Introduction
For years, Martin Armstrong has relied on Zero Hedge — one of the most visited financial commentary sites in the world — as his most important promotional platform. This article presents detailed evidence of how he and a dedicated team of shills operated in the site’s comments section — supported by dozens of paid articles — and how that operation eventually declined under sustained scrutiny.
Using public comment data from January 2018 to June 2026, I document the full lifecycle: build-up, aggressive expansion, maintenance, and collapse. The scale is significant: Armstrong himself posted over 15,000 comments under the account dustinthewind, while Zero Hedge published roughly 80 articles featuring his work.
The Zero Hedge Comments Section
Zero Hedge attracts a large, engaged audience skeptical of mainstream narratives. Unfortunately, its lightly moderated comments section has long been vulnerable to coordinated promotion. This case study shows how that vulnerability was exploited.
Using public comment data spanning January 2018 to June 2026, I document how this operation was built, scaled, maintained, and ultimately declined under sustained scrutiny. The result is a clear picture of coordinated promotion in Zero Hedge’s notoriously free-wheeling comments section — and a case study in how financial self-promotion operates online.
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| Total comments referencing "Armstrong" on Zero Hedge (Jan 2018 – June 2026). Blue = Martin Armstrong (dustinthewind / inthevoid). Colored layers = supporting shill accounts. The chart reveals clear phases of activity and the persistence of core promoters. |
Key Statistics
- Martin Armstrong: 15,255 comments (May 2019–June 2026), including 8,440 marketing/promotional posts.
- Estimated spend on ~80 Zero Hedge articles: $64,000–$120,000 ($800–$1,500 per article).
- Shill activity began in early 2018 and involved a rotating but stable core team of ~5–6 accounts.
The Phased Story
The operation is best understood in four distinct phases:
1. Build-up (Jan 2018 – June 2020)
Warm-up period with gradual team formation. By late 2019 a core of ~6 members is established, including long-term inner circle accounts MoralsAreEssential and Francis Marx.
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Build-up (2018–mid 2020) — Team formation.
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2. Aggressive Expansion (July 2020 – June 2022)
Armstrong takes the lead with up to 350 promotional comments per month. The shill army stabilizes around 5–6 members. MoralsAreEssential and Francis variants remain central.
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Aggressive expansion (mid 2020–mid 2022) — Armstrong leads + stable support.
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3. Maintenance Under Pressure (July 2022 – Jan 2024)
Volume becomes harder to sustain as my counter-campaign intensifies. Replacements occur, but the core (including Francis under new names and new additions like Thomas Malthaus) holds steady at 5–6 members.
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Maintenance under pressure (mid 2022–early 2024) — Adjustments and replacements.
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4. Decline (Feb 2024 – June 2026)
Significant drop in total activity. Core team shrinks with no new recruits. Thomas Malthaus persists as the main remaining active shill, while Armstrong largely withdraws.
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Decline (2024–2026) — Contraction, reduced effectiveness and withdrawal.
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Key Players & Patterns
While the phased charts show the overall operation, certain accounts reveal the inner workings most clearly.
Martin Armstrong – dustinthewind / inthevoid
Armstrong’s primary account is well-known to long-time observers. Style, timing, and content analysis confirm dustinthewind (later renamed inthevoid) as his main presence. He was exceptionally active, often posting dozens of times per day during peak periods. In June 2026 he disappeared from visible activity.
Recent slip-up example (January 2026):
On January 29, 2026, user "dustinthewind" posted near-verbatim linked content from Armstrong's own blog — including first-person language and his personal signature “M.A.” — complete with a ChatGPT tracking parameter in the link. Full details and archive available here (comment URL: EU 'Celebrates' Replacing One Massive Energy Dependency With Another One). An archive can be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20260128113955/https://www.zerohedge.com/user/286256
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| Martin Armstrong's Operational Slip-Up (January 2026) |
Armstrong, in an Aug 2025 post, doesn't try to hide his location (Armstrong lives in Tampa Bay):
Martin Armstrong as dustinthewind on Zero Hedge Aug 17 2025
Socrates, the computer forecasting program and AI has predicted that ...
The local TV station here in the Tampa Bay area ran a piece yesterday ...
