5 Companies own 80% of all stock in S&P 500 listed companies

Monopolies: The Death Knell Of Capitalism – it’s described here

They demonstrate the central role played by monopoly finance capital in economic life: ‘the Big 5 institutional investors – Blackrock, Vanguard, State Street, Fidelity, and JP Morgan – now own 80% of all stock in S&P 500 listed companies’; and they argue that this situation is mirrored internationally. They give examples of monopolies dividing up the world market .

for those that don’t get how this makes sense:

How many stocks you have in the market can be compared to a percentage out of a 100 on the market.

The more stocks you own, the more can be measured and added onto a percentage in comparison to the markets 100% value of potentially owning.

In this case, 5 companies control 80% of the market.

Tepper and Hearn have a thesis. Capitalism is defined by competition. The modern US economy, however, is dominated by monopolies. Therefore, US Americans live under ‘fake’ capitalism, a ‘grotesque deformed version of capitalism’ which is ‘as far away from the real thing as Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean are from real pirates’ (p.xv). Tepper and Hearn have clearly identified one of the central issues in understanding modern capitalism: monopoly. In doing so, they have collected a wealth of useful material. Socialists should read this book, which is written in a very readable and enjoyable style, and use the information in it, but reject the reactionary politics that underlie it.

The book starts by analysing the extent of concentration in many US industries. Compiling evidence from various sources, the authors discover that four corporations control 90% of American beer; four airlines completely dominate airline traffic, often enjoying complete local monopolies in their regional ‘hubs’; five banks control half of US banking assets; in many states, the top two insurance companies have 80-90% market share between them; 75% of US households can only access one monopoly provider for high-speed internet; four companies control the entire US beef market and have ‘divided up the country’; three companies control both 70% of the global pesticide market and 80% of the US corn-seed market; Google’s share of internet search traffic is 90%; and so on.

As smaller competitors have been swallowed up by monopolies, over half of public firms have disappeared over the last 20 years: ‘On this trend, by 2070 we will only have one company per industry.’ ‘The scale of mergers is so extreme,’ Tepper and Hearn write, ‘that you would almost think American capitalists were trying to prove Karl Marx right’ (p.9).

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/5-companies-own-80-of-all-stock-in-sp-500-listed-companies/

FDA analysis reveals sunscreen chemicals soak all the way into your bloodstream

You’ve heard it from YouTube influencers and scientists alike: when you’re in the sun, you need to slather on sunscreen. While this is good advice for families who visit the beach only a handful of times each year, it could be the opposite for folks who use sunscreen every day. Why? Because according to a recently-released report by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the UV-blocking chemicals soak all the way into your bloodstream.

(Article by Mandy Froelich republished from TruthTheory.com)

Believe it or not, a safety testing on the active ingredients in sunscreen has never-before been conducted. This is because the chemicals were approved decades ago, before anyone thought they could be absorbed into the body. For this reason, the FDA led a small clinical trial on over-the-counter sunscreens.

The purpose was to test how the most common sun-filtering molecules behave after being sprayed on and rubbed in. The results were published in the journal JAMA. As it turns out, the UV-blocking chemicals seep directly into the bloodstream. This is contrary to what sunscreen manufacturers have been saying.

“Everyone had always thought that because these are intended to work on the surface of the skin that they wouldn’t be absorbed, but they are,” said Theresa Michele, director of the FDA’s division of nonprescription drug products and coauthor on the FDA-funded study.

For the trial, 24 volunteers were recruited — 12 men and 12 women. They were randomly assigned to apply one of four commercial available sunscreens: two sprays, a lotion, and a cream. As Wired reports, the participants applied the sunscreens according to the recommended labeling: four times a day for four days to 75 percent of their bodies (roughly the amount of skin showing if you wore a bathing suit).

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/fda-analysis-reveals-sunscreen-chemicals-soak-all-the-way-into-your-bloodstream/

TX land commissioner George P. Bush urges Americans to 'stand firm' against 'white terrorism' after El Paso attack

On social media the blame war that follows a major tragedy was in full swing Saturday after the horrific and tragic murders of 20 people in El Paso, where an armed assailant opened fire in a Walmart killing adults and children alike.

