Slaydadea

I guess out of the 160 pages or so of posts here, banG may have just missed this one. Whaddaya think?

Great rumor banG! Time will tell. You know how it goes. Otherwise, kind of a stagnate day. Doc's taking a break. I'm gonna miss him. Thanks for putting it out.

GO GAMECOCKS!

Bad stuff man, bad stuff. God forbid it ever gets this extreme on this side of the pond. A real eye opener.

I don't think Maliki has a good grasp on the whole "Democracy" thing yet. Maybe he's not the right man for the job. Probably wouldn't win a "Peoples Choice Award" in another election.

Good info. Linked worked just fine. Thanks for posting.

When I read the topic, without looking, I knew it was you Qman! Good 1.

Nice stance Mr Rich. Well presented. Thanks!

Good stuff Ron, Thanks for the update!

Yes, there are many trustworthy folks here. However, remember that most are sorting just like you. All credible info eventually makes it through DV at one point or another. May not always be what you want to hear, but fellow investors do a lot of constructive research. No one person can tell you what's best for you. You are here like myself seeking answers to questions. Sort it out and learn. Lots of stuff learned here. Welcome. Hope this helps.

Great job! If this thing goes down at .10, you're still a sevenhundredthousanddollaranaire, after taxes (round about). Man, spell check didn't like that one!

Speculation friend. Welcome to DV! Enjoy the ride!

Come on man! Was this post really necessary?

xakly!

Private business. Sorry, can't tell ya.

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

This is why I don't fear a major currency reset! Maybe this is why I should! Incompetence at it's best. Thanks Qman!

Hey Vern! My OPINION, All is not not lost. I follow a lot of the conspiracy stuff myself and ask myself some of the same questions you are asking yourself. I view it as "Information Only". If in fact all of it is true, the worlds monetary system is not going to come to a complete screeching halt and go the other direction. It takes years to get a simple bill passed, can you imagine how long it would take to convert the worlds currency to one denomination. Not in our lifetime. This little bit of uproar in the ME though it impacts us now is nothing compared to the wrath that the people in the US and Canada are capable of, not to mention the rest of the world. Money is on everyone's mind right now. Iraq is going to revalue one way or the other, all the signs are there. What happens 20 years down the road is a whole different story. They are a "fledgling" Democratic country that's still trying to figure out what Democracy is all about. The people there want the same things you and I enjoy and take for granted. Remember, it was money managers that got us in this situation in the first place. I personally don't think they have the intelligence to reset the monetary system to one denomination. JMT.

I'm with ya! That's kind of like flying a perfectly good aircraft into a Aircraft Carrier. Some folks will do anything to get a point across. Getting pretty touchy over there. Have a good 1.

The Best is to Come in 2011 Posted on 29 December 2010. Tags: Industry & Trade, Investment, Iraq, Oil 2010 saw hundreds of trade agreements signed, a score of new consulates opened, and dozens of countries and thousands of companies scrambling to get in on the Iraq story. Inflation has remained low all year and exchange rates have been stable. The oil price averaged $15-$20 above the $62.50 price allowed for in the Iraq budget. Although oil exports were a few hundred thousand barrels per day below target for most of the year, Iraq is now pushing considerably in excess of the budgeted oil production for next year. That is just partly why 2011 will be even better for Iraq. Many of the trade agreements that have been announced this year, including a recent $5bn deal with Egypt, will begin to bear fruit throughout 2011. Oil, which provides 95% of Iraq’s revenues, will see a massive leap towards the end of 2011, boosting exports by about 40%. The new government has just, finally, been formed, allowing it to head into 2011 with many strong announcements on investments and also on security. With the security situation improving and prime minister Al-Maliki saying that the last American soldier will leave the country by the end of next December, 2011 is likely to be an historic year for Iraq and investors in it. It has been a quiet business week this Christmas, but hopefully you will enjoy the small selection of stories we have for you this time. Here’s to a prosperous New Year for all of us. If you’re considering taking that step into the Iraqi market, Upper Quartile and AAIB are the perfect team to help you manage the risks and grasp the opportunities. For more information please contact Gavin Jones orAdrian Shaw.

Ron Paul would be my choice.

How Will Egypt Affect Iraq? Posted on 02 February 2011. Tags: Egypt, elections, oil price With political and social upheaval, first in Tunisia and now in Egypt, the big question on many minds at the moment is to what extent the unrest will spread to other countries in the Arab world. But despite the undoubted poverty in Iraq, it is rarely mentioned as possible candidate for a popular uprising, and the reason is that Iraq has a functioning democratic system, painfully slow and imperfect though it may be. The people of Iraq have had the chance to express their opinions at the ballot box. The turmoil is clearly having an impact on Iraq in another way: the price of oil. Hitting $102 on Wednesday, crude oil is up 7% in the past week, and is well above the $73 per barrel on which the country’s 2011 budget is based. A spokesman for Iraq’s Ministry of Oil confirmed that the Egyptian situation would not restrict Iraq’s output and export of oil, and if that continues to be the case, Iraq may stand to benefit significantly from these developments. Upper Quartile and AAIB work closely with businesses in the energy and infrastructure sectors. To see how they can assist your business in Iraq, please contact Gavin Jones or Adrian Shaw.

