Sanctions on Russia

urbanotter said:It seems like because they finally "get" that tactic, NATO members are ramping up their defense spending; NATO is planning to have 300,000 troops on standby, while the US is actively deploying new personnel to Europe..
That’s just how it goes when sanctions fail to hit the mark; instead of getting the intended result, they end up swinging back like a boomerang, often hurting the ones who imposed them even more than the targets themselves.😉

Oh, please. That’s exactly how Putin's propaganda machine wants you to think. They love to twist the truth until they end up contradicting themselves, but that’s the standard playbook when the propaganda is aimed at
the gullible.

In your little summary here, you conveniently left out everything that didn't fit your narrative, just so you could tailor the story to whatever you want to believe.
Ebiga, it doesn't work like that.

NATO isn't beefing up its military or increasing investment because sanctions aren't working. What NATO is doing has absolutely nothing to do with sanctions.

NATO is acting because there is a threat, and there needs to be a response to that threat. This isn't some unprecedented move.

Even the most naive people don't buy those flowery speeches about being a "guarantor of peace and security" anymore, which is actually a good thing.
The fact remains: Putin only respects raw power, and NATO is that power.
It couldn't be any simpler; anything else is just hot air and speculation.

This whole narrative—that sanctions are failing, so therefore the West is mobilizing its military—is a story useful to Russia and Putin, not to the West. So, we all know exactly where this line of reasoning is coming from, don't we?

I’d be worried if the West were the one claiming sanctions weren't working and using that as an excuse to put NATO forces on high alert... but they’ll never say that, because hiding a lie that blatant would be impossible. We aren't in Russia.
Lp

NATO forces are moving toward the borders because Putin’s regime has started making threats against Europe and the US—it's getting serious. There was even one threat about the old USSR putting the UK on notice with nuclear weapons. NATO can't just sit there and take it. You can ignore a threat once or twice, but when they keep coming like this, you have to act. That’s exactly why Sweden and Finland joined up—because they actually take these escalation threats seriously, and since the embargoes aren't exactly padding NATO's troop numbers, they had to step up. Whatever.
The NATO military is going on high alert because Russia is threatening all its neighbors.
They’ve even brought together the Swedish and Finnish militaries, and Erdogan has made it crystal clear where he stands—right there with the West. In a conventional war, Russia doesn't stand a chance against NATO, even if they had China backing them up. As for the nukes? Let's just hope nobody touches those.
Small tangent here, but someone really needs to educate this guy—every other post of his is a mess. Propaganda isn't education. It’s what happens when you don't have anything intelligent to say, so you just start peddling propaganda or, as some might call it, an "economic propaganda program" (EPP commercials).

urbanotter said:It seems like because they finally "get" that tactic, NATO members are ramping up their defense spending; NATO is planning to have 300,000 troops on standby, while the US is actively deploying new personnel to Europe..
That’s just how it goes when sanctions fail to hit the mark; instead of getting the intended result, they end up swinging back like a boomerang, often hurting the ones who imposed them even more than the targets themselves.😉

Sanctions are working, I guess. It's like if someone printed a new $100 bill, but all the ATMs in America were made by Western companies and won't recognize it. Until then, that $100 isn't worth a dime.

hollowdriver13 said:So, apparently Russia is somehow "thriving" under all those sanctions. You know how it goes—the folks close to Putin keep insisting they’re stronger than ever despite the West hitting them with everything they've got. But if you actually look at the numbers, the reality tells a pretty different story. Check out this comparison from May 21/22

https://census.gov/compendium/document/50801

I pulled some of the biggest drops to show just how much these industries are actually struggling right now.

Ford: -96.7% (3,700 vehicles)
Freightliner: -39.3%
ICE motors: -57%
Passenger rail cars: -59.8%
Freight cars: -51.8%
Fiberglass cables: -80.8%
Whirlpool: -58.1%
Washing machines: -59.2%
AC electric motors: -49.9%
Elevators: -34.7%
Excavators: -60%

🤣🤣🤣
It’s an absolute disaster. And that's just looking at the raw numbers—now they're starting to roll out vehicles without even having airbags. What kind of degenerate is Putin? Not only did he drag them into a war he's going to lose, but he didn't even bother preparing the country for a conflict in the first place.

