Understanding the US - Again

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 24 Mar 2020 19:44

chanakyaa wrote:White House and congressional leaders say they're close to a deal on a $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus

National debt hits $23 trillion: Only $22 trillion back in February (Does not include new $2 trillion)

Does this even matter? It seems like USD is the king and US just print $ its way out of any crisis without penalties.

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 24 Mar 2020 19:57

From the perspective of average people or casual finance types, NO, it probably doesn't matter (beyond roti, kapada, makan). From the perspective of government heads or heads of national central banks of world, this is a big deal. Consider this. India's foreign reserve is ~$500bn. The stimulus (taking into account all sources) is expected to grow to $3 trillion (i.e. 6 time India's reserves). Since there is no physical printing of money (its all digital), its all monetary accounting entries. Question is where is the money coming from? If the inflation is low, where is the newly created money going to? I believe that this is effectively a transfer of wealth from the rest of the world.

Mort, for now, I'm placing my bets on re-election of DJT by a small margin and the likelihood (small) of DJT doing something radical about debt. In the meantime, $2+ trillion is a clever pre-election wealth distribution schemes.

komal · Post by **komal** » 25 Mar 2020 20:25

FED has hired Blackrock to manage and oversee their $4 trillion injection. Blackrock's first order of business was to have the FED buy an exchange-traded bond fund sponsored by --- Blackrock. The value of that fund went up nearly 20%.

Thomas Jefferson said that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.

There is also an old Tamil saying that you can awaken the sleeping.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 25 Mar 2020 20:47

komal wrote:FED has hired Blackrock to manage and oversee their $4 trillion injection. Blackrock's first order of business was to have the FED buy an exchange-traded bond fund sponsored by --- Blackrock. The value of that fund went up nearly 20%.

Thomas Jefferson said that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.

There is also an old Tamil saying that you can awaken the sleeping.

In 2008-09 the Fed injected $4T. It is estimated that this time around, that amount may be exceeded to $6T or more according Larry Kudlow.
Using Blackrock is not unusual as they already have a track record of managing hundreds of billions dollars for US federal employee and military pensions. Blackrock and Barclays have a long association with the US government for some time.

In 2009, the Obama administration gave a payroll tax holiday, amounts to about 9.1% of pay, to all US taxpayers. This time around it was poo-pooed by the Democrats as they want to inflict as much damage on the middle class to win an election.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 25 Mar 2020 20:48

Liquidity appears to have improved. All my margin calls have been rescinded, plus more credit has been extended.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 25 Mar 2020 21:22

vera, Liquidity has been a problem since 3 weeks when the Feds lowered the interest rate by 0.5%.
That started the jitters.
Then the oil price war.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 26 Mar 2020 18:38

“Chinese corporations operating in America must not be eligible for the upcoming trillion-dollar bailout, now or ever."

Rep.@mattgaetz has proposed a bill that would prevent funds from flowing into #China.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Mar 2020 21:26

chetak wrote:
“Chinese corporations operating in America must not be eligible for the upcoming trillion-dollar bailout, now or ever."

Rep.@mattgaetz has proposed a bill that would prevent funds from flowing into #China.

We shall see the de-globalization and creating national markets as an end result.
I expect many such measures will be enacted.
But if US de-globalizes then don't expect $ dominance.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 26 Mar 2020 21:45

ramana wrote:
chetak wrote:
We shall see the de-globalization and creating national markets as an end result.
I expect many such measures will be enacted.
But if US de-globalizes then don't expect $ dominance.

As long as energy is traded in dollars, then $ dominance will not decline as fast.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 26 Mar 2020 22:10

Mort Walker wrote:
ramana wrote:
We shall see the de-globalization and creating national markets as an end result.
I expect many such measures will be enacted.
But if US de-globalizes then don't expect $ dominance.

As long as energy is traded in dollars, then $ dominance will not decline as fast.

both the europeans, the french in particular as well as the hans are trying to break this monopoly

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 27 Mar 2020 23:25

This is how trump did it with Chinese

looks like Trump managed to successfully counter & destroy Chinese Propaganda on #Chinesevirus

Morgan Ortagus@statedeptspox

We welcome Ambassador Cui's comments calling the Chinese Foreign Ministry's statement a “crazy thing” that blamed the U.S. Army for the #coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Saving lives is more important than saving face.

