Coffee with MarkZ 08/15/2023

"WASHINGTON IMPOSES ITS AUTHORITY ON IRAQI OIL REVENUES", 15 AUGUST

 Economist: Washington Imposes Its Authority On Iraqi Oil Revenues

Information / Baghdad...Economic affairs researcher Muhammad Al-Saadi explained, on Tuesday, the extent to which it is possible to obtain oil revenues from importing countries directly without placing these funds with the US Federal Bank.

Al-Saadi told Al-Maalouma that "China, India and other Asian countries import Iraqi oil in large quantities, but Iraq receives revenues through the US Federal Bank, which makes Washington an authority over those revenues."

He added, "The dollar, as an American currency that is prohibited in some countries, Iraq can benefit from such a procedure by selling oil in exchange for goods, goods, and raw materials needed by the Iraqi industry, or introducing companies from those countries and engaging them in the field of construction, construction, and project implementation."

And he indicated that "the continuation of selling oil in exchange for obtaining dollars may not be a good idea, as it is possible to obtain projects, goods and goods instead of oil revenues in dollar currency."

He pointed out that "Iraq has large reserves of hard currency with the US Federal Bank." LINK

Parliament Excludes The Passage Of The Oil And Gas Law Because Of Its Preoccupation With The General Amnesty

Economy   2023/08/15 Number of readings: 174 Baghdad-Iraq today:  The Parliamentary Legal Committee ruled out passing the oil and gas law in the current legislative term of the House of Representatives, while confirming the current preoccupation of the political blocs and parliamentary committees with the amnesty law.

A member of the Legal Committee, Omid Muhammad, said in a press interview, "The oil and gas law is one of the topics that were voted on in the ministerial curriculum of the Prime Minister, Muhammad al-Sudani."

Muhammad added, "There is a political agreement between the political blocs to pass the law during this session, and today we notice the start of work on forming specialized committees regarding the law, and writing the draft is evidence that there is a serious intention by the government and parliamentary blocs within the Iraqi parliament to legislate the law.”

He pointed out that "accelerating the legislation makes the results negative," stressing that "the committee supports the legislation of the law, but with good formulation and accuracy by the specialized committees, because the file of the region and Baghdad is a small part of the problems within this draft law.”

Economists: Solving The Dollar Crisis Needs Long-Term Solutions 

Written By: Social Baghdad  08-14-2023  Economists considered that controlling dollar prices requires time and long-term solutions due to the complete paralysis of the productive sector in Iraq.

Experts explained that the agricultural and industrial productive sector in Iraq is completely suspended, and that Iraq remains dependent on imports will drain the dollar from the Iraqi markets, and the neighboring countries are the biggest winners, in addition to the difficulty of controlling smuggling and speculation mafias by the competent authorities, ruling out the return of the dollar to normal exchange rates quickly – In light of the economic data, it is worth noting that there is a contradiction between government statements, with the assumptions of economists, that the exchange rate of the dollar should stabilize at its current rates in the parallel market.  LINK

"Dissecting Tesla's (TSLA) Self-Driving Opportunity", 15 AUGUST

 Tesla's (TSLA) ambitions in autonomous vehicles has always been at the top of the list of priorities for company CEO Elon Musk. Tesla's full self-driving (FSD) platform, which combines proprietary AI software and hardware to enable autonomous navigation in various Tesla vehicles, has been available in Beta to Tesla owners in North America.

The company's FSD progress is key to its long-term profitability. Musk has projected Tesla to reach gross profit margin of 70% or higher through FSD technology, underscoring its immense potential. But Tesla is not the only company vying for this market. Rivals such as Waymo, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet (GOOG , GOOGL), and Cruise which is owned by General Motors (GM), have staked their claim in the race for autonomy. And the race has begun to narrow with leadership in San Francisco recently approving more driverless robotaxi service throughout the city.

In a 3-to-1 vote by the California Public Utilities Commission, both Waymo and Cruise were granted the green light to expand driverless and ride-hailing operations to all parts of the city, 24 hours a day. In the first phase of the pilot, both services had deployed several hundred vehicles. They now have permission to expand their commercial rollout to thousands of vehicles. This is a major step forward for both company which rely on artificial intelligence to safely navigate the streets of San Francisco.

With both Waymo and Cruise controlling San Francisco, Tesla investors are left wondering whether this is good news or bad news for Tesla. It also reignites the AI debate, which asks what’s the best way for these vehicles to see the world around them, via powerful machine vision systems to help the vehicles navigate the world. Basically, Tesla relies entirely on cameras, while Cruise and Waymo utilize an assortment of sensors such as lidar (short for “Light Detection and Ranging”).

