RJ45

How can you have stuffing without celery?! To those who celebrate, wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to all you lovely folks and your families. To those who don't, I hope you survive to find some killer deals on Black Friday.

First off, disclaimer: I don't have a crystal ball -- only my wits and so-so skill of deduction. It has been a long time, but this investment is a waiting game. Keep in mind Iraq has not only been nearly destroyed by the Hussein regime, they've actively been at war against terrorists who have been destroying roads, buildings, power plants, etc. They have little basic infrastructure. For many of their people, things like electricity and clean water are currently a luxury, not a right. They only JUST got Isis out of Mosul; the war isn't over yet. I can guarantee you that once they manage to flush ISIS out, stabilize the country, and finish rebuilding, the dinar will be a heck of a lot stronger than it is now. However, that's a long way in the future, and until then, we can only hope that they will RV and return some value and spending power to the currency for their people to be able to afford the things they need and improve their basic living conditions--not just so we can take advantage of the windfall. I want to see an RV as badly as anyone, but I don't want to instill false hopes, either. I picked out the good, and brushed over the bad. If I concentrate too much on the bad, I could easily talk myself into thinking I just bought a bunch of great kindling for a bonfire. My current belief is that our patience will be rewarded. It's difficult to put a finger on how much of a reward we're looking at given the current clues, but as I mentioned above, I take it as a good sign that Iraq is A - definitely continuing to value against the USD, and use the figures given in the IMF doc to calculate what is owed -- not have those numbers fluctuate with the value of the dinar; B - giving us confirmation that they are thisclose to going international with their currency (FOREX, anyone?); and C - have an actual plan to get out of debt and are not just planning to mooch off the IMF and loans forever. What that doc tells us is that they have audited their accounts, know exactly what they owe and what their assets are, down to the last USD, and have a plan in place to get out of debt. Things are on shaky ground because of the amount of work they still have to do and they had setbacks due to ISIS, but they are moving forward on their plans, even if they are falling shy of the goals the IMF set for them. All in all, I take it as a positive sign that they are speaking so strongly about going international and investments from other countries, and are pegged against the dollar/removing other currencies off their streets. All the little things that add up to another step closer to what we want -- an RV. Will it play out the way Kaperoni says? I don't have a crystal ball. Will it be the way @fnbplanet suggests? I don't have a crystal ball. Will it happen at all? Again, no crystal ball, but I think so. And I also think, given more time, the value of the dinar will only rise, as their people and cities will from the ashes. My .

Thanks again, @Adam Montana! I am sure you have probably heard by now, but the Article IV thing from the IMF has gone live. Relevant post is here if you missed it, or here if you want to skip the forum talk and go straight to the (very long) PDF.

For those who may be curious: http://visionofhumanity.org/indexes/global-peace-index/ More to see on the site itself, but there's some answers in a nutshell. Not surprised to see this about the U.S., but it's unpleasant to have it validated by an outside agency. We really need to work on getting our collective s*** together.

Keep in mind that the people buying these fake $100 bills are not U.S. citizens. English is not their language. Their alphabet doesn't look anything like ours. It would be very easy to fool the masses, particularly those who have never used USD before or don't really look closely at what they are given. That said, I agree. This coincides a little too closely with the Article IV IMF report and demand to eliminate the multi-currency practice. I'm guessing this was very deliberately planned, calculated move to get USD off the streets and urge use of the dinar instead.

While there are definitely some negatives in that document, I am also seeing some positive nuggets sprinkled in there, too. Cherry picking a few key sentences: YEAH, baby! That's 2013 - 2022 (projected). Lookin' good! Encouraging foreign exchange and international transactions sounds like a step in the right direction to me. This is what looks really good to me. They are using the 1182 dinar rate pegged against USD to calculate exact amounts of assets vs. debts on all of their charts and official docs, and they are ready for foreign exchange. I don't take this to mean that the dinar is permanently pegged at 1182 -- only that it's the official figure they are using at this time to calculate the numbers for their charts and projections in this document and that IMF and Iraq will continue to use the USD as a benchmark for the value. Full steam ahead on this voyage!

Hi Adam, In last week's update, you said: Did I just overlook your response in VIP/OSI, or are you still working on it? Because I am still curious to hear what you have to say about this. Thanks for all you do, and hang loose!

