The New York Times outlines what happens when you do not get financial reform, especially on derivatives. In Secretive Banking Elite Rules Trading in Derivatives, we have details on how 9 representatives, from the Banksters, control and lock out the derivatives market, now through a new clearing house called ICE Trust. That's our usual suspects, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, UBS....

The details of their meetings, even their identities, have been strictly confidential.

It's like no limit poker and only a few are allowed to play, with too big to fail built into the game. One goes down, they bring the entire nation down with them.

The banks in this group, which is affiliated with a new derivatives clearinghouse, have fought to block other banks from entering the market, and they are also trying to thwart efforts to make full information on prices and fees freely available.

The little guy, those trying to use derivatives to hedge on commodities, like heating oil, cannot find out if they could have locked in lower prices. Why? Banks don’t disclose fees associated with the derivatives being bought and sold.

Banks collect many billions of dollars annually in undisclosed fees associated with these instruments — an amount that almost certainly would be lower if there were more competition and transparent prices.

Just how much derivatives trading costs ordinary Americans is uncertain. The size and reach of this market has grown rapidly over the past two decades. Pension funds today use derivatives to hedge investments. States and cities use them to try to hold down borrowing costs. Airlines use them to secure steady fuel prices. Food companies use them to lock in prices of commodities like wheat or beef.

It's so elite, they have even locked out Bank of New York Mellon of their cartel like derivatives game. Seems they are being investigated by the Department of Justice, yet of course, they bought off some select Congress representatives, to thwart any attempt to rein them in.

Republican lawmakers, many of whom received large campaign contributions from bankers who want to influence how the derivatives rules are written, say they plan to push back against much of the coming reform.

Beyond this insider group, sellers and buyers of derivatives have no idea what the fees are. These cartel-like banksters are telling them the prices and not reporting their fees.

This is astounding, banks are making huge fictional money off of fictional derivatives to supposedly hedge risk, when we know derivatives, such as credit default swaps, were at the heart of the financial crisis in 2008.

Read the entire article and see if you don't see this as a completely rigged casino, where the only losers are the people, corporations, institutions, governments, not in the club.