7:14 PM · Mar 24, 2020·

Manish_Sharma · Post by **Manish_Sharma** » 30 Mar 2020 01:57

TWITTER:

Trump wrote:
I am a great friend and admirer of the Queen & the United Kingdom. It was reported that Harry and Meghan, who left the Kingdom, would reside permanently in Canada. Now they have left Canada for the U.S. however, the U.S. will not pay for their security protection. They must pay!
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 52386?s=19

shaun · Post by **shaun** » 01 Apr 2020 00:25

more coming ....for china

Donald Trump signs bill on Tibet into law despite China protest
The White House said that Trump signed into law the 'Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018' which promotes access for diplomats, officials, journalists and others from the United States to China's Tibetan areas.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... aign=cppst

Adrija · Post by **Adrija** » 01 Apr 2020 11:05

As long as energy is traded in dollars, then $ dominance will not decline as fast.

Sorry, don't think it has anything to do with energy.......... $$ dominance will remain as long as US remains the largest consuming market on this planet. They make it a point to pay sellers only in $, and that is what circulates in all asset markets thereafter. So as long as US consumes, and folks globally want to sell there, $ will remain king

IMVVVHO of course

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 01 Apr 2020 11:35

Adrija wrote:
As long as energy is traded in dollars, then $ dominance will not decline as fast.
Sorry, don't think it has anything to do with energy.......... $$ dominance will remain as long as US remains the largest consuming market on this planet. They make it a point to pay sellers only in $, and that is what circulates in all asset markets thereafter. So as long as US consumes, and folks globally want to sell there, $ will remain king

IMVVVHO of course

Oil and gas is almost entirely traded in US dollars. World consumes about 100 million barrels per day of oil and over 10 billion m^3 of NG per day. Now figure out that oil, until recently, was around $40-$50/barrel and NG is about $2-2.5 MMBtu. There are lots energy related USD circulating around the world.

US import consumption of goods is less than $2.6T annually.

Adrija · Post by **Adrija** » 01 Apr 2020 12:34

MWji, not sure exactly how your response addresses mine....... agree that there has been a conscious agreement between the House of Saud and Us to denominate the Saudi oil trade in USD, which may of course be a contributing factor for global USD dominance. But I would submit that this is a supporting and not the main reason

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 01 Apr 2020 18:19

Adrija wrote:MWji, not sure exactly how your response addresses mine....... agree that there has been a conscious agreement between the House of Saud and Us to denominate the Saudi oil trade in USD, which may of course be a contributing factor for global USD dominance. But I would submit that this is a supporting and not the main reason

You can work out the numbers. Oil and gas traded per year is over $3.5T, and that number maybe low. US import consumption of goods is less than $2.6T. Of course both numbers will go down due to COVID-19 this year. However, if the US reduces consumption of imported goods, this will not impact oil and gas sold around the world. Keep in mind China, Iran and Russia talk a big game about trading energy in other currencies, but then turn around and say please convert to USD.

Manish_Sharma · Post by **Manish_Sharma** » 02 Apr 2020 02:18

TWITTER

@realdonaldtrump wrote:

Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq. If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 97792?s=19

ricky_v · Post by **ricky_v** » 03 Apr 2020 13:26

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 03 Apr 2020 15:22

chetak wrote:
“Chinese corporations operating in America must not be eligible for the upcoming trillion-dollar bailout, now or ever."

Rep.@mattgaetz has proposed a bill that would prevent funds from flowing into #China.

There will be a trial/inquiry into this whole matter and at the end of it China will be held responsible and fined, ie their US treasury reserved could be seized, I think!

ricky_v · Post by **ricky_v** » 04 Apr 2020 12:43

Land of the sick, home of the pirates
https://www.rt.com/news/484935-us-takes-masks-germany/

But behind the scenes, American officials were acquiring these masks by more underhand means.

A delivery of 200,000 masks left a 3M factory in China this week and arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, from where they were supposed to be sent to the German capital. The masks never got to Berlin, and police in the city told Der Tagesspiegel that the shipment was instead bound for the US. Berlin's Senator for the Interior Andreas Geisel confirmed on Friday that the masks had been “confiscated.”

“We consider this an act of modern piracy. This is not how you deal with transatlantic partners,” Geisel said.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 05 Apr 2020 07:21

Lisa,spot on! I feel the same....that when the reckoning comes,Chinese funds and perhaps even shares in US cos. will be seized as " reparation" for unleashing WW3.

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 06 Apr 2020 16:56

T sounded very confident in the press conf. Does ha have a surprise under his sleeve?

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 06 Apr 2020 21:19

US stock are back at rallying today...seems like T's confidence (his exact words were "we see a light at the end of the tunnel") along with slow down in death rate in NY has emboldened investors.