The Inner Circle – Francis Variants
One of the most persistent promoters is the user operating under Francis Marx / Marximus / Marxximus accounts. Active across nearly the entire 8+ year period, this operator repeatedly created new accounts after previous ones faced consequences.
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Francis account activity timeline showing name changes and continuity. |
Francis stands out for aggressive promotional claims, including specific profit testimonials and statements about Armstrong advising central banks — claims that appear to violate both platform rules and regulatory restrictions on Armstrong. Several of these accounts were terminated after such posts.
Examples of notable Francis comments
A recent example (illegal):
"Francis Marxximus" at Zero Hedge Jul 22 2025 (emphasis added)
He is the only person I have ever read who's computer models have been most right out of all the other annalist. I made 150% on a long term options trade on oil years ago when he said oil was going down to $35. Even my broker told me they were amazed on my trade..
Armstrong never predicted the oil decline that he mentions.
Another recent example (illegal):
"Francis Marxximus" at Zero Hedge Mar 3 2024 (emphasis added)
Advisor to many central banks. read him [Armstrong] for years and made money on his computer models.
It would be shocking at times how correct his computer would be. No
human could do that. You are out of Langley or a wall street banker,
That is why you have a low -negative score.
This activity is illegal because of the following two highlighted statements:
- Martin Armstrong is by court order barred indefinitely from association with a financial adviser. The claim that he advised government financial institutions such as central banks is criminal
because it entices Armstrong's unsuspecting scam victims to seek his
financial advice which he is barred from giving, based on this claim
which is a lie.
- Nobody has ever made money on Armstrong's
"computer models" as claimed. Armstrong's "computer models" are sold
under the brand name Socrates as a service. In fact, Martin Armstrong
lost over $700 million trading based on the signals of these models.
More recent track records are available here: Socrates Subscriber Testimonials as well as Socrates Long Term Past Performance Review and other sources such as at the Armstrong Socrates Repo. Again,
it is illegal to claim financial benefits from computerized financial
advice which Armstrong is barred by court order from giving.
The profile of this notorious sock puppet is at Francis Marxximus
The relevant public document is:
Conviction Injunction (from Armstrong's Supreme Court Appeal, emphasis added)
Former associated person with an investment adviser was convicted of conspiracy to
commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and commodities fraud and permanently enjoined
from violating antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Held, it is in the public
interest to bar Respondent from association with any investment adviser.
Another example
(same avatar but slightly different name):
"Francis Marximus" at Zero Hedge Sep 26 2022
How come every time I do a trade based on Armstrong's
computer and make thousands on 1 day trades, people down vote me. But
Not all. Then there is people like you that say his computer is a fraud.
Yet Martin has hundreds of thousands of Subscribers to his Socrates
computer.
On
that page above there is a lively discussion between Armstrong shills
who recommend Armstrong's subscription services. But the story does not
end here yet.
Here is the next example. Martin Armstrong poses on Zero Hedge as a satisfied user with fake name "Francis
Marximus". Please note that the account "Francis Marximus" was banned after this conversation and the comment thread was deleted. He starts the conversation as follows in the comments section of his Zero Hedge marketing page:
"Francis Marximus" at Zero Hedge Oct 3 2022
I got armstrong subscription and been reading him for all of 15 years.
He said many years ago that all Pensions will fail going into the great
crash and burn. Not just Europe.
All his long term subscribers and readers will back up what I am saying.
I counter this this as "ThoughtSplitter" at Zero Hedge Oct 3 2022
You are a shill. Nothing could be further from the truth.
See:
Socrates Subscriber Testimonials
and for you:
Martin Armstrong The Hyper Shill
He responds (again, comment deleted):
"Francis Marximus" at Zero Hedge Oct 3 2022 (emphasis added)
Been reading Armstrong for many years. You are a friend of the bankers. They hate him.
If the subscribers hate him so bad, how come he has 150,000 subscribers to his Socrates?
I have made quite a bit of money off of his Socrates pro.
I can't help if a lot of simpletons don't understand trading.
I respond as "ThoughtSplitter" at Zero Hedge Oct 3 2022
Hello Martin Armstrong. You ARE Martin Armstrong because nobody should
know that number 150,000 except you, even while it is a lie (because if
it was true then you would not be broke). You can't have it both ways -
posing as a user and at the same time being the operator of that
business and not be broke.
