Hey yall! What a great website you have here! I love it, and I love the content!

To kick off my introduction, I would like to relate a very strange experience I had with banks a couple of years ago that I have never been able to figure out:

After I quit my job and went to another company, I requested a 401k rollover from 401k.com (Fidelity). I received a check in the mail, and under some standard IRS rules, would not be allowed to cash it or deposit it into my local bank. It had to go to an approved 401k fund provider.

I can't remember the precise language, but I had to enter the name of the bank and the account number of the new bank I wanted the money rolled over into. All very standard, and I presumed it was so people didn't "abuse" the 401k system and try to get a hold of their money. I was acting just as a vehicle for the money to transported by. Anyway, there's nothing out of the ordinary about that.

A month went by, and then another. My account with OptionsXpress (operated by J.P Morgan) still showed a $0 balance. I called them up, and they said they have not received a check. So, I called Fidelity (operated by Deutsche Bank), and they said that the check had cleared many weeks ago. By whom? It could ONLY be deposited by OptionsXPress into the account written on the check - I couldn't even cash it myself.

Bank of America cashed it! I have never even had an account with BoA! How did they get my check when I mailed it to J.P. Morgan? How were they even able to cash it? So, I called BoA, and they said they would research it. A week or two later, I received a letter informing me that they had accidentally deposited the check, and that they would write me a check soon. Another week passed, and sure enough, I received a check from Bank of America with my name as the Payee. So, I deposited it into my bank account, and never heard anything more about it.

What happened? What are the chances that any bank would be mistakenly receive my check - and not a carwash in Florida, an old lady in Tennessee, a bar in Michigan, or the Mexican Consolate in El Paso? There is almost no chance! Now, given the slim chance that a bank received the envelope by mistake, it is a Federal Offense to open mail not addressed to you. So, what are the chances that an Employee at BoA would knowingly break this law for no reason? Then, how and why was it even deposited, and into who's account? Doesn't make any sense.

You know in the Matrix Movie, there are little glitches in the system that Neo sort of notices, but just ignores since there is no rational explanation? This was one of those type of glitches for me. Also, you know how The Bernanke bailed out all these foreign banks during the credit crunch of 2008 that nobody has any explanation for? Well, after this happened to me, I believe that all banks (to include Central Banks) are just tentacles/subsidiaries of the same giant vampire squid. It is an illusion that they are different companies! I think we need to look at their quarterly earnings statements with much more scrutiny, and follow the money trail - all the way to the BIS. Is the Bureau of International Settlements a corporation? Who are the shareholders? The truth is probably in plain sight.

Just some observations and thoughts. Anyway, LET'S ROLL!