KTFA Members "News and Views" Thursday 4-23-2020
KTFA:
Don961: The dollar is a safe haven in the era of the collapse of oil ... and gold is falling
- 11 Hours Ago
The dollar and the yen maintained their strength in early trading in London on Wednesday, as demand for safe haven currencies continued with the continuing turmoil in the oil markets, while the price of gold declined.
The dollar stabilized little changed against a basket of currencies, but it remains high about 0.5%, since the beginning of this week, with investors looking for a safe haven amid turmoil in the markets.
The yen maintained the gains it made, last week, against the dollar, up 0.2%.
And oil prices fell again in trading, on Tuesday night, and Brent crude fell to its lowest level since 1999 amid a collapse in demand for everything, from gasoline to jet fuel, due to the outbreak of the Corona virus, and the isolation measures that were applied to contain it.
US crude futures turned, for the first time in history, negatively on Monday, and dealers who despaired despair paid money to get rid of oil.
The markets are still volatile despite attempts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and outside it to reduce supply oversupply, as oil producing countries began, yesterday, Tuesday, urgent collective moves to reduce oil production and reduce supply, after prices collapsed in global markets.
And, "OPEC", in a statement yesterday, Tuesday, that several oil producing countries discussed in the "dramatic market situation" meeting. Oil sources confirmed that the ministers discussed implementing oil production cuts immediately, and not starting May 1, as agreed.
On the other hand, gold prices fell today, Wednesday, while the strength of the dollar and the craving for liquidity after the historic collapse of US crude futures contracts, covered support through purchases of the yellow metal as a safe haven.
And gold fell in spot trading 0.2% to $ 1682.35 an ounce in early trading, after touching the lowest level in two weeks, on Tuesday, as the collapse of oil prices led to panic sales in the wider markets, and that fueled the craving for liquidity.
Gold fell in the futures trading in the United States 1% to 1704.10 dollars.
Analysts said that gold may be subject to pressure in the longer term, as it is used to hedge in the face of inflation, and low oil prices tend to increase deflationary pressures in the market.
They added that the massive fiscal and monetary stimulus measures by global central banks, especially the Federal Reserve and the governments, will keep gold supported.
In terms of other precious metals, palladium rose 2.6% to $ 1972.57 an ounce, after touching the lowest level in about a month in the previous session.
And platinum gained 0.4% and reached $ 749.29 an ounce, while silver lost 0.8% and reached $ 14.80.
New Arab link
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Samson: Source : Iraq adopts the price of $ 30 a barrel of oil in the budget for the year 2020
22nd April, 2020
A well-informed source revealed, today, Wednesday, that the cabinet approved the price of a barrel of oil at $ 30 for the current year budget and a deficit of 20 trillion dinars
The source, who preferred not to reveal himself to "Al-Iqtisad News", said that "the advisory committee in the cabinet discussed with the Ministry of Finance and the Parliamentary Finance Committee the issue of adopting the price of $ 30 instead of $ 56 and that was approved by the Ministry of Finance
He added that "the planned deficit in the budget for the current year after its recent update amounted to 20 trillion dinars
He stressed that the Iraqi government will put forward a set of proposals to parliament to reduce the deficit, including offering bonds that the central bank purchases and borrow from government banks and external borrowing LINK
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Samson: Economist: Iraq has maintained its selling price of oil despite the collapse of US crude
19:09 - 04/23/2020
Economist Safwan Qusai confirmed on Thursday that Iraqi oil maintained the selling price at $ 20 despite the collapse of US crude, attributing the matter to selling Iraqi oil in three markets, most notably Asia.
Qusai said in a statement to the "information", that "Iraqi oil is sold in three markets, which are Asia, Europe and America, as the movement of the wheel of the economy in China has served Iraqi oil in maintaining its prices in a proportion not exceeding 20 dollars," noting that "American crude collapsed due to Not having a storage capacity for it.”
He added that "Iraq be affected by the collapse of American oil only 50%," noting that "the Chinese economy will return to normal within two months and there will be an increase in oil prices by approximately 40 dollars and the current crisis can be overcome."
Oil prices rose significantly during trading today, Thursday, after heavy losses incurred earlier this week.
Sunkissed: The fact that Iraq oil is holding (low but holding) in comparison to US oil, definitely demonstrates that this is a manual manipulation ON PURPOSE => FOR A PURPOSE!
Trump is a brilliant economist and businessman (Frank will back me on that I'm sure, as he has stated it in nearly every single UB2B and CC over the past years).
Oil and Gold have always been "used" to lead investors (big and small) to where they want them to go. Let's enjoy watching - and learning - how this GODSEND investment will roll out for us AND THE WORLD!
ALL facets of this have never aligned so perfectly before. I've never seen ZERO cash sales with this consistency! CBI down so frequently! And ISX listing as it is! I could go on and on - you all know the events of late!
This very weekend could be a real life changer for all of us... and if not THIS weekend... the end is nigh. Because what Iraq is currently doing to hold it together is NOT sustainable. It's an ambu bag for life support! (Frank knows them well in his previous profession)
Thank you to all of those who teach us GREATLY! ~ Sunkissed
Samson: 70 warrants of arrest and recruitment were issued against senior Iraqi officials
23rd April, 2020
The Federal Integrity Commission announced the arrest and recruitment orders issued against accused of high and special degrees issued during the month of February.
The investigations department of the commission stated that 70 arrest warrants and summonses against ministers, members of the House of Representatives, governors, members of provincial councils and two general managers, as well as a deputy minister, based on the cases they investigated and referred to the judiciary.