In addition to the usual battles over gun control, and the effort to pin the shooter on one ideology or the other, the topic of the dangers of domestic terrorism by white attackers or motivated by white supremacy was a topic of debate and the subject of reporting and Twitter threads alike.

Government officials and politicians, meanwhile, have issued condolences, messages of grief, words of support, prayers, and yes, fundraising. Late in the day, one more official added his own reaction: George P. Bush.

Bush is the son of former Florida governor and candidate for the Republican nomination for president Jeb Bush. George is the Texas Land Commissioner, too, and among those in the Bush family, is considered far more sympathetic to Trump, who he endorsed, than other Bush icons. "This is the only Bush that likes me," President Trump said of him earlier this year.

In his statement on the El Paso shooting, released on Twitter, Bush specifically called out "white terrorism", not just naming it but urging Americans to stand against it.

"I proudly served in Afghanistan as a Naval officer were our mission was to fight and kill terrorists. I believe fighting terrorism remains a national priority. And that should include standing firm against white terrorism here in the US," Bush wrote. "There have now been multiple attacks from self-declared white terrorists here in the US in the last several months. This is a real and present threat that we must all denounce and defeat."

"All terrorism must be stopped," he continued. "I am praying for the victims of the shooting in El Paso. And I am asking that all Americans stand firm against all forms of terrorism."

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2019/08/tx-land-commissioner-george-p-bush.html

Not so subtle message

Who are the world’s richest people?

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/who-are-the-worlds-richest-people/

Five simple questions that blow apart the official fake news narrative about the El Paso Wal-Mart shooting

Five huge questions are screaming out for real answers:

#1) If there’s only one shooter, why did so many eyewitnesses report multiple shooters at the scene?

#2) Why did the local police arrest and hold three suspects in custody, as was widely reported by the media before the story was changed to a “lone shooter?”

#3) Why does the so-called “manifesto” appear to be written by someone far older than 21 years of age? (Answer: The manifesto is a hoax. It was not written by the individual who was arrested as the shooter.)

#4) How does one man kill 20 people and wound another 30 people with a single magazine that only holds 30 rounds? The surveillance photo shows no chest rig, no battle belt and no spare magazines.

#5) If the shooter is on a suicide mission, why does he bother to wear both eye protection and ear protection? Answer: Because he knows he will survive his “mission” and be taken into custody after surrendering to police. It wasn’t a suicide mission at all. Eighteen months from now, the world will have forgotten the name of the shooter, and the media will never report anything about him again. (He will likely be relocated under the witness protection program, living under a new identity after having completed his “mission” for the deep state.)

BONUS QUESTION: If you hate illegals and want to protect America, why would you mass murder Americans shopping in an American store? Wouldn’t you theoretically want to target illegal aliens if that’s who you want to destroy? Nearly all the people who were shot were Americans. It makes no sense to hate illegals and then turn around and mass murder Americans.

ONE MORE QUESTION: Why was the shooter’s online profile changed from “Democrat” to Republican / Trump supporter / QAnon follower? Clearly the deep state is modifying his online profile to match their own conspiracy theories and official narratives about QAnon followers being “domestic terrorists.” This is Orwellian-level psyop stuff being run on the entire nation…

In summary, the official narrative doesn’t add up. In fact, it’s all a “staged violence” event which combines real violence with a fake narrative to achieve a specific political purpose. In this case, the goal is the complete disarmament of the American people, blaming Trump for everything and positioning illegals as “victims” of a mass shooting when, in reality, it was Americans who were actually shot.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/five-simple-questions-that-blow-apart-the-official-fake-news-narrative-about-the-el-paso-wal-mart-shooting/

El Paso Walmart shooting witnesses saw ‘three to four armed men running in… dressed in all black… shooting’

Major cover-up underway? Why are mainstream sources and officials reporting only one shooter when eyewitnesses claim that they saw 3 to 4 armed men dressed in all black enter the store and start shooting?

(INTELLIHUB) — Twenty people were killed at a Walmart in El Paso Texas on Saturday reportedly by the hands of a single suspected gunman who was identified by various news sources as Patrick Crusius, 21, of Allen, Texas. However, information received by Intellihub may tell a different story.

Remarkably, several eyewitnesses to the shooting, a mother and her daughter, were captured on video recounting how three men dressed in all black entered through the front doors of the store as the shooting started.

