H O W A R D S B E N D

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement had a very good week.  Their brand recognition is growing.  TV ratings are soaring as updates are now carried during prime-time.  OWS has also opened many new oversee markets culminating with protests across the globe this past Saturday.

As word of the movement spreads, there is a growing number of strong sympathizers and people wanting to get involved who are just not going to grap their sleeping bags, camping gear and  tents to join the ranks occupying some downtown square or plaza.  It is time to give these non-protesting supporters a realistic action plan that does not require them to give up a good home-cooked dinner.

The banks and the investment banks have become the initial target of “corporate greed”.   Why banks?  From about 2002 through 2008, the banks and investment banks had collectively issued or bought millions of the bad “subprime” mortgages  and then packaged these loans and sold them to our pension funds, insurance companies and small local banks.  During this period, these large banks earned billions in profits.  However, when the market for this product collapsed and these banks were caught with hundreds of billions of these loans in their collective portfolios, they relied on the governement for close to a trillion dollar bailout.  Of course, these bankers paid themselves billions of dollars in bonuses despite huge corportate losses.

Ironically, as these banks have returned to profitability, they are now foreclosing on mortgage holders at record paces.   Many of these deliquent mortgages are probably the same mortgages that the banks and investment banks were holding during the government bailout.  These banks are mercessly kicking people out of their homes forgetting that they would no longer be in business if not for the governemnt bailout.

So it is very logical that the banks should be the first target of any movement attacking corporate greed.  Below are some steps that non-protesting supporters of OWS may begin to take

1. Move saving and checking accounts to small local banks.  This is something that Arianna Huffinton tried to promote recently and it is time to encourage people to move funds from the mega banks located on Wall Street to your local credit union or small bank. This will deny these big banks the capital necessary to make the next round of unsafe investments with our funds.

2.Stop using your credit card.  The big banks which fund most of these credit cards earn about 2% for each credit card transaction.  This is a very lucrative profit center for the banks.  Carry cash and when you pay with the cashier say something like,”I support OWS.”  This little verbal announcement will alert the cashier of a growing movement and if you say it loud enough maybe the two people behing you in line will also get the message.

3. Pay down your credit card debt.  Banks earn huge profits on credit card debt.  They charge the borrower about 18% to 25% of the credit card balance while banks can borrow from the Fed or use our deposits and pay 1% to 2% for the use of these funds.  This is an outrageous profit margin and large part of a bank’s total earning.  In 2004 (the last year I could find), banks earned $30 billion from their credit card business which explains the continuous stream of credit card solicitations.

4. Conserve oil and gas.  This may seem off track but investment banks have invested billions of dollars in oil futures.  They are betting that the price of a barrel of crude oil will skyrocket with widespread disruptions in the Middle East.  It is estimated that about $30 of the $85 price of a barrel of oil can be attributed to this activity.  A sudden glut of oil would cause the price to plummet creating huge losses for these Wall Street speculators.

These initial action steps might seem too simplistic to combat the greed of Wall Street.  However, these steps allow sympathizers to get involved without taking to the streets.  These steps do not really  make a difference  if only ten people stop using a credit card or pay down their credit card debt.  These action steps only have an impact if ten million people stop using credit cards.

Please spread the word and please offer any suggestions that you think might be challenge the greed of these large banks on Wall Street.