FYI.
– Goldman Says Gold Is The Currency Of Last Resort; Trumps Treasuries As Haven-Of-Choice
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The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. – Benjamin Franklin
Switzerland too says “use of Russian nuclear weapons relatively unlikely“…
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One expert acknowledged that, given the Russian president’s vast hidden resources, the US effort was tantamount to a “glorified press release.”
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1) BP decided to take a hit of as much as $25 billion, just to leave Russia immediately
2) Russia’s bond market is collapsing
3) Russians lined up at cash machines around the country to withdraw foreign currency
4) Unless there’s a surprise de-escalation, Monday may turn out to be a dramatic day for the ruble, Russian stocks, and European markets
5) The European Union closed its airspace to Russia. The blockade applies to any plane owned, chartered or otherwise controlled by a Russian person. Unprecedented
6) The decision to exclude Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system could result in missed payments and giant overdrafts within the international banking system
7) The EU is going after oligarchs. Essentially now the entire political and economic elite of the country is sanctioned
8) The U.S. Embassy in Russia said citizens in the country should consider departing *immediately* – The EU approved $500 million in lethal military aid to be used against Russia’s invading forces in 🇺🇦 and banned 🇷🇺 state media – also unprecedented
9) The EU also banned all transactions with the Russian central bank, severely curbing its ability to use foreign currency reserves to cushion the devastating blow from the sanctions
10) The situation on the front is unclear, but it seems Ukrainian facilities containing nuclear waste suffered damage
11) Putin says he put his nuclear forces on “high alert“. Unclear what this means and what are his intentions. On the tactical side, things are definitely not going as well as he had hoped
12) Could planned talks lead to some sort of resolution? Unclear what could a mutually acceptable solution be
13) Meanwhile, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced plans for a massive boost in defense spending in the latest historic policy shift in Germany triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Update:
It is stunning that no one in the Western leadership or media understood that Russia was serious about her security concern. Whether the West regarded the Kremlin’s concern as warranted or not, everything should have been done to reassure Russia. Instead, the opposite was done. The idiot Stoltenberg said “if the Kremlin’s aim is to have less NATO on its borders, it will only get more NATO.” What an arrogantly stupid thing to say. This reckless idiot is the secretary general of NATO. He should have been instantly removed from office.
Ruble is trading at a cross-rate of over 117/USD… (from under 83/USD on Friday)
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The plane’s “restoration will cost more than $3 billion and will take a long time.”
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Only around 1.2% of all vodka imports into the US came from Russia… The most popular vodka brands are made either domestically or in European countries like the UK, France, and Sweden…
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“…a near universal understanding among political leaders that NATO expansion would be a foolish provocation against Russia. How naive we were…”
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“Germany can play SWIFT tough guy all they want – but Macron has to protect the vulnerable Soc Gen and Draghi is probably trying to ring-fence exposed, Moscow cozy Italian banks like Intesa and UniCredit.”
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“We always look at the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. It is not just about self-protection but the protection of freedom and independence. We Ukrainians really show this meaning of the Second Amendment.”
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Turkey: “The situation in Ukraine has transformed into a war,” and this means “We will implement all articles of Montreux transparently.”
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“Now there is a lot of talk against the banking sector. Gas, oil, SWIFT. It’s worse than war.“
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