KTFA:

OlLar:  Urgent ... Political agreement on the nomination of Iyad Allawi to succeed Abdul-Mahdi and make important reforms

- ADDED ON OCTOBER 31, 2019 BY: DUMP , SECURITY & POLITICS

The political meeting that brought together the main Iraqi forces with President Barham Salih resulted in several important decisions, an informed source said Thursday.

The source said, "The meeting came out several initial agreements, including the dissolution of parliament, and the occurrence of early elections, and change the election law, and change the election commission, and the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi."

The source revealed a preliminary nomination of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to fill the post of prime minister to succeed Abdul Mahdi during the next transitional period.

http://asrarmedia.com/%d8%b9%d.....%88%d9%8a/

Lobster:  Govt. of Iraq: Tweet
President @BarhamSalih: PM @AdilAbdAlMahdi has agreed to submit his resignation and has asked political blocs to agree on an alternative to avoid a constitutional vacuum.

What has Frank been telling us for months?    Go for it Frank! "I told you sooooooo!"

Rommy:  This link is an example of how auctions and/or currency windows should be conducted.  Sidebar  LOL

WHAT DID ALAQ SAY? 10-31-19

Popeye7:  Frank should have been an auctioneer... One of the many talents he possess's.. IMO, I believe that this weekend could prove to be very interesting... They cannot afford to wait too much longer for value to be added to their currency considering the natives are restless..

Nothing will calm them more than to begin anew from an economic standpoint... This focus on 3, and 4 was interesting to me... Frank, IMO, made sure that the 2 files we would most certainly be interested in were the 3rd, and 4th one... When 4 seemed to win out, he said something to the effect that he thought that the 3rd one was the one he would have chosen... He then said he would read the 4th file, but blend in the 3rd file while doing so...

Well, the 3rd of November is on Sunday... Which is when Iraq's workweek begins... Our workweek begins on the 4th of November being Monday of course, and when we could go to the bank if indeed the dinar was given international status...

With all of the activity going on politically within Iraq, as well as here in the US, (a diversion of sorts) what better time to do this than this weekend IMO... Time will tell... God bless, and have a great evening... 

One more thing to chew on... Frank indicated that YouTube would not be necessary in 2 weeks time... Did not say what we are looking for would occur in 2 weeks, but that it would be obsolete...

Did not say what we are looking for would occur in 2 weeks, but that it would be obsolete... He also planned to have an extensive premium chat on this Saturday, the 2nd of Nov., instead of Friday... One that includes Q, and A... On purpose for a purpose!... IMO... We shall see how this weekend unfolds

*****************

Samson:  Tahrir Square is packed with crowds of demonstrators now

2019/10/31 22:19 

Tahrir Square in the center of the capital Baghdad packed with demonstrators.

Our agency now publishes photos from Tahrir Square.

The number of protesters is expected to increase on Friday.  LINK

Popeye7:  Something is cooking in Iraq Samson... Could it be a pot roast a la monetary reform?... The Iraqi citizens want some economic relief ASAP... The CBI cannot possibly keep it in the oven for too long... Otherwise it will burn... IMO... ... With all of those peeps in Tahrir Square, it would be a great time to turn a protest into a celebration feast!... IMO...

Rommy:  IMO the concept of small notes with increased purchasing ability is not the issue.  Just give them the mechanisms.  They are way past ready.  

Popeye7:  I agree they are beyond ready... To give them this economic help they need most definitely at this point in time would assuage Iraqi citizens... These protests within Iraqi cities have become quite enormous as the articles Samson has posted attest to...

A perfect storm seems to be brewing, and we both know what would turn these protests into celebration mode...

These next few days, IMO, are extremely important in all of this... The longer they wait on both the full implementation of the monetary reform, as well as the political aspect in all of this, it could prove to be an enormous setback...

Lots of orchestration going on my friend... In order to ensure the date is met... IMO... Thanks for all you do, and God bless you... 

*******************

Samson:  Integrity: 60 arrest warrants and recruits against MPs and local officials on corruption charges

11/11/2019 9:49

The Integrity Commission announced the issuance of arrest warrants and recruitment of deputies and local officials on charges of corruption and waste of public money, indicating the issuance of orders against a minister and five current deputies and two former ministers.

 According to a statement of integrity received by the Euphrates News, a copy of it, "The Department of Investigation in the Commission also revealed, when talking about the outcome of the month of October orders of recruitment and arrest, the issuance of recruitment orders against 38 members of the provincial council of current and former members, adding that he An order was issued for one governor and two for the post of chairman of the current provincial council, in addition to (6) general directors and one deputy minister.

The Department of Integrity confirmed the issuance of arrest warrants against the current governor and the chairman of the provincial council, and (5) general directors.   LINK

Don961:  Is it time to invest in gold instead of bonds?

Friday 01 November 2019

Capitals / Agencies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It may be time to replace bonds with gold, the World Gold Council said on Wednesday, advising investors to increase the proportion of gold in their portfolios by 1 to 1.5 percent. 