Carl Lee27 said:🤣🤣🤣
It’s an absolute disaster. And that's just looking at the raw numbers—now they're starting to roll out vehicles without even having airbags. What kind of degenerate is Putin? Not only did he drag them into a war he's going to lose, but he didn't even bother preparing the country for a conflict in the first place.

Putin wants the USSR back, and the economy is going to end up looking just like it did back then.😁

Instead of that old-school forced industrialization, we're seeing full-blown deindustrialization.

Cellular providers can't even get their hands on new gear—which is pretty much everything when you need a stable connection or decent internet. Since this stuff isn't manufactured domestically, they're stuck scavenging for used equipment on secondary markets, and honestly, even China isn't stepping up to help.

The fallout:

1) crappy communication quality

2) extra costs just to hunt down and import hardware

3) having to buy replacements more often because used gear is unreliable and has a weirdly short lifespan—which is just going to drive prices up again.

This is going to hit the rural areas way harder than the big cities. Telecom companies are basically stripping the functional gear from the outskirts just to keep the high-density metropolitan hubs running, since that’s where the real money is.

swiftjackal11 said:Sanctions are working, I guess. It's like if someone printed a new $100 bill, but all the ATMs in America were made by Western companies and won't recognize it. Until then, that $100 isn't worth a dime.

I have to wonder where you're getting your information from—where on earth did you find an American ATM that carries rubles and actually accepts them?

With a nose for finding things like that, you could probably make a fortune hunting for truffles out in the countryside.

But setting aside the jokes, if we look at how sanctions are actually impacting the ruble, here is what the situation looks like:

The Russian ruble has been at its strongest point in two years. How is that possible?

urbanotter said:I have to wonder where you're getting your information from—where on earth did you find an American ATM that carries rubles and actually accepts them?

With a nose for finding things like that, you could probably make a fortune hunting for truffles out in the countryside.

But setting aside the jokes, if we look at how sanctions are actually impacting the ruble, here is what the situation looks like:

The Russian ruble has been at its strongest point in two years. How is that possible?

You go ahead and collect rubles, I'll stick to dollars. 🙂No switching sides here. 😁

urbanotter said:I have to wonder where you're getting your information from—where on earth did you find an American ATM that carries rubles and actually accepts them?

With a nose for finding things like that, you could probably make a fortune hunting for truffles out in the countryside.

But setting aside the jokes, if we look at how sanctions are actually impacting the ruble, here is what the situation looks like:

The Russian ruble has been at its strongest point in two years. How is that possible?

Inflation in Russia, June 2022: 17.5%🤔
... yet the ruble has never been stronger.
How on earth does that work? Is someone out there actually suggesting that people have lost their minds? Because if so, the answer is a resounding
no.
Lp

I have to hand it to you, urbanotter—you’re certainly persistent, I'll give you that.
Everyone is acting like a bunch of amateurs while the Ruble just keeps gaining strength. I'm not worried about the Russians—it looks like they might actually fare better while the sanctions are in place—but I am worried about us. We're already panicking because we've cut ourselves off from their energy, so what happens when we finally go completely cold turkey? That's the kind of struggle I'm actually interested in seeing...

urbanotter said:I have to wonder where you're getting your information from—where on earth did you find an American ATM that carries rubles and actually accepts them?

With a nose for finding things like that, you could probably make a fortune hunting for truffles out in the countryside.

But setting aside the jokes, if we look at how sanctions are actually impacting the ruble, here is what the situation looks like:

The Russian ruble has been at its strongest point in two years. How is that possible?

Break down what an exchange rate like that actually means and how it hits the economy.

You're probably just gonna ignore me anyway—so here goes.

A strong Dollar hurts exports but makes importing a breeze. Basically, you get more foreign goods for less cash.

