Posts by Lisa Grant5

John Ramos45 said:If we apply a bit of actual logic here, why would anyone hand $70 to Russia when they’re under sanctions and essentially being squeezed by the West? It's pretty simple: a Chinese buyer can just pick up oil from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UK, or Nigeria, whereas Russia is stuck trying to offload its supply to China or India at massive discounts just to stay afloat.

Maybe because $70 is less than $80? Honestly, a Chinese buyer would sell their own family for a single dollar in savings—just look at how people shop on sites like AliExpress, Wish, or Temu. To them, a "deal" is finding a way to save a measly five cents.

Nancy Gomez26 said:Sure. You could look at it this way: there was a time when crude traded for as little as a dollar a barrel, and now we’re looking at much higher figures, so why complain? If they find it profitable to sell at a discount, that's their business. It works for them, and frankly, it works for me too.

Honestly, things are pretty straightforward when you look at stuff like this—if you're pulling in more profit than expected from sales, that's a win. Period. If you're making less—whether it's because volumes are down or the unit price dropped while volume stayed flat—then you've got a problem, since that cash flows straight into the budget and all expenses are planned based on those projected revenues. Looking at the numbers right now, they've hit about 75% of their annual revenue in just the first six months. Just remember, there were no sanctions during those first two months—so if they keep up this pace and the curve stays linear, we're looking at hitting over 150% of the target very quickly.

Nancy Gomez26 said:It is simple math. They can buy it at a significant discount. As far as I am concerned, they didn't impose sanctions, so everything is fine by me. Everything stays fine as long as they secure that proper discount. Perhaps someone in Moscow will eventually wonder how we ended up in a position where we have to sell our product cheaper than everyone else. Or perhaps they won't.

You could also look at it this way—if we used to sell something for 80 and now, even with a solid discount, we’re moving it for 100, then the "situation" is actually looking pretty good.😉

goldenowl73 said:Russians are out there actively pumping white smoke all around the area near the Golden Gate Bridge. Honestly, what on earth do they think they’re actually accomplishing with this move????

https://twitter.com/golub/status/154...vvtCbDDfQ&s=09

It's just a joint drill—military, civil defense, and National Guard. As for the bridge itself, they aren't doing much damage, but they *are* successfully hiding convoys crossing over from drone detection (unless those drones are rocking thermal cameras).

ruggeddriver70 said:How many of you guys who think the European Union is going to boss Russia around are actually ready to pack your bags, leave the EU, and go live in Russia?

Wouldn't it be better to just head to the USA? They'd probably end up profiting from it anyway. 😉

Brenda Murphy3 said:Oh, sure... everything is just "business as usual"... 🤣

There's literally someone on that other thread who actually lives in Russia, and they're telling a completely different story than the fairy tales you're spinning here...

(And then there's the claim that the European Union is only *just* going to feel the sanctions while Russia has already "survived" this little "short-term hit"—man, that is a whole new level of delusional denial right there...)

You've got all these different YouTubers in Russia too—some claim one thing, others say something else—so at the end of the day, we'll see the truth in a few months or maybe a year. Until then, we're just stuck waiting.

Anthony Hill5 said:More of this pro-Russian nonsense. Inflation in Russia is double what we see in the European Union.

I have already provided my analysis regarding the Ruble—specifically concerning capital controls and the restrictions placed upon citizens attempting to purchase foreign currency—just a few posts back.

The European Union is only just starting to feel the real economic fallout from sanctions. Honestly, the current inflation isn't even tied to the war in Ukraine—that trend was already kicking in before things escalated. As for Russia, they took a short-term hit and reacted by hiking interest rates (they used to be around 10%). A lot of manufacturers panicked and stockpiled raw materials at higher prices because of the falling Ruble, which forced them to bump up their own prices. So yeah, some stuff for everyday Americans—well, for people there—jumped 10-20% (some even more), but we're looking at a return to old price levels within two or three months. Since I occasionally chat with some folks from Russia, I asked them how things were actually going—everyone gives me basically the same answer: "Sure, some things are 10-20% pricier, and the big headaches are buying new cars (there aren't any available) and traveling abroad for vacation (between the flight routes and having to transit through a third country first, it's a massive hassle and extra expense). Other than that, everything is pretty much business as usual."

Anthony Hill5 said:How much longer must we endure being subjected to this mindless, utterly unsubstantiated pro-Russian mantra?

It’s not mindless—just look at the inflation rates. At the end of the day, the European Union is going to take the biggest hit from these sanctions, followed by Russia, while the UK and the USA walk away with all the profit.
It’s pretty interesting to see how these sanctions actually impact the RUB exchange rate against the EUR
https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?f...to=EUR&view=5Y