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Non-Tech : The Woodshed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bull_dozer who wrote (60444)	3/5/2022 10:36:36 PM
From: bull_dozer	2 Recommendations Recommended By Pianoman1997 roguedolphin Respond to of 60902

If Russian Currency Reserves Aren’t Really Money, the World Is in for a Shock “What is money?” is a question that economists have pondered for centuries, but the blocking of Russia’s central-bank reserves has revived its relevance for the world’s biggest nations—particularly China. In a world in which accumulating foreign assets is seen as risky, military and economic blocs are set to drift farther apart. After Moscow attacked Ukraine last week, the U.S. and its allies shut off the Russian central bank’s access to most of its $630 billion of foreign reserves. Weaponizing the monetary system against a Group-of-20 country will have lasting repercussions. .. .. Indeed, the case levied against China’s attempts to internationalize the renminbi has been that, unlike the dollar, access to it is always at risk of being revoked by political considerations. It is now apparent that, to a point, this is true of all currencies. The risk to King Dollar’s status is still limited due to most nations’ alignment with the West and Beijing’s capital controls. But financial and economic linkages between China and sanctioned countries will necessarily strengthen if those countries can only accumulate reserves in China and only spend them there. Even nations that aren’t sanctioned may want to diversify their geopolitical risk. It seems set to further the deglobalization trend and entrench two separate spheres of technological, monetary and military power. China itself owns $3.3 trillion in currency reserves. Unlike Russia, it cannot usefully hold them in renminbi, a currency it prints. Stockpiling commodities is an alternative. The conundrum creates another incentive for Beijing to reduce its trade surplus by reorienting its economy toward domestic consumption, though it has proven challenging. What can investors do? For once, the old trope may not be ill advised: buy gold. Many of the world’s central banks will surely be doing it. wsj.com

To: bull_dozer who wrote (60444)	3/6/2022 12:00:10 AM
From: bull_dozer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 60902

Oil / Gold / Comex... Most western geopolitical analysts fail to see that LBMA/COMEX are the Achilles heel of USD system. World drains LBMA/COMEX of physical gold at the current 20 bbls/oz LBMA/COMEX gold/oil ratio to get 500 bbls fr Russia for that same oz (free money!)...& LBMA/COMEX promptly break — Luke Gromen (@LukeGromen) February 23, 2022 2/ What happens to the price of gold & by extension, the int'l trade value of the USD, if Russia uses its oil to create a force majeure at LBMA/COMEX? It wouldn't take long: Compare the gold inventories in NY/London in USD terms v. USD value of daily Russian oil & gas production — Luke Gromen (@LukeGromen) February 23, 2022 3/ Do I think this is about to happen or will happen? No. Do I think this could be used in extremis as a step somewhere between here & nuclear war? Yes...do we really think a former KGB guy bought all that gold just to plate the inside walls of the Kremlin? — Luke Gromen (@LukeGromen) February 23, 2022 4/ Headline from 2015 that went largely unnoticed: "On the website of Russia's VTB Bank it was announced it has been granted SGE member status, with the right to participate in trading on the Shanghai International Gold Exchange (SGEI)" - 10/30/15https://t.co/GiMbX5K3P7 — Luke Gromen (@LukeGromen) February 23, 2022 5/ To clarify - the initial tweet in this thread was the answer to a question "How can Russia use its oil and its gold reserves to get itself more USDs/improve its financial position/break sanctions?" — Luke Gromen (@LukeGromen) February 23, 2022 6/ In short, it would be the Russians running a "Hunt Brothers" play book in gold...which you can only do if you have: 1. Lots of a phys good the world can't live without (oil) 2. Nukes. 3. A motive ("We have to get around these sanctions.") — Luke Gromen (@LukeGromen) February 23, 2022 ... ... ... more tweets in the thread... ...