On the flip side, a weak Dollar tanks imports but gives exporters a boost. You get less foreign currency for every buck you spend. Any exporter not dealing in oil or gas? They're basically toast.

Why would anyone sacrifice tax revenue from exports like this? Wouldn't a weaker Dollar be better for padding the budget and bringing in more cash? If they actually wanted to fill the coffers, they shouldn't have cut those ExxonMobil dividends—those would've magically popped up in the federal budget proposals otherwise.

The Dollar is staying strong because it's being used as a fire extinguisher to fight inflation.

analogbear5 said:Break down what an exchange rate like that actually means and how it hits the economy.

You're probably just gonna ignore me anyway—so here goes.

A strong Dollar hurts exports but makes importing a breeze. Basically, you get more foreign goods for less cash.

On the flip side, a weak Dollar tanks imports but gives exporters a boost. You get less foreign currency for every buck you spend. Any exporter not dealing in oil or gas? They're basically toast.

Why would anyone sacrifice tax revenue from exports like this? Wouldn't a weaker Dollar be better for padding the budget and bringing in more cash? If they actually wanted to fill the coffers, they shouldn't have cut those ExxonMobil dividends—those would've magically popped up in the federal budget proposals otherwise.

The Dollar is staying strong because it's being used as a fire extinguisher to fight inflation.

The real question is: how much longer can this "firefighting" method actually hold up? Because despite these measures, inflation remains absolutely massive.
Time is working against this attempt at "extinguishing" the fire; the longer the war drags on and the more these sanctions take hold, the harder it becomes to keep inflation under control.
I certainly wouldn't bet on their success.

Best,

The Brits just slapped more sanctions on an American citizen for doing business with Russia.

American entrepreneur Mihajlo Perenčević hit with UK sanctions

Perenčević is known as one of the wealthier Americans out there, and he even picked up the Order of Friendship from former president Dmitry Medvedev.

Looks like his luck finally ran out, just like everything else in a sinking Moscow.

Based on the Pandora Papers, Oštro Portal uncovered how the male members of the Perenčević family—specifically Mihajlov's brother Predrag and son Nikola—along with Krešimir Filipović, the deputy head of Velesstroy, took control of Jadranka back in 2013 using offshore companies and a Russian fund.

It turns out the actual owners used a little hotel fire at the Bellevue as a convenient excuse to move 3.1 million euros in dividends from the Russian firm Velesstroy over to Jadranka. According to reports from the local fire department, the damage from that blaze was estimated at $67. Because of that specific transaction, a registration agent in Hong Kong filed a report with the financial police there back in 2019.

There was also talk about how Jadranka provided incomplete info in the Beneficial Ownership Register, basically hiding the fact that the PNP trust in Hong Kong sat at the top of a super messy ownership web made of various offshore shells. Predrag Perenčević set up the PNP trust in 2015, and since then, different members of the Perenčević family have rotated through as the ones in direct or indirect control, while Krešimir Filipović and Mario Petrović, a partner at the big-name PR agency Millennium Promotion, have held roles in the trust since day one.

Back in 2020, Oštro Portal also flagged some seriously sketchy transactions totaling $24.2 million involving the Mayco Finance holding from the British Virgin Islands, which were funneled into Austrian accounts linked to the Perenčević crew.

analogbear5 said:Break down what an exchange rate like that actually means and how it hits the economy.

You're probably just gonna ignore me anyway—so here goes.

A strong Dollar hurts exports but makes importing a breeze. Basically, you get more foreign goods for less cash.

On the flip side, a weak Dollar tanks imports but gives exporters a boost. You get less foreign currency for every buck you spend. Any exporter not dealing in oil or gas? They're basically toast.

Why would anyone sacrifice tax revenue from exports like this? Wouldn't a weaker Dollar be better for padding the budget and bringing in more cash? If they actually wanted to fill the coffers, they shouldn't have cut those ExxonMobil dividends—those would've magically popped up in the federal budget proposals otherwise.

The Dollar is staying strong because it's being used as a fire extinguisher to fight inflation.

