Amazon just got caught running a secret price manipulation operation with Levi's, Home Depot, Walmart, and many more.
Every time you "comparison shopped" online, you were looking at prices that were already rigged.
Here's what happened:
Amazon would monitor prices on Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, and Chewy in real time. The second a competitor listed a product cheaper than Amazon, they'd contact the brand directly and tell them to "fix it."
And the exact emails are now PUBLIC.
Amazon sent Levi's links to two Walmart listings with the subject line "styles of concern." They basically said the prices on Walmart are too low and we have a problem.
The next day, Levi's responded: "I talked to Walmart and they have partnered with us to take Easy Khaki Classic fit back up to ladder SPP price, $29.99 immediately."
Levi's literally called Walmart and told them to raise the price. Because Amazon told Levi's to make the call.
Walmart complied. Then Amazon matched the HIGHER price.
Both retailers ended up charging more. The customer paid extra. Nobody competed.
Same playbook with Hanes:
Amazon sent them links showing Target and Walmart prices were lower. Hanes confirmed they "reached out to Target and Walmart to have the prices increased."
Target increased the prices. Walmart increased the prices. Amazon kept their margins.
But it gets even worse...
Amazon told Allergan (the company that makes eye drops) that their product was "suppressed" on Amazon because it was cheaper on another site.
Allergan responded: "Walmart got their price back up to $16.99." Amazon then unsuppressed the listing.
They did this with pet treats on Chewy. Furniture on Home Depot. Products across dozens of categories spanning YEARS.
The mechanism is simple but terrifying:
If you're a brand and you sell cheaper on Walmart than on Amazon, Amazon suppresses your product, removes you from the Buy Box, buries you in search results, and effectively makes you invisible to 300 million customers.
Brands can't afford that. So they call Walmart and Target and say "raise your prices or we'll lose our Amazon listings."
Walmart and Target comply because they need the brand's products.
Amazon captures 40 cents of every dollar spent online in America. That gives them the leverage to set prices across THE ENTIRE internet. Not just their own platform.
So turns out, you were never comparison shopping.
You were looking at a coordinated price floor set by Amazon through backroom phone calls between brands and their competitors.
"Amazon is working to make your life more unaffordable."
3 separate antitrust trials are now scheduled for 2027. The FTC has its own case. 18 states plus the DOJ are piling on.
This is literally happening during the WORST affordability crisis in a generation. Groceries up 25% since 2020. Housing unaffordable. Wages flat.
And the largest ecommerce company on Earth has been secretly coordinating with brands to make sure you can't find a cheaper price ANYWHERE.
"Competition" in retail is just a fantasy.
@NathanielSami Umm…why is she consistently keeping her eyes down as if she’s reading a script? Can she not think for herself or on the fly? 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, recently said at BlackRock’s US Infrastructure Summit in Washington, DC that the plan is to have artificial intelligence “metered” like water and power
So here’s what’s happening
“Let me connect these dots for you because this is not a conspiracy. This is literally happening right now — Local governments are footing the bill for brand new power lines, road upgrades and fire stations. Meanwhile, data centers are the literal physical buildings running this AI and they're getting billions in tax breaks. One estimate just ballooned from $327 million to $2.5 billion in breaks. That's your tax money subsidizing the infrastructure that they're gonna turn around and charge you to use”
Once this infrastructure is built out, they plan on charging Americans on a “meter system” just like they do water, power and electricity
Local governments and industries will use it, and we’ll all be paying monthly for it
We are paying for them to build it, so they can turn working and charge us for it
My Uber driver asked what I do for work.
"Software."
"Cool. Can you look at something?"
He handed me his phone at a red light. Terminal. Claude chat. Green P&L.
+$6,200.
He drives Uber 4 days a week. Makes $1,100. Has a 2-year-old daughter.
"Where did you find this?"
"Your article. The 14,000 wallets one."
He read it three months ago. Didn't understand half of it. Asked Claude to explain it like he's five.
214 messages. All during breaks between rides. Parked at gas stations. Waiting for pings.
First thing Claude told him: 87% of wallets lose money. Don't be the 87%.
He installed poly_data. Fed it to Claude. Found 47 wallets with Sharpe above 2.0. Filtered crypto only. Quarter Kelly. $200 starting bankroll. From his tips.
Try copytrade bot here: https://t.co/VvXrNhcD2C
93 messages later Claude helped him build the 20-line brain from the article. Bayesian updates. EV filter at 5%. Fully automated.
Last 45 days:
→ 480 trades
→ 91.3% win rate
→ +$6,200
Best trade: whale convergence on Fed rate cut. 4 wallets entered in 2 minutes. Entry $0.12. Resolved $1.00. +$1,760. While dropping off a passenger at JFK.
The passenger tipped him $5. The bot made $1,760.
His wife found the Telegram alerts on his phone. Thought he was texting another woman.
He showed her the P&L curve.
"Can you make me one?"
"How long until you quit driving?"
He looked at me through the rearview mirror.
"I'm not stopping. Uber is my cover story."
I wrote the article. He actually opened terminal.
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I wish every person who sees this, right now, could experience this.
I know for a fact that more men than not need to experience this for themselves.
I did, & I'll tell you, there's nothing like it.
Witness the power.
.#JesusIsKing.🃏👑✝️
@tedcruz I keep hearing horror stories about how little is done for our teachers in Texas. Can you please look into this? If Texas has tens of BILLIONS of dollars in surplus revenue, why isn’t more being done for them?! They need help!
@esjesjesj The practice of mass killing of chickens is actually a detriment to the overall health of flocks. The ones that develop or have immunity are also killed, making the overall flock more susceptible to disease.
@elonmusk What kind of firings are going on at NOAA/NWS?! I’m hearing that they’re losing people and that it could cost lives due to missed weather warnings. Respectfully, could you clarify what positions are being lost?