CKS

That's right. Focus on the things in life you enjoy.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6291UY20100310 (Reuters) - Initial results from Iraq's national election are likely to be released by Thursday, Iraqi and U.N. officials said on Wednesday, as further signs emerged of a strong showing for Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. WORLD The Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a largely Shi'ite group that is challenging Maliki's bid to win a second term, told a news conference that according to their informal tallies the prime minister was ahead in at least 10 of Iraq's 18 provinces. A decisive victory by any political coalition is unlikely in an election Iraqis hope will bring a measure of stability after years of sectarian warfare as U.S. troops prepare to pull out. Negotiations to form a new government could take months. Iraq has been on edge since Sunday's vote, during which 39 people were killed in attacks, but electoral officials say they require at least another day to reach the 30 percent threshold needed to declare preliminary results. Final results may require several more weeks. "Tomorrow afternoon we will start publishing the preliminary election results on our screen. And we will continue to do that as we finish counting and checking the votes," said Faraj al-Haidari, Iraq's top electoral official. Ad Melkert, the U.N. special representative to Iraq, earlier told a news conference the vote count was proceeding at a good pace. He said first results were likely by Thursday. "This is an honest process and that's why it is very important that the announcement of the preliminary results will be accepted by all," Melkert said. "I think it's fair to say the world has been impressed by the professional way that these elections have taken place." MALIKI LOOKS STRONG The INA estimates were the latest indicator that Maliki's State of Law coalition, running on a law-and-order platform, was well placed to grab a big share of the 325-seat parliament. There is no indication, though, that any bloc will win an outright majority and weeks of negotiations over a coalition government are likely to ensue. Qusai Abdul-Wahab, an INA candidate, said State of Law was slightly ahead with 1.9 million votes in 11 provinces, while the INA had 1.8 million, according to their tally. Other counts have suggested the gap between the two is wider. "Still remaining to be counted are Mosul, Kirkuk, Salahuddin, Diyala, along with Kurdistan and western provinces," Abdul-Wahab said. The provinces left out include Sunni Arab strongholds like Anbar, where support for Maliki or the INA is unlikely to be strong. Abdul-Wahab said that the INA tally did not include "special voting" that included police, soldiers and prison inmates, or votes cast by Iraqis living in other countries. Members of Maliki's coalition have said they expect State of Law to be the biggest bloc in the next parliament but that it would need to form an alliance with one or two other lists. A secular, cross-sectarian line-up led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi appeared to be polling well in Sunni areas of the north and west, according to the informal tallies. The INA put that group, the Iraqiya List, far behind with around 666,000 votes in the provinces it had tallied. Turnout was 62 percent, higher than in last year's provincial election, despite a spate of insurgent attacks that killed 39 people, all but one of them in Baghdad, on voting day. The U.S. military, which stayed in the background while Iraqi security forces protected the election, praised the conduct of the vote and said the violence had been limited. General Ray Odierno, the U.S. commander in Iraq, said plans were on track to reduce troop levels from 96,000 now to 50,000 by the end of August, ahead of a full withdrawal by end-2011. (Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal, Aseel Kami and Jim Loney, editing by Alistair Lyon and Charles ****)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6292F520100310 UPDATE 2-Iraq expects to step up T-bill activity in 2010 Wed Mar 10, 2010 1:23pm EST * Secondary T-bill market to boost banks' liquidity BONDS | GLOBAL MARKETS * Also plans to create new forex markets * Sees return to budget surplus in 2012 (Adds analyst comment, paragraphs 8-9, writes through) By Michael Christie BAGHDAD, March 10 (Reuters) - Iraq expects to step up its treasury bill activity in 2010 to help plug continuing budget deficits and foster a secondary treasury market, the Central Bank and Finance Ministry said in a submission to the IMF. Iraq, only just emerging from sectarian war but still battling a stubborn insurgency, also wants to develop foreign exchange markets outside the framework of dollar auctions currently conducted by the Central Bank. That included the establishment of an interbank foreign exchange market and dinar forward market, the submission said. The country's letter of intent submitted to the International Monetary Fund for a $3.6 billion standby arrangement was dated Feb. 8 and can be accessed here Iraq, which on Sunday held its second election for a full-term parliament since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, said it would not return to a budget surplus until 2012. "As our financing needs in 2010 will still be substantial, we will step up our efforts to mobilize domestic financing through the Treasury bill market," Iraq's Central Bank head and finance minister wrote. "To that end, we will conduct regular auctions, and refrain from cancellations, while allowing interest rates to be determined by the market. This will have additional benefits by determining a benchmark interest rate, while the development of a secondary market for treasury bills will allow banks to improve their liquidity management." Iraq's banking sector, for decades dominated by the state, is basic after years of sectarian slaughter that followed the invasion. The Central Bank does issue a form of treasury note to local banks to cover some of the government's financing needs, but it sets the interest rate. There is no secondary market. "They are going to shift to building a local market, they have ample cash, loan-deposit ratios are very low and they will benefit from oil," said Turker Hamzaoglu, emerging market economist at BoA-Merrill Lynch. "They have to develop a domestic bond market but it's still baby steps, it's still too early, it's not even a frontier market," he said, adding that Gulf Arab and Lebanese investors could be interested in Iraqi domestic paper. SALES TAX AND OTHER IDEAS Central Bank Governor Sinan al-Shibibi and Finance Minister Bayan Jabor said in the letter to the IMF that the country planned to introduce a sales tax, as a precursor to a Value Added Tax, "in the coming years". Iraq's gross domestic product expanded by 4 percent in 2009 compared with almost 10 percent the year before, their submission reported. GDP growth would rise to almost 7 percent this year and 7.5-8.0 percent in 2011 and 2012, they said. That improvement would be rooted in an increase in Iraqi oil output to 3.1 million barrels per day by 2012, from around 2.5 million bpd now, and exports of 2.5 million bpd, compared to just over 2 million bpd now. That outlook might be conservative following the signing of 10 multibillion-dollar deals with global oil firms to develop Iraq's vast reserves. If all the deals work out, Iraqi oil capacity could soar to 12 million bpd in six to seven years. Amongst other things, the IMF submission said Iraq's Central Bank planned to create a foreign exchange market outside the framework of regular dollar auctions now conducted by the bank. The bank uses the auctions to set the exchange rate, which has been held at 1,170 dinars per dollar for many months. "To improve the functioning of foreign exchange auctions, we plan to develop organized exchange markets outside the central bank, including an interbank foreign exchange market," it said. "Our aim is to establish a forward market in Iraqi dinars in the near future." (Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn in London; Editing by Ron Askew)