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 07 Apr 2020 16:05

I've been watching Trump's daily Corona Virus briefing shows. The level of ignorance, blatant peddling of pet ideas that have no basis in fact or science, and the incoherent and uncouth behaviour Trump displays is staggering and would beat any comedy show if the situation wasn't so tragic. It affects public behaviour wrt social distancing, wearing of masks, hoarding of essential supplies and medicines, public policy and so on in a tremendously negative way, and is costing lives not just in the US but in many countries beyond.

Instead of its mobilising its capacities serving its citizen and the world in a reassuring way, and using its power to make it a coordinated global fight on CV, we get the sorry spectacle that:
- Its OK for politicians to dismiss opinions of doctors and experts and spout whatever they want in front of national media
- Its OK for heads of state to suggest drug usage to citizen ignoring medical caveats and provide creative justifications
- Its OK to hoard thousand of this and millions of that in the name of "stockpiling". Hell, if Federal Govt can do it why shouldn't everyone else?
- Its OK to be ambivalent about usage of masks which can be a major spread inhibitor
- Its OK to take shortcuts like not maintaining distancing between themselves and cramming reporters into small rooms or close spaced rows of chairs in the rose garden
- Its OK to be falsely optimistic about this miracle cure or that miracle vaccine coming shortly... and when that's proven to be untrue, hide behind 'it could have been much worse' rhetoric
- Its OK to consider citizen to be dumb d!ckheads who can't deal with factual information and that they need some incoherent sugarcoating and mollycoddling in a PANDEMIC situation
the list goes on...

Exemplary, rational, reasoned and selfless behaviour of elected leaders and public officials is a precious and vital resource to fight this pandemic. The Trump Govt's behaviour and is a guide book of what NOT to do for the rest of the world. Sad to see US like this.

komal · Post by **komal** » 07 Apr 2020 16:42

US media reporting that India buckled to pressure and agreed to export HCQ. They love to make India look like impotent losers at every opportunity.

I wish India could put "Om Shakti" or even "Satyameva Jayate" on the tablets and packaging along with "A Gift From the People of India"

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 07 Apr 2020 17:08

amar_p wrote:I've been watching Trump's daily Corona Virus briefing shows. The level of ignorance, blatant peddling of pet ideas that have no basis in fact or science, and the incoherent and uncouth behaviour Trump displays is staggering and would beat any comedy show if the situation wasn't so tragic. It affects public behaviour wrt social distancing, wearing of masks, hoarding of essential supplies and medicines, public policy and so on in a tremendously negative way, and is costing lives not just in the US but in many countries beyond.

Instead of its mobilising its capacities serving its citizen and the world in a reassuring way, and using its power to make it a coordinated global fight on CV, we get the sorry spectacle that:
- Its OK for politicians to dismiss opinions of doctors and experts and spout whatever they want in front of national media
- Its OK for heads of state to suggest drug usage to citizen ignoring medical caveats and provide creative justifications
- Its OK to hoard thousand of this and millions of that in the name of "stockpiling". Hell, if Federal Govt can do it why shouldn't everyone else?
- Its OK to be ambivalent about usage of masks which can be a major spread inhibitor
- Its OK to take shortcuts like not maintaining distancing between themselves and cramming reporters into small rooms or close spaced rows of chairs in the rose garden
- Its OK to be falsely optimistic about this miracle cure or that miracle vaccine coming shortly... and when that's proven to be untrue, hide behind 'it could have been much worse' rhetoric
- Its OK to consider citizen to be dumb d!ckheads who can't deal with factual information and that they need some incoherent sugarcoating and mollycoddling in a PANDEMIC situation
the list goes on...

Exemplary, rational, reasoned and selfless behaviour of elected leaders and public officials is a precious and vital resource to fight this pandemic. The Trump Govt's behaviour and is a guide book of what NOT to do for the rest of the world. Sad to see US like this.

So true. Beyond imagination ...

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 07 Apr 2020 18:23

It is typical of most of the leaders from the west ( or here in Bharat for that matter). Look at Burnee or some other idiots speak on many things they are also useless 99.99% of the time. The only difference with DT is he has a habit of speaking whatever idiotic things come to his mind instead of speaking to the script which will be full of lies.

No one knows how this end. There is no basis to predict how it will end. Most of the time we need to guesstimate as we go along. When we look back when all of this ends, we may very well find out the truth that most of the so-called experts are in fact jokers who do not know their a$$ from their elbow.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 07 Apr 2020 20:16

Trump threatens,India ( Modi) surrenders! That's the spin from the west.However, an order was on hand,held up,so clear that order and carefully examine other requests based upon our own needs which must always come first.