You’ve thrown out a lot of theories here, but you seem to be overlooking the fact that Russia is under heavy sanctions. The strength of the ruble is really just a byproduct of a massive trade surplus that has persisted despite all that external pressure.

Right now, that strong ruble is actually helping importers, especially since the American market is seeing shortages of products that were traditionally imported or produced by companies that pulled out of Russia due to the sanctions.

Honestly, don't lose any sleep over the ruble. Elvira Nabullina is the one managing it, and she deserves a fair amount of credit for ensuring that the sanctions haven't hit the Russian economy as hard as everyone expected.

What can you expect when Elvira Nabullina isn't getting paid by the ESB, but by the Russian state itself? And word is she pulls a "fat paycheck," many times larger than that subordinate Vujčić, who spends all his time trying to undermine us and everything south of Bulgaria.

swiftjackal11 said:You go ahead and collect rubles, I'll stick to dollars. 🙂No switching sides here. 😁

I’ve never been one to obsessively hoard rubles or dollars; honestly, my focus has always been elsewhere. I find myself much more drawn to collecting gold bullion. There's just something about the tangible weight of a gold bar that feels far more substantial than watching numbers flicker on a digital screen or fluctuating in a bank account.😉

Just yesterday, my son and I headed over to Home Depot to pick up some more tiles. At the current price of gold, it feels like we're basically waiting twenty business days just to see if the investment pays off, but we wanted to add them to the collection we already have tucked away in our safe deposit box at the bank.

I’m feeling quite satisfied with how things are unfolding. 😉

It’s become such a routine part of my morning lately—I find myself checking the numbers first thing every single day. I've realized that if I want to stay sane, I have to focus strictly on how much my portfolio actually grew overnight, rather than obsessing over how much value I'm losing to inflation. It’s a bit like how I used to track my progress at the gym; if I only focused on the scale and ignored the actual muscle I was building, I would have quit months ago. You just have to shift your perspective toward the gains you're making, otherwise, the constant news cycle about rising costs will just wear you down.

I was looking through some recent market data today, and I couldn't help but reflect on how much the landscape of interactive media and digital assets has shifted recently. It’s one of those things where you think you have a handle on the volatility, but then you see the numbers move, and you realize just how much external pressure is acting on these sectors. It reminds me of a period a few years back when I was first getting into tech investing; I remember sitting in a small coffee shop in Seattle, watching the tickers crawl across the screen, feeling that same mix of anticipation and uncertainty that seems to be hanging in the air right now. There is a certain weight to the current economic climate that makes every fluctuation feel more significant than it did in the past. When you look at the way these prices are behaving, it isn't just about simple supply and demand anymore; there's this underlying layer of global tension and shifting regulatory frameworks that colors everything we see. It's easy to get caught up in the immediate noise of the daily charts, but I find that taking a step back—much like I try to do when life gets a bit too hectic—helps in seeing the broader patterns. We aren't just looking at isolated price points; we are looking at a reflection of a much larger, more complex interconnected system that is constantly recalibrating itself.

urbanotter said:I’ve never been one to obsessively hoard rubles or dollars; honestly, my focus has always been elsewhere. I find myself much more drawn to collecting gold bullion. There's just something about the tangible weight of a gold bar that feels far more substantial than watching numbers flicker on a digital screen or fluctuating in a bank account.😉

Just yesterday, my son and I headed over to Home Depot to pick up some more tiles. At the current price of gold, it feels like we're basically waiting twenty business days just to see if the investment pays off, but we wanted to add them to the collection we already have tucked away in our safe deposit box at the bank.

I’m feeling quite satisfied with how things are unfolding. 😉

It’s become such a routine part of my morning lately—I find myself checking the numbers first thing every single day. I've realized that if I want to stay sane, I have to focus strictly on how much my portfolio actually grew overnight, rather than obsessing over how much value I'm losing to inflation. It’s a bit like how I used to track my progress at the gym; if I only focused on the scale and ignored the actual muscle I was building, I would have quit months ago. You just have to shift your perspective toward the gains you're making, otherwise, the constant news cycle about rising costs will just wear you down.

