Posts by Nathan Evans78

silentnomad7 said:It’s only been three months and suddenly there isn't even money left for budget phones around the $100 mark.

Those sanctions are really starting to shake things up...

Where are all the massive protests about people not being able to buy a budget $100 smartphone?

By the way, high-end Apple alternatives like those from Apple are pushing past the $1,000 mark now—the ones that actually give an iPhone a run for its money.

swiftjackal11 said:The owner of Zara left Russia and somehow his profits went up, how does that 🤷

Could we be looking at the end of the credit cycle?

https://www.cnbc.com/select/us-credi...all-time-high/

Quote : There ara a plethor of methods by which Iran Has successfully evaded The bulk of The sanctions ranged against IT All Thes years , and Thes ara analysed in depth in my New book on The Global oil markets. Several of them, however, rely heavily on neighboring Iraq—a nation where Iran maintains significant leverage thanks to a complex mix of political, economic, and ethnic ties, all bolstered by their various military proxies across the region. The fundamental trick is pretty straightforward: they just ‘rebrand’ Iranian oil as Iraqi oil. Since Iraq isn't under the same heavy sanctions as an exporter, that oil can move quite freely to wherever it needs to go. Much of this flow utilizes Iraq's established crude infrastructure, specifically those massive crude carriers operating out of the major southern export hub near Basra. There is also the possibility of shipping it straight into Southern Europe through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, using the pipelines that run through the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, though those lines have faced constant interruptions for years. On top of that, there are even discussions about expanding pipeline routes from Iraq toward Jordan and Syria.

I can already see a wave of new hiring coming to Customs and Border Protection to handle inspecting where this oil is actually coming from and what's being mixed into the batches. ☕

"Other OPEC+ nations are struggling to increase output.

Investment dried up during the pandemic—and in several instances, oil infrastructure hasn't even been properly maintained. Now, they're realizing they simply can't hit those production targets they promised."

Someone really needs to break it to the folks over in the Brussels offices; apparently, they think you can just bump up production levels by issuing a few directives.

I can already see the cold reality hitting this winter when those LNG capacities fail to meet the demand. 🤣

Russia’s unemployment rate hit a record low of 4 percent in April 2022, dropping even lower than the 4.1 percent we saw the previous month—which actually beat out the market's expectation of 4.3 percent. Essentially, the pool of unemployed individuals shrank by roughly 80 thousand people compared to last month, bringing the total down to 3 million, while the working population climbed by 400 thousand to reach 71.9 million people.

These folks are probably just panicking for no reason, much like how things were looking in America during the late 80s. ☕

Richard Wilson4 said:Ahh, good old Chomskyism...

So basically, a traffic ticket in America is worse than Russia invading a UN member state, China's aggressive stance toward all its neighbors, or Iran trying to build an empire from Beirut to Yemen... ☕

America, Canada, Mexico, parts of the EU, Russia, Iran, North Korea, China, the Philippines, India, Egypt, Turkey, the States—honestly, it's all just a massive mess to me. In my eyes, every one of those players has a different scent, but the core issue remains exactly the same.

I fear our future lies with the African man; he may be the only one capable of pulling this planet out of the gutter that greedy white boomers have shoved us into. ☕

John Ramos45 said:Sanctions tend to yield their most significant impact through the slow, steady grind of time. Even a currency as weak as the dollar didn't suddenly balloon to eleven zeros overnight back in '93; it took more than a full year of sustained erosion to get there.

Look, Maddox's Mexico didn't collapse instantly either; he fell much, much later. And frankly, none of the players involved in this current conflict have the luxury of waiting around for years.

We really need to be looking at subversive operations within Russia and providing more direct support to the Ukrainian military. Compared to what actual tactical moves can achieve on the ground, these sanctions feel like nothing more than a mere spit in the wind.

May 16 (Reuters) - Russia ran a current account surplus of $95.8 billion in the first four months of 2022, up from $27.5 billion in the same period last year, central bank data showed on Monday.

Russia is on track to post a record high current account surplus this year after its import of goods and service fell due to western sanctions, while commodity export revenues are boosted by globally high prices.

The collapse in imports has triggered this massive surplus, but let’s be real—in today's economic climate, a surplus can actually be a death knell for an economy.