The department indicated that arrest and recruitment orders were issued against five ministers, including a current minister, five members of the House of Representatives, including three current ones, a former deputy minister, former governors, and twenty-four general managers, of whom nine are current, as well as (33) members of provincial councils. LINK
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Samson: Overcrowding in the most famous Iraqi market .. Baghdadis ignore Corona in preparation for Ramadan
23rd April, 2020
The famous Shorja Market in the heart of the capital, Baghdad, and the surrounding streets witnessed crowding with pedestrians and shoppers, a day before the start of Ramadan.
This overcrowding came just one day after the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a broken curfew on the HIV virus.
And the World Health Organization in Iraq expressed concern about the behavior of some citizens during the partial lifting of the curfew, and while calling on them to adhere to health instructions, she warned against returning the full curfew in case of non-compliance.
"The World Health Organization in Iraq expresses its deep concern about the actions of some citizens during the partial lifting of the curfew," calling them "to fully comply with the preventive measures and recommendations of the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health," the organization said in a statement.
She stressed "the need to avoid gatherings and maintain the social divergence that enabled Iraqi health workers to control the pandemic of the new Corona virus so far," warning that "breaching these measures may lead to the reactivation of the complete curfew."
On Sunday April 19th, the Supreme Committee for National Health and Safety in Iraq decided to lift the curfew in the month of Ramadan from six in the morning until seven in the evening, and to impose a fine of 50 thousand dinars for those who are not committed to wearing medical masks, while the Iraqi Ministry of Health warned of a rapid increase in the number of Corona virus infections, as a result of breaking the curfew, which led to overcrowding of public roads in cars and bicycles and the opening of many shops and markets.
The Ministry noted the warnings issued by the World Health Organization repeatedly in the danger of mitigating health measures taken to control the epidemic before ensuring full control of its spread. LINK
Clare: IRAQ FINANCE EXPO 22, 23, 24 JUNE 2020 Officially Co-Hosted with the Central Bank of Iraq, IFEX showcases all the outstanding opportunities and latest technology in the country.
Following the outstanding success of both the Iraq Banking and Investment Summit, and Iraq: A Leap Forward, we are delighted to announce IFEX: IRAQ Finance Expo, the premier online conference and exhibition for Iraq’s financial future. Officially co-hosted with the Central Bank of Iraq and the Government of Iraq, IFEX is the only digital conference of its kind tackling the critical challenges affecting Iraq’s finances.
The future of Iraq’s banking and financial service industries. Meet the following industries and exhibit your ground-breaking product! 1. BANKING: Payments, Digital Banks, Money Transfers, Mobile Wallets, Remittances, Retail, Investment, Automation 2. FINTECH: Credit & Lending, Payments, Security, Authorisation, Money Transfers, Insurance, Microbanking, Cloud, P2P Lending 3. E-COMMERCE: Commerce, Home Delivery, Grocery, Retail, POS Systems 4. INNOVATION: Accelerator, Entrepreneurship, AI, Startups
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Clare: Trump says Thunderbirds, Blue Angels will do flyovers across country to honor medical workers
In the coronavirus task force briefing Wednesday, President Trump said that the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds would be doing flyovers of major American cities in honor of "American medical workers" — and that on July Fourth he would bring back the Independence Day celebration held last year on the National Mall.
"I'm excited to announce that in the coming weeks, the Air Force Thunderbirds – are incredible – and the Navy Blue Angels, equally incredible, will be performing air shows over America's major cities," Trump said. "What we're doing is we're paying tribute to our front line health care workers confronting COVID. And it's really a signal to all Americans to remain vigilant during the outbreak. This is a tribute to them, to our warriors. Because they are equal warriors to those incredible pilots and all of the fighters that we have for the more traditional fights that we win and we win."
Trump did not say which cities the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels, the U.S. military's two top flight demonstration teams dedicated to showcasing America's air prowess, would be visiting. He mentioned that they could fly over "some of the cities that aren't major cities" as well.
The Air Force's Thunderbirds have already gotten a head start on Trump's plan. Rather than just conducting their traditional flyover of the Air Force Academy's graduation over the weekend, they went on an extended flyover of major cities and medical facilities in Colorado.
"We salute Colorado's healthcare workers and first responders who are at the forefront of our nation's fight against COVID-19. They are an inspiration for the entire country during these challenging times and it was an honor to fly for them yesterday," the Thunderbirds' official Twitter account said.
KDVR FOX 31 published a map of the Thunderbirds' flight path from the weekend, which started in the Fort Collins area before going south over Boulder and covering much of the Denver metro area -- including Lakewood and Aurora. They then proceeded south along I-25 to Colorado Springs, the location of the Air Force Academy's graduation, then down past Pueblo.
Trump said the flyover idea, named "Operation America Strong," came from the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds.
"The Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels crews ... wanted to show support to the American medical workers who just like military members in a time of war are fiercely running forward," Trump said. "... I want to see those shows. I've seen it many times and I can't get enough."
"They're going to be doing a lot of work, a lot of very dangerous flying. It's dangerous," Trump said, admiring the precision flying and acrobatics for which the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels are known. "You know the odds when you start going at massive speeds and you're 18 inches away from each other, that's dangerous work."
Trump also said Wednesday that he planned to bring back the controversial July 4 celebration that he held on the National Mall last year.
"And on July 4th, we'll be doing what we had at the mall, as you know, we're going to be doing it," Trump said. "Last year was a tremendous success. And I would imagine we'll do it — hopefully I can use the term 'forever.' It was a great success, as you remember."
Trump continued: "Even though it was pouring, it was raining so hard. It was raining, it was about as hard as I've seen in a while, but it was an amazing success. Didn't bother the pilots. Didn't bother the military. Didn't bother the crews that we had there. So we're gonna be doing that again on July 4th."
Critics derided last year's event on the Mall as a partisan ploy designed to use the military to score political points. But a large crowd turned out in the rain, lining the Reflecting Pool on both sides, and Trump considered the event to be a hit.