News, Rumors and Opinions Thursday PM 3-19-2020
KTFA:
Samson: Fed Aims to Keep Dollars Flowing Globally in Nine New Agreements
The Federal Reserve opened currency swap lines, which help foreign central banks to keep dollar funding flowing, with nine nations.
19th March, 2020
The Federal Reserve said it would extend currency swap lines to nine additional countries, an attempt to keep dollars flowing to banks around the world as the coronavirus disrupts every aspect of business, creating a cash crunch in many nations.
The Fed opened currency swaps with central banks in Singapore, South Korea, Brazil, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Norway and Denmark, the Fed said in a Thursday morning release.
The Fed has a history of using so-called “swap lines” to help foreign central banks deliver U.S. dollar funding to financial institutions in their regions amid market stress. Such agreements were used extensively during the financial crisis. Indeed, the newly extended swap lines are with the same countries the Fed struck such agreements with during the 2008 financial crisis.
The Fed has standing swap lines with partners including the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and the Swiss National Bank, and it sweetened the terms on those programs on March 15 to encourage their use.
Because of the importance of the U.S. dollar in the global economy, strains in the markets for borrowing and lending dollars overseas can disrupt financial conditions here in the United States,” Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said in a news conference after that decision.
Swaps work through two transactions: A foreign central bank first sells its currency to the Fed in exchange for dollars. The foreign central bank is then obligated to buy back its currency on a specified date at the same exchange rate, with interest.
The dollar is in many ways the world’s currency. Banks overseas have some $13 trillion in dollar-denominated assets. Because banks abroad operate so heavily in dollars, they may need access to dollar-based credit to weather a shock.
“These facilities, like those already established between the Federal Reserve and other central banks, are designed to help lessen strains in global U.S. dollar funding markets,” the Fed’s Thursday release said of its new agreements. LINK
Samson: Trump: The production period of a vaccine for coronavirus has been reduced from months to days
19th March, 2020
US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration has reduced the production of a coronavirus vaccine from months or years to days.
"We are making continuous efforts to completely eradicate the Chinese virus - the Corona virus - and directed the US Food and Drug Administration to remove any obstacles to efforts to produce an effective treatment for the virus," Trump told a news conference. "Within weeks, we will announce success in the Coronavirus vaccine, and we have agreed to use malaria to treat the virus," he said.
For his part, the president of the American Food and Drug Administration announced that more than 10 thousand researchers are working to produce a treatment for the Corona virus. "We will try the malaria medicine to treat the virus," he said. LINK
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Samson: Iran .. 50 people get an infection of corona per hour and one person dies every 10 minutes
19th March, 2020
Director of the Center for Public Relations and Information of the Iranian Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education Kianosh Jahanpur announced on Thursday that 50 people in the country are infected with the new coronavirus (Covid-19) in the country at an average hour.
Jahanpur wrote in a tweet on the social networking site "Twitter" at dawn today, that almost every hour 50 people are infected with the "Covid-19" virus, and a person infected with this virus dies every 10 minutes on average. The Ministry of Health spokesperson added that, in light of this information, we must make a conscious decision about travel, transportation and visits on the occasion of Nowruz.
The Iranian Assistant Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, Ali Reza Raisi, announced in a press statement yesterday that the number of new Coronavirus (COFED-19) cases in the country reached 17,361, 5710 recovered, and 1135 died, as of Wednesday noon. LINK
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Samson: Expert: Oil drop is the worst since World War II
10:11 - 3/19/2020
The head of the investment division of the company "Invest Partners" Vladimir Tsubrov, Thursday, stressed that the drop in oil prices below the level of $25 a barrel witnessed by the markets is now the worst since the Second World War.
The expert said that what is happening in the markets is caused by an imbalance between supply and demand, and that the price of a barrel of oil could fall below the level of $20, the situation that we are witnessing is unprecedented, perhaps since the Second World War. He also expected the Russian ruble to drop with oil prices, and the Russian currency is currently trading at the level of 81 rubles to the dollar, after the beginning of this year in the range of 61 - 64 rubles to the dollar.
The price of a barrel of oil, "Brent", fell on Wednesday, below the level of $25 a barrel, which is the lowest level since 2003, while US crude contracts tumbled to their lowest level in 18 years. Oil contracts have lost more than half of their value over the past ten days. The fall in oil prices accelerated this month after Moscow and Riyadh failed to reach an agreement on production cuts beyond March 2020, which fueled fears of a major glut in the markets. LINK
Courtesy of Dinar Guru
Jeff ...the last time that the U.S. government gave financial assistance to the U.S. citizens was back when Kuwait reinstated their currency...we could have approximately two checks coming from our own federal government...maybe April 6th and the second one coming around May 18th which would be financial aid for us. That could be after the Iraq RI rate change.
Frank26 Al-Zurfi...This man has been with us for over 16 years. He was one of the very first people who went in with the coalition forces. He is American educated. He has dual citizenship. Iraqi and American...he speaks English fluently...100% against totally anti-Iran and Syria...if for some reason he does not step up to the plate as a prime minister and swing for a home run for the citizens and the United States of America - next up. Yes it's that simple...the United States of America will simply say batter up...the United States of America picked Zurfi from a long list of names to work with the citizens and Donald Trump...if for some reason Zurfi acts incorrectly - BOOM within 1 or 2 days he will be replaced. You can now see the pattern...
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Keiser Report 1516
Mar 18, 2020
Markets! Finance! Scandal! Keiser Report is a no holds barred look at the shocking scandals behind the global financial headlines.
From the collusion between Wall Street and Capitol Hill to the latest banking crime wave, from bogus government economic statistics to rigged stock markets, nothing escapes the eye of Max Keiser, a former stockbroker, inventor of the virtual specialist technology and co-founder of the Hollywood Stock Exchange.
With the help of Keiser's co-host, Stacy Herbert, and guests from around the world, Keiser Report tells you what is really going on in the global economy.