More News, Rumors and Opinions Saaturday PM 7-30-2022
KTFA:
Samson: Russian bank allows đồng-denominated transfers
30th July, 2022
VTB Bank, a Russian state-owned bank in charge of foreign trade operations, has allowed money to be transferred to Việt Nam in đồng from July 27.
The new service enables customers to use their bank accounts to make đồng-denominated transfers. It is available to individuals and legal entities, according to the bank's press release.
Customers can use VTB Online to send their money abroad, but no more than 20 million rubles (US$330,715) per transaction and $1 million per month. The commission fee is set at 1 per cent of the transferred amounts.
The money transferred is credited to its recipient's accounts in Việt Nam on the same day. Cross-border transfers are available for both individuals and legal entities.
Earlier, VTB enabled money transfers to Russia's neighbouring countries, which comprise Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. LINK
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Samson: The Guardian: Sanctions have made Putin stronger than ever
30th July, 2022
The British newspaper "The Guardian" considered that the economic war waged by Western countries against Moscow, backfired, and Russian President Vladimir Putin became stronger than ever.
In an article published on Friday, writer Simon Jenkins described the sanctions against Russia as the worst decision in terms of its lack of study and counterproductive results in modern history.
(Sanctions) have made Putin stronger, as Russia has increased exports to Asian countries, leading to an unprecedented surplus in its balance of payments, and the ruble has become one of the strongest global currencies this year, having strengthened by about 50 percent since January.
Jenkins noted that, in turn, Western countries have slipped into recession. "The reality of the economic restrictions imposed on Moscow is that they have called for retaliation," he said. "Putin is free to freeze Europe this winter. He has reduced gas supplies through major pipelines such as Nord," he said. Stream 1 has increased by up to 80%. International oil prices have soared and the flow of wheat and other foodstuffs from Eastern Europe to Africa and Asia has almost been halted.
"Uncertainty has spread to the UK, France, Italy and the US, as gas-hungry Germany and Hungary are about to dance to Vladimir Putin. The cost of living is rising everywhere."
"Presumed British leaders Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak compete in hard-line rhetoric, promising tougher penalties without revealing a single word," Jenkins wrote. LINK
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TNT:
Tishwash: Al-Kazemi directs to suspend official working hours tomorrow, Sunday
The Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, directed the suspension of official working hours in all official institutions, for tomorrow, Sunday.
And the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers stated in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, directed the suspension of official working hours in all official institutions, for tomorrow, Sunday, 7/31/2022, with the exception of security institutions, and that the working percentage be Service and health departments 50%.” link
VERY IMPORTANT UPDATES! The 10-Year Yield CONTINUES TO FREE-FALL... Mortgage Rates CRATER.
Greg Mannarino: 7-20-2022
The Entire Global Financial World has indeed Gone Mad
The Nomad Economist: 7-30-2022
The entire global financial world has indeed gone mad and is in totally uncharted waters.
The personal debt, dollar, and government debt bubbles have yet to burst, but we are definitely getting closer each, and every day, the central banks of the world continue to print more "fake" money instead of tackling the problem head-on with spending cuts and raising taxes.
Negative interest rates, $23,000,000,000,000 US national debt, crypto currencies, on and on. Anybody who thinks they know exactly how this will play out is either lying or has something to sell you.
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world, his net worth, equals to $18.7 billion. Only a few days ago he stated that the world just got mad and the system is broken.
Ray Dalio wrote on his LinkedIn timetable: Money is free for those who are creditworthy because the investors who are giving it to them are willing to get back less than they give. More specifically, investors lending to those who are creditworthy will accept very low or negative interest rates and won’t require having their principal paid back for the foreseeable future.
They are doing this because they have an enormous amount of money to invest that has been, and continues to be, pushed on them by central banks that are buying financial assets in their futile attempts to push economic activity and inflation up.
The reason that this money that is being sold on investors isn’t driving growth and inflation much higher is that the investors who are getting it want to invest it rather than spend it. This dynamic is creating a “pushing on a string” dynamic that had happened many times before in history (though not in our lifetimes) and was thoroughly explained in my book Principles for Navigating Big Debt Crises.
As a result of this dynamic, the prices of financial assets have gone way up, and the future expected returns had gone way down while economic growth and inflation remain sluggish. Those significant price rises and the resulting low expected returns are not just right for bonds;