Some believe lidar, which use pulses of lasers to map its environment, can be cost-prohibitive, including Elon Musk, who claimed that any company relying on the powerful but expensive lidar is “doomed.” And that’s where Tesla’s technology, which matches its profitability goals, comes into play. Tesla’s FSD platform addresses two major markets: autonomous vehicles and robotaxi services. The autonomous vehicle market is projected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2030, and Tesla can capitalize on this by selling FSD software directly to consumers or licensing it to other automakers.

What’s more, the robotaxi market is estimated to generate $9 trillion in annual revenue by 2030, with Tesla planning to mass-produce a robotaxi by 2024 and potentially launch an autonomous ride-hailing network in the near future. The company has previously set an aggressive goal to produce 20 million vehicles annually by the end of 2030. Currently, Tesla’s production capacity runs at an annual rate of about 2 million vehicles per year. In order to achieve 20 million vehicles, the company would need additional production capacity.

The expanding market for EVs, predicted to grow to $1.1 trillion by the end of the decade, aligns favorably with Tesla's growth trajectory. Thus, the expansion of driverless robotaxi services in San Francisco present a significant opportunity for Tesla's long-term growth and profitability. In essence, although Tesla was not included in the San Francisco expansion, it is still good news for the company, given Tesla's advancements EV market and its strong position in AI technology.

All told, while Tesla’s current valuation might appear high in comparison to traditional automakers, the potential for growth in the software and services sector justifies this valuation in the long run, particularly given the company's disruptive potential and growth prospects in the AI-driven future of transportation and mobility.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/dissecting-teslas-tsla-self-driving-opportunity

CBI Gov Alaq to Complete RV🔥Now - 20th RV Window?🤔Iraq Dinar RV Updates ...

"THE DOLLAR IS BETWEEN HIGH & LOW", 15 AUGUST

American attempts and Iraqi solutions… The dollar is between high and low, and government measures

8-13-2023

American attempts and Iraqi solutions... The dollar is between high and low and government measuresInformation / Baghdad…

It became clear to everyone the impact of US banking policies towards Iraq, especially the banking sector, in an attempt to cause confusion in the movement of the commercial market and push the government into direct confrontation with the people, after the rise in most prices, although the government was able to take a decision to reduce the exchange rate after it crossed the barrier of 175 thousand dinars for every 100 dollars.

In turn, the Sudanese government drew up a new financial policy, setting the official exchange rate at 130,000 dinars for every $100.

Despite this, however, the US measures were behind the continued rise in the exchange rate in terms of restricting Iraqi banks’ access to hard currency under the pretext of smuggling, speculation and the black market.

The representative of the Sadiqoun bloc, Muhammad al-Baldawi, told Al-Maalouma that “America is taking retaliatory measures against Iraq after its move towards resolving the electricity crisis, bartering oil with Iranian gas, and getting out of the dollar’s impasse.”

He added, “Washington seeks to impose its opinion and be dominant over decisions in Iraq, as it took retaliatory measures that caused a rise in the exchange rate of the dollar in the local markets, thus increasing the prices of goods, commodities, foodstuffs, and causing harm to the citizen.”

Al-Baldawi pointed out that “the American side seeks, through its measures, to be in control of Iraq and take whatever decisions it wants, and unlike it, it resorts to using some pressure tricks to achieve its interests and harm Iraq and its people.”

On the other hand, a member of the Al-Fateh Alliance, Ali Al-Zubaidi told Al-Maalouma, that “Washington lacks a lot of credibility in the treaties and covenants that are agreed upon, as there is no fairness in continuing to deposit the country’s money in the US Federal Bank.”

He explained, “Iraq will end the dollar crisis if it gets rid of the hegemony imposed by the United States of America on the money for selling oil, especially since Washington imposes Chapter VII restrictions on Iraq verbally in order to achieve its own interests.”

On the other hand, the economist, Safwan Qusai, confirmed to Al-Maalouma, that “the money changers in Iraq receive an appropriate commission when buying and selling dollars, which requires them to adhere to their commission, at a time when there must be a financial policy that is complementary to the central bank in its policy related to selling dollar in the parallel market.

He added, “There is an urgent need to control border crossings, as well as reduce the volume of imports without the presence of external money transfers, in addition to pushing banks towards a flexible banking system and relying on documentary credits, so that all merchants are allowed to deal with reliable suppliers.”

almaalomah.me

-----

Parliamentary finance indicates the reluctance of traders to enter the “platform” for selling the dollar, and gives reasons for its rise

A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Moein Al-Kadhimi, stated that merchants are hesitant to use the electronic platform for buying and selling dollars. As a result, they resort to the black market, which drives up the dollar prices in the local markets.