I was looking through some recent market data today, and I couldn't help but reflect on how much the landscape of interactive media and digital assets has shifted recently. It’s one of those things where you think you have a handle on the volatility, but then you see the numbers move, and you realize just how much external pressure is acting on these sectors. It reminds me of a period a few years back when I was first getting into tech investing; I remember sitting in a small coffee shop in Seattle, watching the tickers crawl across the screen, feeling that same mix of anticipation and uncertainty that seems to be hanging in the air right now. There is a certain weight to the current economic climate that makes every fluctuation feel more significant than it did in the past. When you look at the way these prices are behaving, it isn't just about simple supply and demand anymore; there's this underlying layer of global tension and shifting regulatory frameworks that colors everything we see. It's easy to get caught up in the immediate noise of the daily charts, but I find that taking a step back—much like I try to do when life gets a bit too hectic—helps in seeing the broader patterns. We aren't just looking at isolated price points; we are looking at a reflection of a much larger, more complex interconnected system that is constantly recalibrating itself.

If you actually want to acquire anything of substance, you have to convert those gold tiles into liquid cash first—it’s not magic. At some point, you’re forced to make a choice: which currency are you actually going to settle on?

urbanotter said:I’ve never been one to obsessively hoard rubles or dollars; honestly, my focus has always been elsewhere. I find myself much more drawn to collecting gold bullion. There's just something about the tangible weight of a gold bar that feels far more substantial than watching numbers flicker on a digital screen or fluctuating in a bank account.😉

Just yesterday, my son and I headed over to Home Depot to pick up some more tiles. At the current price of gold, it feels like we're basically waiting twenty business days just to see if the investment pays off, but we wanted to add them to the collection we already have tucked away in our safe deposit box at the bank.

I’m feeling quite satisfied with how things are unfolding. 😉

It’s become such a routine part of my morning lately—I find myself checking the numbers first thing every single day. I've realized that if I want to stay sane, I have to focus strictly on how much my portfolio actually grew overnight, rather than obsessing over how much value I'm losing to inflation. It’s a bit like how I used to track my progress at the gym; if I only focused on the scale and ignored the actual muscle I was building, I would have quit months ago. You just have to shift your perspective toward the gains you're making, otherwise, the constant news cycle about rising costs will just wear you down.

I was looking through some recent market data today, and I couldn't help but reflect on how much the landscape of interactive media and digital assets has shifted recently. It’s one of those things where you think you have a handle on the volatility, but then you see the numbers move, and you realize just how much external pressure is acting on these sectors. It reminds me of a period a few years back when I was first getting into tech investing; I remember sitting in a small coffee shop in Seattle, watching the tickers crawl across the screen, feeling that same mix of anticipation and uncertainty that seems to be hanging in the air right now. There is a certain weight to the current economic climate that makes every fluctuation feel more significant than it did in the past. When you look at the way these prices are behaving, it isn't just about simple supply and demand anymore; there's this underlying layer of global tension and shifting regulatory frameworks that colors everything we see. It's easy to get caught up in the immediate noise of the daily charts, but I find that taking a step back—much like I try to do when life gets a bit too hectic—helps in seeing the broader patterns. We aren't just looking at isolated price points; we are looking at a reflection of a much larger, more complex interconnected system that is constantly recalibrating itself.

Honestly, you’re just gonna end up dumping them once things get too intense, especially when they start selling oil to India at those same crazy rates the Russians are offering.