IMO the answer is yes. http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&topic=w&ncl=d4v8B1Ee5fw7bHMjLpHD-FJ_QrXdM

Here we go, unfortunately...... Dispute over candidate disqualifications could mar Iraqi vote's legitimacy By Ernesto Londo

Subscribe AlJazeeraEnglish March 09, 2010 (more info) Inside Story asks if Iraq's elections were truly democratic and if the country is even ready for democracy.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article7055830.ece From The Times March 10, 2010 Nouri al-Maliki and Ayad Allawi both claim victory in Iraq elections Oliver August, Baghdad The two front-runners in Iraq

Hmmmm. 6 years or so. I remember being hyped up about a rumor 6, or so, years ago. Didn't pan out. Just checked back in about 3 weeks ago. Lucky me huh? Good luck to everyone.

All I'm asking for is 340,000% return, come on no wammies!

I believe Iraq is 10 hours ahead of eastern time. That makes me feel it would happen in the morning when it does. It is tomorrow in Iraq in about 30 minutes I think.

It is good practice for when the news is real. I enjoyed all the daydreaming personally. Better than nothing.........

Aw, That is not very nice. It was in-fact just a rumor. Didn't you have a friend that put in their life savings just recently? Curious if they did that because of rumors? Best of luck to everyone!

hmmm. actually 1,000% would mean 10 USD made from every 1 USD invested wouldn't it. Rumors are closer to 100,000% Has anybody ever done that? Correct me if I'm wrong pls.

I think it is 6:30 PM in Iraq right now. I think we would have heard if the prices had changed today. Goodluck to everyone! 1000%, it could happen. We wouldn't be the first to make it.

Netinfo, Is it true that you are not invested in iraq as others haves said? I'm just having a hard time understanding someone that would be so concerned without anything riding on it. So, what's riding on it?