No, but that's just with Moody's. There are other credit rating bureaus. Iraq has also been making nice with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, Korea, UK, the Netherlands, the US -- they have been receiving assistance, getting loans at less than 2% with 20 years to pay back, cutting public spending, reducing their reliance on oil revenues, are in the process of building a new port, and are rebuilding their infrastructure. This credit rating is one negative compared to a huge list of positives. They have a lot of work to do to get back to the 1IQD = $3+USD range, but I see this as a minor stumbling block on the path to RV and a decent ROI.

This is just a thought on my part, but during the battles for Mosul, there was a lot of speculation here on the forum that once it was liberated, that was "it" and we'd see RV -- Tal Afar is not very far from Mosul (~80km / ~50 miles). The airport is also located in Tal Afar, and I'm sure they don't want terrorists blowing up any visiting dignitaries, people working on the reconstruction projects, etc. Regaining Tal Afar might be the last stage of ensuring the security of Mosul and that final piece of the puzzle we've been waiting for.

As it stands, their currency would buy bupkiss using these cards. There has to be an RV in the near future or there's no point to these credit cards being issued--they won't cover enough for a night in a hotel, let alone food, souvenirs, or all the other things that go hand-in-glove with international travel. I can't even imagine how prohibitive it would be to use them with the added interest as it currently stands. There has to be change in the wind. It could be they are just trying to get them into the hands of the public first (this shouldn't be what is meant by "spending power," as credit card debt is a slippery slope, but it could be that's what it's being considered to be giving the people). Maybe they are trying to give the people more ways to spend and then deal with the details of RV later, but it does appear to be a bit backwards. It's possible this is intended as a way to give the people of Iraq a chance to purchase international goods (yay, internet, all hail our great Amazon overlords) to increase trade outside their borders, but again, it won't mean much if there is no value to provide spending power behind their currency. I could speculate on this all day, but I'll take it as a sign that everything is falling into place for the Iraqis to go international and that RV is just around the corner.

Congratulations! Wishing all the best for you and your family. Yes, this. Thank you, and agreed.

I know I am relatively new to the site myself, but I would like to suggest a little more kindness toward those who don't know any better. I'm sure Awake has gotten the point by now and will rethink the wording of any future posts with a bit more care. No need to dogpile -- I'm sure by the third or fourth dressing down post, s/he got the point. Also, I want to second @presence -- thank you for all you do, @yota691. I very much appreciate and look forward to your posts, even when they aren't translated for us.

@bkeiller, thanks! It's hard to say with the layout of the 2017 doc. It's completely different from the way the 2011/2014 ones are laid out (they are far more comprehensive, with pages of definitions included), and Thug's link only covers 1 month, not 1 year, of financials. I wish I could say for sure one way or the other, but it's unclear given the current layout. I want to believe that it refers to costs of revaluing their own currency (can't be cheap with printing of new lower denoms and such) but the wording on that doc is too generic to say for sure.

Out of curiosity, I whipped out some Google-fu. It's possible it is referring to gold revaluation. See the 2014 financial statement: https://www.cbi.iq/documents/financial_statement-en.2014.pdf Ditto on 2011: https://www.cbi.iq/documents/financial_statement2011_f.pdf I'm not 100% positive about this, but the only "revaluation" that appears on the 2011/2014 statement does specifically refer to gold, not currency. However, the templates are also completely different from the 2017 one (far more comprehensive and covering a year instead of a month) so perhaps the 2017 doc is an informal version of the final financial statements to come. Since the ones I linked are for the year and the one from @DinarThug was only for May-June 2017, maybe at a later time we'll see one with more of an explanation, as per the other financial statements from prior years.

True, but they also already have significant debts outside the country. IMHO also not a good way to bolster the economy because they are giving jobs away that could have been handled from within their own borders, or at least supplemented by locals. Handling demolition and hauling away the debris shouldn't require outside talent. I'm sure they must have some local construction companies, electricians, and plumbers who could use the work. While I can see why they might want to hire from abroad for construction plans (architects and engineers), for the actual process of rebuilding it seems a bit shady to take away what seems like a golden opportunity to give jobs to their own people. Especially something they could be proud of--rebuilding one of their own prized cities. I know my opinion won't change anything, but it feels like they gave away a great opportunity to give their own citizens jobs they could be proud of, and a chance to earn money that could then result in a boost to the local economy and more purchasing power to their own people. Just my .