[Fredkc]

Welcome to Tuesday!

7:00 AM PDT: Gold up 23 @ $1040/oz.

I started my morning browsing by going to my favorite "Preppers, Doomers & Gloomers" site. I go there because even though they get 90% of the reasons dead wrong, they are dead scary at picking out the news stories of the day that are important. (rampant paranoia does have some benefits )


The thread began with an as-yet unlinked headlinew on Drudge which read: "Arab States Launch Secret Moves With China, Russia, France To Stop Using Dollar For Oil Trading... Developing..."

Don't know if it's still unlinked, I don't go to Drudge myself, but there was other confirmation via a story at The Independent in UK, among others

The Demise Of The Dollar

In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading

By Robert Fisk

Tuesday, 6 October 2009

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.

The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.

The Americans, who are aware the meetings have taken place – although they have not discovered the details – are sure to fight this international cabal which will include hitherto loyal allies Japan and the Gulf Arabs. Against the background to these currency meetings, Sun Bigan, China's former special envoy to the Middle East, has warned there is a risk of deepening divisions between China and the US over influence and oil in the Middle East. "Bilateral quarrels and clashes are unavoidable," he told the Asia and Africa Review. "We cannot lower vigilance against hostility in the Middle East over energy interests and security."

This sounds like a dangerous prediction of a future economic war between the US and China over Middle East oil – yet again turning the region's conflicts into a battle for great power supremacy. China uses more oil incrementally than the US because its growth is less energy efficient. The transitional currency in the move away from dollars, according to Chinese banking sources, may well be gold. An indication of the huge amounts involved can be gained from the wealth of Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar who together hold an estimated $2.1 trillion in dollar reserves. [more...]

This story is also at Reuters, and many other places.

Just for fun, I want to paste my response to this item, exactly as submitted on that other forum. Be advised that means it will seem a bit foreign, and not "speak to/about" many here.
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Amazing how so few others here seem to get it.

Here's a map;


Ok, I cropped this one for a slightly different subject but it was handy.
I will also ask the same question to the "Nuke'em now!" crowd:<b>

What makes you think every nation on that map, PLUS Russia and China will just sit there and say, "aw shucks, I guess we deserve it" while radiation from a nuclear attack rains down on their countries?

And another:

What makes people think that Russia, China, and many others will just sit and do nothing while we nuke their biggest oil supplier?

Bring it home for a sec:

If someone nuked Nogales, or Juarez, Mexico do you think the people of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, etc would just shrug their shoulders, finish their lunch, and go back to work?

Quote:
I've wondered about this. The collapse of the dollar eventually means $20 loaves of bread and $30 gallons of milk. The question I haven't answered for myself is how quickly it might occur. However, they think they can burn up our debt in a controlled manner and keep the fire contained. Whether they can or not is an empirical question.

EVERYTHING not made in the US would dramatically rise in price (many, many fold) as the dollar is shunned and the exchange rates collapse.EVERYTHING made and grown here would suddenly be bargain priced to foreign currency holders. We couldnt afford our own crops- but to a foreigner- they would be cheap. (yeah... that'll show 'em, says I)

"$20 loaves of bread and $30 gallons of milk" isn't even the start, because at $18/gallon, what trucker is going to be able, much less willing, to put gas in his truck to haul said items to a place where no one can afford them? He'll also need a 3-4 vehicle escort, riding shotgun, to even get there. ("Got Garden?" Thank god I do)
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Quote:
Ender;
Maybe this is off-topic, but-
How do "SECRET MEETINGS" get into the MSM?
Has always puzzled me.

LoL Ender!! Yeah... they've only been "top secret", including the subject of many threads here for about 8 years!

First suspects I came up with, for why it's in the press now, and spun in this fashion had to do with:
I wonder how many pending sell trades are sitting out there for Gold @ about $1025-$1040/ounce?
Quote:
Ender;
including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.
No Iran.

But you notice the "trained populace" immediately shouts "Nuke Iran!". If I didn't have grand kids this would almost seem funny.

Might be a good time to point out another inconvenient bit of history. Those countries listed are ALL predominantly Sunni, of some kind. They are the very countries we stabbed in the back when we invaded Iraq, for "absolutely no reason" (at least no true one we've been given, yet).
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This country has been on a course for a dollar collapse for 80 years now. We've worked hard for this, blaming countries that simply acknowledge it just extends the delusion; but we're out of string.

What we have done for the last 40 years is accelerate this process by spending our dwindling wealth, and honor bribing, threatening, politically, or financially destroying any country that wouldn't go along. We accelerated this process even more by just invading and killing them about 10 years ago.

What we have NOT done in this time is spend any money or effort at rebuilding our money's intrinsic value, or our country's wealth. In fact, we've basically handed the countries listed the very ammunition they are now using (please keep shopping at WalMart).

"You're blaming America!" Well, exactly who would you blame for engineering, our own demise? No one has worked at it harder than we have.

"Blame Obama!" Oh please! You are blaming the janitor for the death and destruction caused by an architectural flaw in the building, 40 years ago. Is he "blameless"? Hell no! He has done nothing to point out the design flaws, or prevent further use of the building, and that WAS part of his job. Instead he's done exactly what every other President has. He played along.

I did notice while typing this that theres been an announcement that the countries involved have said "false alarm folk". I tend to doubt it. Seems more like they want to "carry the US for a couple rounds" while they get better prepared. Makes me want to ask, once again...
I wonder how many pending sell trades are sitting out there for Gold @ about $1025-$1040/ounce?

Last thought, to all those who still think the world "needs us" as a customer:
Who needs a customer whose credit card is maxxed out?

Fred