As to what bonds the board identifies as debt instruments issued by governments or corporations, bond buyers usually get On the return of bonds at the time of their refund.

 Bond yield

The report shows that this is due to the decline in the yield on bonds in many countries, as well as increasing geopolitical concerns, including global trade tensions, the crisis of Britain's secession from the European Union, as well as tensions in the Middle East .

The World Gold Council believes that the precious metal may not be better than the returns achieved by investors in the past years, but it remains better than bonds with higher risk yields high returns or investment in stock markets.

Central banks

The report said that the general trend of central banks was to buy gold, which resulted in the purchase of the largest amount of gold in history last year, and continue to buy this year, as the value of (ETFs), which invest in gold up Levels in history last September.

Gold prices rose on Thursday, after the Fed's decision to weaken the value of the US dollar. The yellow metal benefited from the decline in the US currency on the back of the Fed's decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points for the third time in a row, but hinted not to carry out other similar operations in the next phase. A weak green paper makes gold cheaper for investors trading in other currencies.

The trade war

At the same time, investors are awaiting the signing of the first phase of the trade deal by the US and China, which would provide a truce to the 16-month-old trade war, especially after the cancellation of the summit at which the presidents of the two countries were supposed to meet.

By 7:03 am GMT, gold futures for December delivery rose 0.3 percent, or $ 4.20, to $ 1,500.90 an ounce.

Spot delivery rose 0.2 percent, or $ 2.94, to $ 1,498.60 an ounce.

At the same time, the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the US paper against six other major currencies, fell more than 0.3 percent to 97.330.    LINK

*******************

Samson:  Vietnam attracts investors in the face of economic uncertainty
24th October, 2019

Despite the slowdown in global deal-making due to ongoing worldwide economic uncertainty, Việt Nam remains active in M&A in 2020, according to a new report by Baker McKenzie. 

The firm’s fifth annual Global Transactions Forecast, jointly released with Oxford Economics, projects that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will decline globally from US$2.8 trillion in 2019 to $2.1 trillion in 2020. The forecast also predicts a downward trend in IPO proceeds from an estimated $152 billion in 2019 to $116 billion, a 23 per cent drop.

For Việt Nam, the forecast expects GDP growth may ease over the next 18 months, due to export growth trends declining amid lower Chinese import demand and increased global protectionism. Currently, Việt Nam’s average annual GDP growth of 6.2 per cent is higher than the global average of 2.8 per cent.

Baker McKenzie expects cross-border acquisitions to dominate M&A deals in the coming years, as the country’s solid social economic fundamentals continue to attract overseas investors. “Việt Nam remains active in M&A right now, due to positive market factors and confidence that help create business opportunities, as well as multilateral agreements that continue to prompt regulatory reform,” said Seck Yee Chung, who heads Baker McKenzie’s M&A practice in Việt Nam.

Việt Nam, Thailand and Indonesia were identified in the report as Asian countries that saw strong inbound activity in 2019. This year’s largest cross-border signed inbound deal in the country was South Korea's chips-to-energy conglomerate SK Group's US$1 billion investment in Vingroup – Việt Nam's largest firm. This was followed shortly by South Korea-headquartered Hana Bank’s purchase of a 15 per cent stake in the Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BIDV) worth US$850 million. South Korea is the largest source of foreign direct investment in Việt Nam, as the latter has become a production base for major Korean multinationals such as Samsung and LG. 

Despite continued interest from investors, Việt Nam may experience a decline in M&A, as total transactions will dip from $2.6 billion in 2019 to $1.7 billion in 2020, a 35 per cent decrease. In IPOs, the report did not post any estimates for 2019-2020. Looking ahead, the report predicts that activity will pick up again post-2020, as Việt Nam remains an attractive market.

Asia Pacific sees more declines in 2020

In Asia Pacific, the report predicts M&A activity declining 18 per cent from $634 billion in 2019 to $529 billion in 2020, and IPO activity will likely continue its slower trend from this year, which is expected to amount to $36 billion, a 43 per cent decline from 2018. IPO proceeds are predicted to dip even further to $33 billion in 2020.

The region’s weaker performance in 2019 can be attributed to a reduction in Chinese outbound deals due to government restrictions on outward investment. On a broader scale, this in turn may dampen economic momentum across Asia Pacific. “Make no mistake — deals are getting done, but the current slowdown is inevitable, considering the continuing uncertainty around trade and regulation,” said Ai Ai Wong, chair of Baker McKenzie’s Global Transactional Group. “We know that around the world, there are many investors and companies with capital on the sidelines, waiting to move forward with domestic and cross-border deals.”

A range of upside and downside risks could impact the global economy and lead to a rise or drop in deal values and volumes that differ from the central transactions forecast presented in this report. To explore both upside and downside risks, the report looks at five different economic scenarios: Trade War Escalation, Protracted Eurozone Slowdown, US Recession Hits the Global Economy, No-deal Brexit, and Trade War Fears Fade. To understand how these hypothetical outcomes might impact the global economy and the implications for deal making, you may view the interactive Global Transactions Forecast tool - http://interactive.globaltransactionsforecast.com    LINK