Posted on 05/10/2006 8:26:30 AM PDT by Grendel9
REGIONAL FX HEADLINES Wednesday, May 10, 2006
In July Iran will ditch the dollar in favour of the euro as the currency in which it will accept payments for its oil and natural gas exports, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Friday.
The switch, first mooted months ago, was expected but Ahmadinejad's decision comes just as Washington is stepping up pressure on other United Nations Security Council members to act against Tehran for flouting agreements taken with the UN's nuclear watchdog.
Ahmadinejad's announcement, made in Baku, Azerbaijan where the Iranian leader is attending a regional economics conference, appears aimed at weakening the United States' resolve to seek sanctions against Iran if it does not comply with the UN International Agency for Atomic Energy's demands.
Some observers beleive the Iranian move could deal a severe blow to the American currency as many central banks from oil importing nations could choose to stock up their currency reserves with euros rather than
"Qatar buys Euro for reserves The Qatar Central Bank is exchanging euro for dollars on global capital markets and could raise the percentage of its foreign exchange reserves held in Euros to 40%, a Qatar Central Bank official told Dow Jones Newswires.
The news comes as many GCC countries are understood to be considering currency reserve diversification to protect against a weaker US dollar."
---from another article in that source.
Watch for all our enemies to dump the dollar. It's economic terrorism.
Where is Jack Bauer when you really need him?
pong
That's gonna hurt.
One speech by Bush announcing the withdrawal of all U.S. military from Europe would be enough to permanently devalue the Euro to put it on par with the Mexican peso.
Maybe Iran would like their payment in JDAM's. I hear their accepted everywhere.
We need to stop importing and buy domestic. Screw all of these people.
Ruh roh
this is the real danger.
these guys can bankrupt the US economy in a day by changing the way they trade oil from dollars to euros.
all they need is for enough countries to get onboard. for example they can surely pick up venezuela...
Isn't this old news. Iraq went to the Euro before we invaded them and most of the Opecker countries went to the Euro years ago.
http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?fr=ybr_sbc&p=Opec%20and%20the%20Euro
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran took a step on Friday toward establishing an oil market denominated in euros, a plan analysts described as highly unlikely to materialize but which in theory could have serious consequences for the U.S. economy.
Iranian state-run television said the country's oil ministry granted a license for the euro-denominated market, an idea first floated back in 2004, though just who would trade on it remains unclear. If the market were to succeed — or if Iran simply demanded payment for its oil in euros — commodities experts said it could lead central bankers around the world to convert some dollar reserves into euros, possibly causing a decline in the dollar's value. But if one day the world's largest oil producers allowed, or worse demanded, euros for their barrels, "it would be the financial equivalent of a nuclear strike," said A.G. Edwards commodities analyst Bill O'Grady.
Ohh, that's really scary kids! But let's read on.
O'Grady said there are practical reasons why the Iranian threat is an empty one.
For starters, Iran is not a very attractive site for a market, given the volatile nature of its politics, the U.S. sanctions against it and the lack of a fair legal system. Moreover, there is no indication that the European Union is interested in vying to become the world's central bank, which requires a willingness to run large currency deficits, he said. For the U.S., that has meant allowing cheap imports to undermine the strength of some major industries, including textiles, autos and electronics manufacturing.
PFC Energy oil analyst Jamal Qureshi said the fears stirred up by a hypothetical euro-denominated oil market in Iran or anywhere else are overblown, not least because the oil trade is just a small component of the overall global economy.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iran_oil_euros;_ylt=Agq7AmQ5gHFwUpzROzmdlzQDW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBhcmljNmVhBHNlYwNtcm5ld3M-
And of course should Iran decide to do something stupid, like shut down the SOH, who would go over there to bring the smack down? France? Germany? Spain? I don’t think so. Oh well, euros it was nice dream while it lasted.
This is HUGH and series. I'm stuned. Not. Next time put a sarcasm tag on it.
All of the Third World runts and despots like Ahmadjihad, Chavez, etc., need to remember that when push comes to shove, the U.S. Dollar is backed not by gold, not by silver, not by oil, but by many many spheres of exceptionally pure plutonium, which are mounted on extremely accurate launch platforms, and/or carried by swift, silent and damn near undetectable aircraft.
The world needs to understand something: if they want to start the last War, and if they wish to wage warfare against the United States, they can go right ahead and start it, but by God, we will finish it, and they better like the idea of living in animals skins and eating all their meals by campfire light.
They'll bankrupt the EU before the US. The currency is only as strong as its economy.
Not to mention that the countries using the Euro historically hate each other
I heard on Fox News yesterday
a.m. that our auto dealers have
been building SOME cars that run
mainly on ETHANOL since 2003!
And for about $1000, you can
have an adaptor installed in
your present vehicle. I intend
to look into it for my 2003
Mercury Grand Marquis.
Considering what a hellhole Iran is and nobody outside Iran would ever move there to work their proposed oil bourse, I predict no matter how much money Iran tries to throw at the development of this, it will never happen.
