buildings. They called the realtor who gave them the code for the lock box. As providence would have it, they were able to get through on the phone. Normally, she would have never give out the lock box code but the gas rations made her decide against driving 15 miles each way to let them in.

  Matt was scared to ask, but he did it anyway. "What do you think Karen?"

  "I love it." she replied.