Did I fail to say you are schizophrenic? You have been running a sock
puppet show for the last 40 years. Every man and his dog knows it.
Another user Nosey_Parker reacts:
Nosey_Parker at Zero Hedge Oct 3 2022
Wow, MA just got ass rapped on ZH
User Nosey_Parker concludes later:
Nosey_Parker at Zero Hedge Oct 3 2022
This comments section is the best one for a while.
Evidence points to the actual Martin Armstrong coming on here to hawk his wares and shout down the debunkers is brilliant.
The question remains......
If these guys are so good at predicting the markets why do they need to go on shows like USAWatchdog.com to sell their 'secrets' for $50 a month?
Greg Mannarino seems like a nice guy but then begs for $5
Jim Willie is another, supposedly this super successful trade but always in need of a handout.
If I was some kind of nostradamus, I'd make a million or two then buy a
nice house by the sea and carry on making a few hundred thousand a year
'working' a few hours a week, not lowering myself to go on Greg Hunter
to hawk a crappy self published book or to beg for $10
From the example above you can see that I can identify a Martin Armstrong shill without any doubt, catch him, get him to expose
himself, with only TWO messages AND get confirmation from a third party.
Because he is a schizophrenic liar.
The Zero Hedge administration deleted the above comments made by user Francis Marximus, comments that were the last ones made from this account. You can see in the profile Francis Marximus on Zero Hedge that there are no new messages after Sept 2022. Apparently the account was disabled promptly.
However, this shill, true to his stubborn and intransigent
style, created a new account with the same features. See the new user Francis Marxximus
which appeared with the same profile picture icon on Nov 11, 2022
(please note the double x in his new name). It still has the same shill
role, but the profile picture changed again.
An even earlier example (again illegal) where he used his first account
(now deleted) with name "Francis Marx" with the same avatar:
I apparently annoyed him as "LetMeAskThis" at Zero Hedge May 15 2020
Check out this decades old scam:
armstrongecmscam.blogspot.com
He replies:
"Francis Marx" at Zero Hedge May 15 2020 (emphasis added)
Not this crap again.
I've made a lot of money off his computer.
You bankers really hate him.
This multi-year engagement shows that he is not just an
occasional paid shill or a cult follower but a core member of
Armstrong's inner circle.
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| MoralsAreEssential: Active between February 2018 and June 2026 |
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| Thomas Malthaus: Active between April 2022 and June 2026 |
Thomas Malthaus is cheap because he has mainly been
dropping one-liner links to Armstrong's blog site, often off-topic,
counting 227 since April 2022 when he was first engaged.
Other shill profiles:
Skip59, which has gone through some name changes since Apr 17 2024) now "Woody".
The staggered timing of the shill messages is fairly obvious day by day: It fits classic coordinated amplification patterns (lead account dustinthewind posts first to seed the narrative, then supporters echo/upvote to build momentum). To stay under the radar of possible moderator review after complaints, they play the scatter game (zero to two messages each per day in different threads).
Other affiliated, less active shill accounts are BugMan, smakker and Sparehead.
Read more about examples of ordinary Armstrong fanatics at:
Martin Armstrong's Premium Cult Members
One of the strongest indications of sock puppet presence is the average count of up-votes that Armstrong gives himself using his sock puppet accounts which is around 5 to 6 which aligns well with his shill team size at Zero Hedge of roughly 5 to 6. But it gets better.
The Sock Puppet Master's Smoking Gun
A good sock puppet or shill army master manages multiple accounts, each representing a distinct character, such as having odd style elements like double and triple punctuation and different times of the day when they post comments, or that religious character who quotes the bible. But there is one weakness in this coordinated system: If the master is out of action, then all his sock puppets are out of action as well. And this is exactly what happened during Hurricane Milton and in its aftermath at around Oct 10 2024. He was forced to evacuate and his property would have suffered some damage. He would have faced a power outage like two million others in his area.
During that time, between Oct 10 and Oct 13, there was not a single Armstrong marketing message on Zero Hedge by anyone, including these shills. Caught! While it is superficially plausible that Armstrong operates these shill accounts himself, it is more likely that his shill team relies on Armstrong's signals that were missing at the time.