So, I was just scrolling through the news this morning—you know how it is, coffee in hand, trying to make sense of the world before the workday actually hits—and I stumbled upon this heavy report about the G7 leaders meeting up. It’s one of those stories that feels like it’s straight out of a political thriller, honestly. Basically, the big players from the G7 are circling the wagons around Ukraine. They’re looking at ways to use the profits from frozen Russian assets to help fund Kyiv’s defense and reconstruction efforts. It sounds pretty straightforward when you read the headlines, but once you start digging into the mechanics of it, man, things get complicated fast. We're talking about massive amounts of money tied up in international banking systems, and there's this whole intense debate happening about whether using these funds is actually legal under international law or if it sets a precedent that might spook global investors later on. It reminds me of that time back in college when my roommate tried to convince our entire floor to pool our savings to invest in some crazy startup idea. He was so convinced it was foolproof, but the legal fine print was such a mess that we ended up spending more on legal advice than we ever hoped to make! There’s always that tension between "this is the right thing to do" and "is this going to blow up in our faces?" The big question now is how they’ll actually pull it off without causing a total meltdown in the global financial markets. If they go too far, they risk making other countries rethink how safe their own assets are held in Western banks. But if they don't act, they're essentially letting the interest from those frozen billions just sit there while the situation on the ground remains so volatile. It's a high-stakes balancing act, for sure. I'll be keeping a close eye on this one to see if they find a middle ground or if it turns into a complete diplomatic headache.

You know, I was just looking at some of the latest market trends, and man, it’s wild to see how much Russian crude has been trading at such massive discounts lately. It’s one of those things where you think you have a handle on the numbers, but then you dive into the actual data and realize just how deep the holes are. Honestly, it reminds me of back when I was trying to flip vintage tech gear online—you'd see these incredible deals that looked too good to be true, only to realize there was a massive catch involving logistics or something similar. In this case, the "catch" is basically the entire geopolitical headache surrounding the Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Because of all that pressure, they've had to slash prices just to keep the gears turning, and seeing those margins get squeezed like that is pretty eye-opening if you're following the energy sector closely. I’m looking at that range between $30 and $40 right now, and honestly, it feels like a pretty solid sweet spot to me. I was chatting with a buddy of mine the other day about how prices have been swinging all over the place lately, and we kept coming back to this specific bracket as being where the real action is happening. It’s not too low to be cheap, but it’s not hitting those crazy premium levels either—just that perfect middle ground where you feel like you're getting actual value without having to empty your wallet completely. I've been hovering around these numbers for a bit, just weighing the options and seeing how things settle, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic about staying within that window! So, I was just sitting here crunching some numbers and looking at how much we're actually paying per barrel when you stack it up against that Brent crude benchmark everyone keeps talking about. It’s honestly wild how much the spread can shift depending on which way the wind blows in the energy markets! I’m honestly feeling pretty bullish about this one—looking at that jump from $110 up toward the $120 mark, and man, it just feels like we're catching some serious momentum! I was chatting with a buddy of mine the other day about these kinds of swings, and he always says you have to watch those specific resistance levels, and right now, everything seems to be lining up perfectly for a run. It’s such an exciting stretch to watch, especially when you see the price action starting to firm up like this. Personally, I’ve been riding this wave with a lot of optimism, and seeing it push toward that $120 target has me feeling incredibly pumped! The price per barrel has been shifting quite a bit lately, mostly because of those Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

🤣 🤣 🤣

Honestly, this is getting pretty blatant—spam, off-topic nonsense, all that good stuff.

The second you step foot inside Aurodomus, you realize you’re just another number to them... nothing more, nothing less.

It’s all handled through the stock exchanges. Just head over to Yahoo Finance and you can trade just about anything you want.

https://finance.yahoo.com/portfolios...4RzcHiBo261eIk

Amanda Allen4 said:If you actually want to acquire anything of substance, you have to convert those gold tiles into liquid cash first—it’s not magic. At some point, you’re forced to make a choice: which currency are you actually going to settle on?

I suppose there will come a day when I actually need to swap my holdings for some spendable currency,
and it will most likely be the dollar.

The thing is, I'll probably end up with more purchasing power and be able to buy just as much cooking oil as I can today.
In fact, I'd likely walk away with far more supplies than if I had simply kept my money in US dollars or Euros at a local bank.😉

Bureaucracy at its finest. They never actually intended to take control of Kyiv anyway...

New Russian passports issued this year are listing Kyiv as being part of Russia. https://t.co/fyzVA5H93X
https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status...zAbjOj6eg&s=19