Nevertheless, Trump is only displaying the Yanqui imperialist,neo-colonialist arrogance which we must carefully factor in and NOT kowtow to the beast of America.

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 07 Apr 2020 20:35

Trump could have handled that stupid question with finesse and grace but true to his style he chose to perform a surgery with chisel and a hammer instead of scalpel. Govt.Of India would have already secured enough HCL for our population and only then released the limited export to US. Trump could have easily stated the same instead of his usual braggadocios chest thumping about "retaliation". What a spot US is stuck in..its either 5 more years of Trump or 5 years of bumbling Biden.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 08 Apr 2020 08:53

https://twitter.com/rishibagree/status/ ... 5057559552

USA wants #hydroxychloriquine urgently from India

India Govt in return asked

Unrestricted Access to USA market for its Pharma companies
Lift all bans levied by US FDA
FDA will not harass Indian Pharma companies henceforth

USA accepted all demands in 24 hours

mappunni · Post by **mappunni** » 08 Apr 2020 11:37

Mort Walker wrote:https://twitter.com/rishibagree/status/ ... 5057559552

USA wants #hydroxychloriquine urgently from India

India Govt in return asked

Unrestricted Access to USA market for its Pharma companies
Lift all bans levied by US FDA
FDA will not harass Indian Pharma companies henceforth

USA accepted all demands in 24 hours

Anything to do with March 26th approval of Cipla’s generic Esmeprazole suspension; Biocon received EIR on March 20th ?

Arj · Post by **Arj** » 08 Apr 2020 22:26

Sanders drops out.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/p ... s-out.html

Mollick.R · Post by **Mollick.R** » 08 Apr 2020 22:26

Sen. Bernie Sanders Drops Out of Presidential Race
April 8, 2020 8:37am PT
By Variety Staff

Sen. Bernie Sanders has ended his quest to secure the Democratic presidential nomination, clearing the path for former Vice President Joe Biden to face off against President Donald Trump in November.

Sanders, the maverick independent from Vermont, announced his decision shortly before noon ET on Wednesday via a live webcast from Burlington, Vt. Sanders told supporters that he saw no feasible path to securing the 1,991 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. In his second bid for the White House, Sanders has amassed 914 delegates compared to Biden’s 1,217.

.............

........................

read full report at
https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/bernie ... 234574598/

vimal · Post by **vimal** » 08 Apr 2020 22:38

Arj wrote:Sanders drops out.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/p ... s-out.html

Good, thats what happens when you have a Paki as your campaign manager.
It's Trump 2020 all the way now (not that I like it).
Joe Biden will be dead by the time elections arrive.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 08 Apr 2020 23:21

vimal wrote:
Arj wrote:Sanders drops out.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/p ... s-out.html
Good, thats what happens when you have a Paki as your campaign manager.
It's Trump 2020 all the way now (not that I like it).
Joe Biden will be dead by the time elections arrive.

As unemployment goes up and the US economy contracts, even after the peak of COVID-19 passes, there will be less jobs to fill creating long term unemployment. Add to that over 40,000 deaths within 3 months will create much anger against incumbents.

vimal · Post by **vimal** » 09 Apr 2020 00:05

^^ Agreed! But do you think sleepy Joe can walk into this mess and fix it?

2020 is a good year to lose an election, even God cannot save US from what is coming.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 09 Apr 2020 00:12

Sleepy Joe is the Manchurian candidate for the Urban Naxal Party. This is why Jihadi Bernie dropped out. Much of his agenda will be implemented. There is a lot of social and economic hurt coming to the US in the next 6 months and people are going to be angry. Trump and the Republicans have no one to blame but themselves. The crisis was mishandled early on where it could have been managed. This isn't to say the Donkeystanis would have done better, but the blame will fall squarely on the incumbents.

A massive wave of evictions is coming. Temporary bans won't help.

When the Donkeystanis wrest power come Jan 2021, there will be a wave of lawsuits and arrests of Republicans, corporates and other entities who don't pay tribute to their party. They will follow the same playbook as Jihadi didi in WB. Their policies will further exacerbate economic inequalities in the US and push economic growth down. What we are seeing is the beginning of the end of American civilization.

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 09 Apr 2020 01:19

Filthy racist Human garbage @NYT @Wapo @CNN @NPR will be shitting bricks

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 09 Apr 2020 01:41

vijayk wrote:

Filthy racist Human garbage @NYT @Wapo @CNN @NPR will be shitting bricks

Spewing hatred is what these outlets do. In India there are real AHoles as well.