Martin Armstrong's Daily Routine
To discover Armstrong's daily routine I had to analyze the timing of his activities which involved the recording of his publications over several weeks.
Every day, between midnight and around 4 to 5 am Eastern Time, he publishes up to five pages on his own blog site. As I wrote earlier, the subjects of his pages are aligned with topics that are trending the most on Zero Hedge. What is trending there is easy to measure by the count of page reads and comments that are shown in the Zero Hedge summary home page.
Only minutes later, he selects matching 3rd party content on Zero Hedge and copies his blog pages, including formatting and links, as COMMENT into the discussion sections of the Zero Hedge articles. He often replies to his own comment with another one as continuation because of the 5,000 character limit for each comment. He effectively re-publishes 80% of his entire blog in the Zero Hedge comments sections every day.
This process takes him only a few minutes because Zero Hedge comment form accepts some markup as is (try it). Easy
transfer for dummies!
After up to eight comments of this type, he stops this and writes other comments, typically copied from pro Russia propaganda sites or just some of his own rants. The total number of his comments is roughly 15 per day .
Armstrong does not usually reply to other user's comments to his Zero Hedge pieces there using his main account dustinthewind. If at all, he uses his other accounts for this, effectively running a sock puppet show as observed elsewhere. For most users, this creates the illusion of depth and wider support of Martin Armstrong.
Depending on how safe he feels (my presence has made him feel unsafe), he reduces the number of marketing messages and creates a balance with multiple messages that play to the tune of the general consensus. He does this simply to make his spamming activity less obvious. This approach secures his Zero Hedge account, an approach that he has refined over many years there and elsewhere.
After combining these activities with the time gaps between them, my statistics indicate that Martin Armstrong as dustinthewind alone spends two hours every day on Zero Hedge.
Once he has completed his task, he moves over to the next (smaller) forum and performs a similar activity there as I wrote in Exposed: Armstrong Economics in The Free Republic Forum. Of course, in between he has to service many other internet assets that host / mirror his content. See an extensive but not complete list of them in Affiliate Sites and Channels
Armstrong's Main Zero Hedge Articles
Armstrong's main articles are an integral part of his Populist Hot Button Topic Campaign. Read more at Campaign Structure and Operations. Because of this, it is quite predictable when his next Zero Hedge article will appear.
An Armstrong shill prays to God to save his Zero Hedge Sock Puppet Account
Another of his sock puppet shill characters making similar claims is Skip59 (renamed 3 times to Forest43 then Bingo99 then 10Penny since Apr17 2024 then Woody)
Since he keeps renaming his profile to evade detection and to flush previous messages from his profile, I record the last messages that he sent before his renaming and trivial replies:
His desperation can be seen in the following message:
Martin Armstrong Shill Skip59 on Zero Hedge on Wed, Apr 17 2024
I don’t know why your so bitter towards Martin Armstrong but I’ll continue praying 🙏 that you get over it..!
When Armstrong starts praying then that usually means that I must have done a few things right. You can still see this message when clicking on the link. And nothing could make it more obvious that the account holder is Armstrong himself or a close associate because who else would pray to save his Zero Hedge account?
Update
Jan 2026: His account (last name Woody) is now retired which shows that the job of a sock
puppet or gig shill worker is not risk-free. You can still see his last
armstrongeconomics.com advertisement in his profile.
Why didn't Martin Armstrong stop?
Faced with my exposé and my relentless campaign, one could expect that Martin Armstrong suspends his activities at Zero Hedge to avoid a complete meltdown of his business. But he did not stop at first. Here is my attempt of an analysis of
Martin Armstrong's Agenda
which partly explains why he didn't act as expected. If there is in fact anything that can explain his actions.
If
you are more than irritated by what you see there, you may consider
reporting any of Armstrong's team this user for commercial promotion in comments at mailto:abuse@zerohedge.com
While he pays Zero Hedge for republishing content occasionally, this does not make him immune to such complaints as I have shown above.
Read more at:
Exposed: Armstrong Economics in The Free Republic Forum
Martin Armstrong The Hyper Shill