We aren't talking about hiring a bunch of no education day labors for 5 bucks an hour from pakistan to build buildings. We are talking about complex commodities trading. Iran will never be able to make it happen.
Its all a lot of hot air.
I remember years ago when all the liberal idiots where saying how any day now, the euro was going to replace the dollar for worldwide oil trading.
Blah-blah-blah
No, it's not. Dumping the dollar may be a sensible, prudent approach for investors who look at the U.S. and see a very unstable future from a fiscal standpoint. This country simply cannot oeprate a fiscal house of cards by running up these enormous deficits, and still expect to maintain any kind of credibility with foreign investors.
Think of this as you would think of the actions of a bank with a customer that has run up an enormous credit card debt and does not have the means to pay it off. As far as the bank is concerned, anything short of canceling the account, writing off the bad debt, and collecting whatever cash they can get (even if it's pennies on the dollar) would be grossly irresponsible.
OPEC consists of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Qatar, Indonesia, Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador and Gabon. Which of these countries are you claiming went to the Euro years ago? I only found in your link articles speculating about future changes.
The Euro has been overvalued since the day it was introduced.
How do you add up a bunch of weak currencies from anemic economies and come up with a strong currency? It must be the "new math"--1+1=4.
All of those who should know predicted the Euro should have a value of 80 some cents when it was introduced, but was valued at $1.18.
Goes with the trend of thinking in this country today--if liberals can get enough people to buy into their bad ideas and values, then by popular demand they magically become "good".
I guess Iran learned nothing from Saddam mistakes.
It's true about deficits, however the debt profiles of the socialist europeans are far far worse. Those nations have future commitments that, as a portion of their GDPs, make ours look minor. Last I read Italy's debt was 150% of their GDP. Imagine the maintainance payments on that.
Have you seen this report yet?
We're Doomed! Oil is over rated anyhow, we need to move on to better things.
not the iranians by themselves; rather if they bring in the other major producers.
People are waking up to the threat that a very delicately balanced currency market can crash not just the Dollar but the world economy - and it will not take much effort by anyone. A big huff and puff by any big bad wolf can blow down this house of cards.
How about a wolf that has no assets to protect and knows he will have his bread and cheese on the floor no matter what happens to the rest of the world.
Lunatic President Ahmadi-Nejad enjoying a meal in his customary fashion. A small knife to cut the cheese cleanly and his hands with which to eat.
If the Euro is such a good currency then why didn't we find great wads of them in Iraq like we did dollars?
Devaluing the dollar would sure help our trade balance, however the countries that need to sell us stuff to survive will be up merde creek.
Why is that crazy MF so ?interesting?
Kerry's Iran Flashback
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1080293/posts
Even the assumption that if we wish to purchase oil we'll purchase Euros is highly suspect. What if we don't want to purchase oil? That's the greatest fear on the part of the Iranians (and OPEC) - what if the price of oil goes so high that our own supplies and their alternatives become competitive? What would we need them for then? Food for thought.
Probably the same mesmerizing "fascination" that that a small animal or bird has toward the danger of a snake that intends to eat it. This twit may be about to destroy the global economy as we know it.
Mindboggling!
Help USA Exports?
To whom? To bankrupted nations that cannot afford to buy anything? Nor feed their own population? Nor manufacture anything with which to barter?
You appear to tend to thiNk along the lines of a "slight shift" in what's there today.
Think DEVASTATING economical Tsunami destroying anything and everything - EVERYWHERE and you will be close.
Nothing on which you base your current thinking will still exist. None of the givens on which you base your thoughts will be there.
Now, try thinking about it again - and shudder.
Why do you think it is IMPERATIVE to deal with Iran with extreme unction - as the saying goes?
Here you go again! :-))
By that time you will be broke and starving in the street with nobody - specially a government - to offer you help or rescue you. Nothing you own will have any value except food and clothing since nobody will want, nor be able to buy it.
It's NOT the Euro, it's the value of ANY currency once the domino effect starts after the Dollar crashes. If oil were sold only for tiddlywinks instead of the dollar and people needed tiddlywinks instead of Dollars, tiddlywinks would become more valuable that the Dollar.
Alternate energy sources are a decade away. And as I said, by that time you would be helpless and starving in the street - along with millions of others.
Not just a lunatic but disgusting as well. Why does not he use the bread that is on the table (blanket) to scoop the cheese?! That is a rather disgusting tradition.
I guess you mean the trade deficit?
Think of this as you would think of the actions of a bank with a customer that has run up an enormous credit card debt and does not have the means to pay it off.
This is where you're wrong. The trade deficit isn't a debt. We buy these goods with cash, we didn't put them on our Chinese Express credit card.
I'm talking about the budget deficit and the prognosis for it in the future -- plus the additional (massive) off-budget expenses that have a serious impact on our fiscal stability.
Yes, the government spends way too much.
a customer that has run up an enormous credit card debt and does not have the means to pay it off.
You really think the government doesn't have the means to pay off its debt to foreigners?
5% of the number of items or 5% of the value? Are you claiming that WalMart bought $228 billion (95% of cost of revenue, FY 2006) worth of goods from other countries? Perhaps you have a source?
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