“That’s when my mom is like ‘no it is actually shooting’ and she saw three men went in and they were all dressed in black,” a young girl named Britney explained. “…that’s when my mom said ‘drop down, go down to the floor.'”

Britney admits that neither she nor her mom actually saw anyone shot or wounded but said the three men were, in fact, holding guns and acknowledged the men were shooting.

VIDEO of witness Brittney, who says her mom saw 3 armed men dressed all in black. pic.twitter.com/r9jnR2WfF4

https://www.intellihub.com/walmart-shooting-witnesses-saw-three-to-four-armed-men-running-in-dressed-in-all-black-shooting/

After El Paso massacre, liberal US Jews say Trump fueling white nationalism

Reform leader accuses president of emboldening mass shooters by ‘demonizing asylum seekers and immigrants’

WASHINGTON — Liberal American Jewish leaders, fuming at another mass shooting allegedly carried out by a white supremacist, took US President Donald Trump to task on Sunday, saying he had fueled xenophobia and division in the country for three years, while failing to to press for stricter gun laws.

Their condemnations came after a 21-year-old gunman, armed with a powerful rifle, walked into a crowded Walmart on Saturday in El Paso, Texas — a majority Hispanic city on the border with Mexico — and opened fire. Authorities identified the assailant as Patrick Crusius from Dallas, who stalked shoppers in the aisles of the retail giant as he riddled them with bullets, leaving at least 20 people dead and another 26 wounded.

Crusius is suspected of being the author of a manifesto posted online before the attack, in which he said was responding to “the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-el-paso-massacre-liberal-us-jews-say-trump-fueling-white-nationalism/

New US anti-Russian sanctions prove Skripal case trumped-up - Russian diplomat

"That is a story that has totally discredited itself", Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, August 4. /TASS/. A second round of US sanctions imposed on Russia over the Skripal case shows the trumped-up nature of the investigation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday in a televised interview on Rossiya’1 channel.

"That is another huge and the strongest proof that the story about Skripals was invented, that it is a provocation," she said. "At least, that part is trumped-up which was presented by the UK, by London, by the Theresa May government as an official version. That is a story that has totally discredited itself," Zakharova said commenting on the new, second round of US sanctions slapped on Moscow over the Skripal case.

Earlier, the high-ranking diplomat said that the second round of US sanctions against Moscow was an open provocation aimed at a propagandistic effect. She pointed out that Russia would continue its sustainable development, would boost the economy and bolster defense capabilities, and would step up its influence on the global arena.

Skripal saga

According to London, former Russian military intelligence (GRU) Colonel Sergei Skripal, who had been convicted in Russia of spying for Great Britain and later swapped for Russian intelligence officers, and his daughter Yulia suffered the effects of an alleged nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury on March 4. The toxic chemical was sprayed on their door handle. Claiming that the substance used in the attack had been a Novichok-class nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, London rushed to accuse Russia of being involved in the incident. Moscow rejected all of the United Kingdom’s accusations, saying that a program aimed at developing such a substance had existed neither in the Soviet Union nor in Russia. Britain’s military chemical laboratory at Porton Down failed to pinpoint the origin of the substance that poisoned the Skripals.

On August 1, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order, which stipulates the procedure of sanctioning the country found to have breached the US Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991. The act was used as a legal justification for slapping the first round of sanctions on Russia over the Skripal case at the end of August in 2018. The second round of sanctions goes into force on August 19 and will be in effect for a year, the US Department of State said. The new sanctions will include a prohibition on US banks from lending non-ruble denominated funds to the Russian government.

https://tass.com/politics/1071843

Millions of ‘slaves’ around the world still making stuff we buy today

There were 40.3 million people living in conditions of slavery in 2018, mostly women, a recent report by the Walk Free Initiative shows. Researchers say slavery did not end with abolition in the 19th century but just changed form.

The initiative undertakes research to build the world’s most comprehensive evidence-base of modern slavery. While there isn’t an official legal definition of modern slavery, the UN describes it as the condition of people whose work “is performed involuntarily and under the menace of any penalty.” The organization and its member states committed to eliminating slavery by 2030, along with human trafficking, forced labor, and child labor.

According to Walk Free, modern slavery is increasing, particularly in business supply chains.

https://www.rt.com/business/465757-world-slaves-making-stuff/