EXCLUSIVE: Famed Wall Street vet DICK BOVE on Fall of Financial System, Rise of Crypto, Dollar Collapse, Trump $ Musk, Surging Money Supply, What's REALLY Driving Stock Market. Plus, BOVE 's next book

In a rare interview since he officially retired last year after a distinguished 54 year career on Wall Street, DICK BOVE, 84, spells out his concerns for the US and global financial system. "I think the financial system of the US has lost its footing," BOVE says in the interview, breaking his silence since his retirement. "I think as this becomes more evident, it is going to have a tremendously negative impact on the economy." Still, his may not be a typical retirement for a Wall Street veteran who was rarely far from the media spotlight, during his long career as an outspoken and frequently quoted financial analyst. He's busy writing a major book out of his home office in Florida. The blockuster book is his in-depth analysis of how a brutal war-like confrontation between the two major powers, the US and China, would unfold.In our interview, BOVE challenges the conventional wisdom on what is driving the rise in the stock market. "Analysis of the market is not being driven by the right theories," says Bove who covered US banks in his latter years on Wall Street.. "We've seen tremendous uncertainty the past 12 months yet the market keeps doing quite well, touching all-time highs." Find out what is driving the rise in equities despite wars, upheavals, tariffs and deep-seated fears, according to BOVE.BOVE covers a range of interconnected themes and developments from the fued between DONALD TRUMP and ELON MUSK (and why it matters); his praise for some of TRUMP's policies and his concerns for his accumulation of a vast personal position in cryptocurrency. "He has to protect the dollar but he is making a fortune on crypto," says BOVE. Both markets can't successfully co-exist if crypto currency ultimately overwhelms the US dollar, BOVE argues. BOVE believes TRUMPS holdings in crypto - a huge $3 billion position, by some estimates - is a conflict of interest for the President, the biggest conflict, he asserts, of any President dating as far back as George Washington.The author of Guardians of Prosperity: Why America Needs Big Banks (2013), BOVE is highly regarded for his life-long study of the US finanancial system and banks, as well as of the Federal Reserve. "US banks at the moment are the best hope of salvaging the financial system," he says. As for the US Federal Reserve, BOVE quips, "If the Fed was a private entity, it would be bankrupt." Then there is the creaky US Social Security, inching closer to financial catastrophe. BOVE's recommendation? Promote a longer work life, well beyond the standard 65 years for many workers with exceptions for the sick and infirm.To Contact us: [e-mail]