Al-Kadhimi told Shafaq News that the US Federal Bank complicates the central bank’s daily sales of foreign remittances, which range from $150-200 million.

Merchants avoid buying dollars on the electronic platform, resorting to the black market instead. This increases demand and raises prices, with the exchange rate reaching over 150,000 dinars for $100.

Al-Kazemi stated that the central bank has enough dollars, but the issue lies in its procedures and restrictions on transferring funds to US-prohibited countries. This forces merchants to turn to the black market to purchase goods and foodstuffs from abroad.

Since the beginning of the year, the Central Bank of Iraq has implemented an electronic platform and the international financial transfer system, “SWIFT.” However, despite government and central bank efforts to stabilize the exchange rate in the parallel (black) markets, the dollar exchange rates have not improved in Iraq.

 The official exchange rate in the Iraqi budget is 1320 dinars to the dollar, but in the markets of Baghdad and Erbil, the parallel price has continued to rise, reaching 154,000 dinars for every $100 on Monday.

DINARLAND UPDATE, 15 AUGUST

MarkZ

[via PDK]

No negative news over the weekend…We are expecting a very busy week between now and the 20th….

…in the news “Argentina has a 18% devaluation of their currency” Just Boom and they flipped the switch. This is what a number of countries are facing if they do not asset back their currency. Argentina may be a “motivator” for Iraq, Vietnam and other countries to go ahead and pull their triggers…in a positive way on their values.

MilitiaMan (KTFA)

It’s been weeks…and still to this day they haven’t actually shown us the spending ability of the budget.   Why is that?  It’s obvious – they’re not coming out at 1310, 1320 or 1305…

The House of Representative …Central Bank of Iraq…the legal departments all got together.  What are they talking about?  They’re talking about implementing allocating and spending money for this budget.  Anybody thinking this is not happening I have to disagree with you…

…Alaq, the Central Bank Governor, he’s not new to Iraq.  This man’s been involved for many many years.  He led the Arab Monetary Fund.  He spent time there as the head honcho and now he’s back here to do what?  To finish this process.  He recently stated the Iraqi dinar and/or subsequently the project to delete the zeros from the exchange rate still exists.  If anybody’s telling you this is a joke you really got to think about it and say did he really say that?

Frank26 (KTFA)

The CBI cannot change the rate of the American dollar…but they can change the rate of the Iraqi dinar…which will affect the rate of the American dollar to the point of not being used in Iraq any longer and that gives birth to  a new sovereign national currency…

Question:
“Has the oil and gas law been passed and implemented as the articles indicated?“

Yes but IMO it too has to wait for the new exchange rate.

Nader From The Mid East

What’s slowing down the RV…and it’s going to slow it down more and more until they find a solution for it.  It’s not the HCL…budget….What’s slowing down the RV is the corruption…You guys have no idea how much corruption going on in Iraq…It’s like a big mafia…bigger than the government for now…It’s going to be a big fight…When the corruption goes to 20%, 15%, 10% that’s where the RV is gonna happen…

Sandy Ingram

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, UN Special Representative in Iraq “Pervasive corruption is a major root cause of Iraqi dysfunction.  And frankly, no leader can claim to be shielded from it.” There will be little to no increase in currency value in Iraq until multinational companies can safely invest in Iraq without corruption or safety issues.

JUDY NOTE, 15 AUGUST

 Global Currency Revaluation:

Mon. 14 Aug. MarkZ: “We are expecting a very busy week between now and the 17th. … On the news front most of my sources are expecting things more like Wed. 16 Aug. and Thurs.17 Aug. There is some news out of Zimbabwe just a few hours ago. Their Central Bank is close to releasing the gold backed digital tokens into retail for peer to peer, store to store, and individual use. They have announced that they are close – which means they are probably already done with the tech. This is the way most of these nations operate.”

Sun. 13 Aug. American Patriot: “The Military Earth Alliance Covert Operations have neutralized covert operations and all 209 countries were now gold/asset-backed. The Star link Satellite System has been interconnecting computerized unmanned stations to monitor the Quantum System that’s been connected and synched up.”

By Mon. 7 Aug. the Iraqi Parliament had approved their budget with the new Iraqi Dinar Rate in it and published it in the Gazette the next day Tues. 8 Aug.

On Wed. 9 Aug. the new Iraqi Dinar Rate was believed to have revalued at a 1:1 with the USD and then began trading up on the Forex back screens.

On Thurs. 10 Aug. the direct payment system was activated to send funds internationally person to person.

Tier 4b should be notified to receive appointments to exchange foreign currencies and redeem Zim bonds within 48 hours of Bond Holders.

The Gold/asset-backed USN was expected to be announced between Aug.18-21, or most certainly at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg South African Aug. 22-24.