I'd attribute the sloppy reporting to the lack of information and bad translation . And the people (the Italian authorities) that have seen these docs firsthand are by far no experts in handling large denominated bonds. All that is known is 2 people (likely Japanese) tried crossing a border with (likely) counterfeit, mega denominated bonds. A freakin week has passed. And only now the story gets traction as the blogosphere spreads it and probably forced it out. Sure, this could be much ado about nothing. But I for one would like to know what's going on. Some of you may think it's a waste of time - I respect that - but I differ. My guess is that there is a lot of diplomatic activity going on between Switzerland, Italy, Japan, and the US before a "true" story comes out. Whatever, and however innocuous or riduclous or serious that real story may be.
Of course it's known - this is a scam. A long running scam. Sometimes called 1934 "federal reserve" bonds, sometimes called Morgenthau bonds, sometimes called one of several other names. It's a version of the infamous Nigerian bank draft scam. This has been running in Asia for ages. It is all over Google for anybody bothering to look. Because the blogosphere is a clear channel for every whacked out yahoo more interested in generating a buzz than in converging with reality. Malversation over conversation.
You're probably right about it being a scam, but given the current environment (as I wrote previously) there could be more to it. You have your opinion, I have mine - fair enough. But don't damn the entire blogosphere because you disagree. For the past three years many "whacked out yahoos" predicted this current financial crisis while more conventional news sources thought everything was fine. You don't like the thread - stick to your conventional sources of news, or do what I do - I read threads I'm interested in. Don't waste your time reading or posting if you think it's a waste of time. Do I need to tell you that?
Let's entertain this for a second - what do you think could be the reason that a two random guys have in their possession previously unknown bearer bonds from the US of an amount larger than most small country's GDP? Moreover, these guys are not traveling under any diplomatic over. Would could be a reason?
Bloomberg has finally picked up the story. A lot of facts are still missing. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=ayy1QKcwcGN0
Bonds are most likely genuine !!!! Agencies (dpa) are spreading news that the smuggled bonds are most likely genuine. The kennedy bonds are probably still checked, but regarding the other bonds, there is little doubt (they are real), a GDF spokesman explained on saturday. http://tt.com/tt/home/story.csp?cid=9395455&sid=57&fid=21 My concern is: They will "celebrate" that Italy will solve its financial problem, but the source of the bonds will never be really researched and the issue will be swept under the rug-
Can we actually see some real release rather than some tt.com article? If this is real, it's HUGE news. Where are the real agencies? Where are the italian politians hugging the camera for photos? Where are the earthquake widows thanking God for deliverance? Where's Obama? If this were true, this is the biggest financial news of the year. So far, there's zero.
Here is the same news item published by "Welt", a german newspaper comparable to "Der Spiegel": (Please use Google Translate) http://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article3918926/Geschmuggelte-Anleihen-sind-wohl-echt.html There must be a DPA report behind it, but I did not see it.