A case for higher tariffs? Posted on 12 February 2011. Tags: Electricity, Industry & Trade, Tariffs Starting March 6, Iraq will begin imposing import tariffs ranging from zero to 80%. For many products, this will be a big increase. Up to now, importers have been subject to a uniform tariff of only 5%, which covered everything except food, medicine, books, clothing and products related to humanitarian assistance or Iraq’s reconstruction. (For more on the new tarrifs see: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2011/02/08/iraqi-import-tariffs-rise-sharply-from-march/). Believers in the free market, like the “neo-cons” who abolished the Saddam-era tariff regime back in 2003, will doubtless see this move as a step in the wrong direction. Higher tariffs, they will argue, protect inefficient state-owned industries, raise costs for consumers, and create opportunities for rent seeking. Rather than putting up barriers to trade, the Iraqi government should simply stand aside and allow market forces to work their magic. These arguments are not without merit. It is certainly true that introducing a tariff in the otherwise ideal world of the economics textbook will result in a suboptimal outcome. But in an economy like Iraq’s, the textbook result doesn’t necessarily hold. There may actually be an argument for taxing imports if doing so helps to alleviate distortions elsewhere in the economy. Consider, for example, what happens if an air conditioner tariff is introduced. Obviously consumers will have to pay more for air conditioners and will buy fewer of them—a suboptimal outcome if that’s all there is to the story. In the case of Iraq, however, people are already air conditioning their homes more than they optimally would because of subsidized electricity prices. As a result, power outages are more frequent and result in greater economic losses. An air conditioner tariff would partially correct this distortion. And it would make economic sense if the benefits from the reduction in power outages outweighed the cost to consumers. If simply eliminating the subsidy is politically impossible, a tariff might be the next best thing. I’m doubtful that such a case could be made for all, or even most, of next month’s tariff increases. In the absence of a product-by-product cost/benefit analysis, however, there’s really no way to be sure.

Iraqi Stock Exchange Sees Increase in Foreign Investors in 2011 Posted on 10 January 2011. Tags: Iraq Stock Exchange, Iraqi Stock Exchange, ISX, World Federation of Exchanges The ISX, which started operating in 2004, is a rare outpost of capitalism in a country dominated by state companies. It moved from manual to automated trading in 2009 and opens for trading for two hours a day, five days a week. Each trade takes around eight seconds to process. The banking sector is the largest on the bourse, which also lists industrial, insurance, hotel and agriculture firms. The total market value of shares listed on the bourse is around $3 billion, which Abdulsalam said he expected would increase in 2011. Abdulsalam, who has four children and graduated with a masters degree in economics from Baghdad University, said he anticipated that trading volumes, which totaled 400 billion Iraqi dinars in 2010, to be higher this year. The 47-year-old chief executive said the daily volume of trades so far in 2011 had so far averaged between $2 million to $3 million compared to $1 million to $2 million in 2010. “There are many investors coming to the stock exchange … The last two sessions were more than $3 million. The last session [Wednesday] was about $6 million,” Abdulsalam said. “At the end of this year, I believe the figures will be more than 2010.” Abdulsalam said he expected up to 10 new listings, mainly banking and industrial stocks, on the bourse this year. He also said he hoped to get the ISX onto the World Federation of Exchanges this year, and expected real-time data from the stock exchange to be available on its website www.isx-iq.net in the next six months. (Source: Reuters)

Iraq Demands $114m Refund of Jordanian Oil Credit Posted on 08 February 2011. Tags: Jordan, oil exports Asim Jihad, a spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry, said the Iraqi government has demanded Jordan pay back a credit of $114m for purchasing Iraqi crude oil during 2003-6, adding Jordan has demanded to increase Iraqi crude oil import to 30,000 barrels per day (bpd). According to the report from AKnews, during the period from 2003 to 2006 some 5.5 million barrels of the Iraqi crude oil were sold to Jordan, at a discount of $18 to the market price. The Iraqi government made the claim when the Jordanian Prime Minister, Samir Ru’faee, recently visited Iraq. Jihad added that talks between the Jordanian and Iraqi governments on the issue are underway. Under a deal effective until 2008, Jordanians benefited from the $18 discount, Jihad said. He added the deal was extended to 2011; some 10,000 bpd were to be transferred to Jordan from 2009-2011. However, during his recent visit to Iraq, the Jordanian PM demanded that the amount be increased to 30,000 bpd, according to the Ministry spokesman. (Source: AKnews)