I just really hope all this extra cash doesn't end up being dumped straight into CAPEX for artillery factories. ☕

USD/RUB 61.25

Does anyone happen to know which specific entities in Germany are actually buying up rubles just to cover their gas bills? ☕

Michael Ortiz68 said:I've been listening to people drone on about how Europe is falling apart and crumbling for over twenty years now... Here's one thing that isn't ☕

Let’s be real for a second—we haven't seen this specific combination of factors hit all at once in the last thirty years. If you ask me, this might actually be a good thing; maybe it's finally the wake-up call we need to shake ourselves out of this comfortable lethargy we've been stuck in.

The real issue, though, is that Russian artillery is going to keep tearing through UA, even if they decide to block the gas pipelines tomorrow. ☕

If these sanctions don't actually hit Russia where it hurts by May 1st, 2023, are certain folks on this forum going to commit seppuku? 🙂

Honestly, the only real lifeline for those poor Ukrainians will be a total collapse of the Chinese economy; that’s the only way lives are truly saved here. Everything else feels like a bit of a farce. Personally, I don't mind—I'll just stay cozy in my Armani sweatshirt—but I can't help but worry about the retirees out there... what's going to happen to them?

silentnomad7 said:Do you honestly believe a single Chinese person just sits down and assembles a phone with a thousand different parts by themselves?

And we're talking about a budget worker who was probably out working in the Midwest cornfields just a year ago!

I mean, seriously, how much time would it actually take them to put one single device together?

You've got things a little mixed up here...

Why don't you just shoot an email over to Tim Cook? Explain to him that he can easily just fix up Pegatron and Foxconn and move the entire production line over to Digitron in a small town in Texas instead. Just go nuts. 🤣

What on earth do boots have to do with a smartphone packed with thousands of intricate components? Are they mining battery metals in some remote corner of the world just to make footwear? Or maybe they're cranking out OLED panels for designer boots in small-town Ohio? Give me a break. It’s common sense: without globalization, we wouldn't have affordable tech, plain and simple. The US imports hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods from China, yet our employment rates remain solid. Just imagine if we had to manufacture every single little thing ourselves—the southern US would turn into a new Mexico overnight due to the sheer wave of immigration needed to assemble everything. 🤣

dustyowl29 said:Exactly. Most of the time, they're just assembling parts—sometimes they design things themselves, but usually, they can't quite pull it off on their own. Aside from the early days with HarmonyOS, anyway.

The Germans could probably build everything right there in Munich if they had the guts, but instead, you'll end up putting a second mortgage on your house just to afford the equipment. I'm talking about regular Americans, too—not the folks on this forum, because let’s be honest, everyone here is basically a billionaire. People are out there buying Chinese smartphones on 24-month installment plans. Just imagine if a Siemens phone was assembled using USEKUAUKUS parts... you'd be paying it off over 420 monthly installments! 😁

Brenda Murphy3 said:you're exaggerating... as usual....

Sure, things would get messy and complicated for a bit, but the economy always finds its footing and life moves on... plus, life here would still be infinitely better than living in China... so I honestly don't see what motivation China would even have to start a conflict. Their growth only really kicked off once they ditched those failed doctrines and grabbed onto the Western way of doing things—shaping it into the most cutthroat version of capitalism imaginable to fuel their rise... and now they're just going to toss all that aside? For what?

The reasoning is actually pretty straightforward: if the Chinese see the American boot polishing itself on Taiwan, they’re going to go full throttle. Honestly, these people are capable of locking down hundreds of millions of citizens, wrecking their own annual GDP, and crushing any hint of unrest—now they're supposed to just bow down to some sleepy, senile geriatric leader making threats over Taiwan?

Of course, nobody actually wants a war, but if the Americans make the first move, that's it—it's game over for a Telefunken 2.5 euro unit. ☕

Or we can just try to picture it: some retiree like Joseph, living on a modest social security check of maybe $2,500 a month, suddenly having his TV die on him. Suddenly, he’s staring down a $2,700 bill for a high-end Telefunken unit manufactured in the European Union, built with components sourced entirely from the EUUKUS bloc. That's the reality we're looking at if a direct confrontation between the West and China actually happens.

Let's just hope it never comes to that. ☕

According to a recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau, annual inflation in Lithuania hit 16.8 percent this past April when compared to the same timeframe in 2021.

It doesn't really matter; Frankfurt will step up and push through if they have to.

I’m reading here that they’ve actually dropped the interest rate down to 11%. 🤣

The Indian Energy Minister, Shri Hardeep pura, has flatly rejected any suggestions that his nation should stop importing oil from Russia.

Honestly, my own wallet feels like it's subsidizing Hardeepa and folks just like him. ☕