Yesterday, he manipulated the markets with claims of negotiations with a high placed official in the Iranian government. After the Iranians denied it, this morning, stocks dropped and the price of oil rose. This afternoon, he did it again, switching the names from Kushner’s and Witkoff to Vance and Rubio. Still the Iranians deny it.

According to Phanes (Gemini), money is being made on these manipulations by insiders who place trades just before the posts go up. That happened as well with the Venezuela adventure. So one could logically conclude that war is being waged to enrich a few insiders. How long can they keep this up before the whole edifice crumbles?

Oh, and by the way, in the next day or so, you’ll be hearing about some action going on in the South China Sea involving Philippine fisherman and the Chinese navy. There is a treaty between the US and the Philippines of mutual aid. The Chinese are likely creating this incident to test the regime’s mettle. Come to the aid of the Philippines and leave the Strait of Hormuz, or abandon an ally? That challenge was inevitable.

The question is, who are we negotiating with? The named guy is Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Parliament. They think he’s the real deal, as do others. However Nick Schifrin of PBS has sources in Iran that say Ghalibaf is out of the loop, mistrusted by the military and suspected of being too close to Israel. So JD and Little Marco are negotiating with a guy who is playing them..and Trump..for fools. That’s a dangerous game for all involved,

All this is making me feel very cynical. The potential for American marines, sailors and paratroopers to die in this war while someone in the regime is making money manipulating the market with false promises. It’s all just too much. Somebody needs to make it stop.