Free Republic

Vietnam's Lê Thành, the self-proclaimed 'King of VGA,' is having some fun on Facebook(opens in new tab) (via I_Leak_VN(opens in new tab)). In photos and videos shared on the social media site, it looks like the store has started to use street trader tactics to grab passersby and sell them GPUs by the kilo. Lê Thành shared pictures of dozens of used GPUs stacked up on the curbside in a clear parody of a Vietnamese street food stall. There is also a video with the vendor patiently waving away flies with a net, awaiting passersby. Then, a scooter stops, and...

Rep. Alex Mooney proposes the United States adopt a new gold standard after U.S. government officials first disclose all gold holdings and secret gold transactions, allowing the gold price to adjust to its fair market value. WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / October 9, 2022 / America's currency would regain stable footing for the first time in half a century if a bill just introduced by U.S. Representative Alex Mooney (R-WV) becomes law. Referred to as the "Gold Standard Restoration Act" by sound money activists, H.R. 9157 calls for the repegging of the Federal Reserve note to gold in order to...

TEHRAN, October 5. /TASS/. Cooperation between Iran, Russia and China will help create a new power that will oppose the unipolar world order, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said in an interview with China’s CGTN broadcaster on Wednesday. "People around the world have bad memories of the era which has come to an end. It was a time of hegemony, unipolar world order and violations of the legitimate rights of many nations," the Iranian president pointed out. According to him, "a new era will be marked by the establishment of a multipolar world order." Cooperation between Iran, Russia, China, the Shanghai...

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage point at its meeting that concludes Wednesday. Other items markets will be watching include quarterly economic and rate projections and Chairman Jerome Powell’s post-meeting news conference. Judging by recent market action and commentary, the expectation is for a hawkish hard line. There’s not a lot of mystery surrounding Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting, with markets widely expecting the central bank to approve its third consecutive three-quarter point interest rate hike. That doesn’t mean there isn’t considerable intrigue, though. While the Fed almost certainly will deliver what...

Ankara will not account for talks it held during the recent SCO summit, the Turkish president has saidTurkey has no obligation to report to the European Union after it took part in a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. Earlier, the Turkish leader revealed that Ankara is seeking to join the bloc, which includes Russia and China...."The European Union would keep us out for 52 years, it wouldn’t let us near, and then they would say, ‘Why did he talk with this country, or that country?’" he said, referring to the fact...

Tehran (AsiaNews) – Iran will become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) with the signing of the memorandum of obligation at a summit in Samarkand, on 15-16 September. “This year, within Uzbekistan's chairmanship, Iran, as an observer state will ... become a full-fledged member of the SCO,” RIA Novosti quoted Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov as saying yesterday during a meeting in Moscow. Iran took one step closer to full membership on 17 September last year when its application was accepted 15 years after it was made. On that date, SCO began the country's accession, which usually...

What is the scale of the energy challenge?We got a very shocking sense of the staggering numbers involved in the existential, crippling European crisis earlier today when Norwegian energy giant Equinor echoed what Zoltan Pozsar said in March, warning that “European energy trading risks grinding to a halt unless governments extend liquidity to cover margin calls of at least $1.5 trillion." As Bloomberg put it, in its best non-Zoltan imitation, "aside from inflating bills and fanning inflation, the biggest energy crisis in decades is sucking up capital to guarantee trades amid wild price swings. That’s putting pressure on European Union...

To stimulate the economy, China’s regulators are forcing Chinese banks to meet high loan quotas. To hit the difficult-to-attain targets, ingenious bankers are lending and simultaneously allowing borrowers to deposit identical amounts with their institutions at identical interest rates. Companies no longer want money to launch new projects. Pessimism about the economy dominates thinking in Chinese boardrooms and throughout the rest of society. The big story is not that the Chinese economy is falling apart.

China's economic slowdown has left it with a surplus of natural gas that it is re-selling to energy-strapped Europe, according to a report. Boosted by cargoes from China, Europe's imports of liquefied natural gas jumped 60% year-on-year in the first half of 2002, according to a Nikkei report citing data from research firm Kpler. China's economy has slowed sharply in 2022 as Beijing implemented a strict zero-COVID policy and as a crisis grips the country's highly indebted property sector. Economists think it is likely to fall well short of the government's aim of 5.5% growth. The economic slowdown has left...

BRICS - The president of the BRICS International Forum, Purnima Anand told reporters on Thursday that both Russia and India no longer need the U.S. dollar, as they have "turned to national currencies to conduct mutual settlements," according to Russian state news RT. The BRICS president stated, "We have implemented the mechanism of mutual settlements in rubles and rupees, and there is no need for our countries to use the dollar in mutual settlements. And today a similar mechanism of mutual settlements in rubles and yuan is being developed by China,"...

CHICAGO (BLOOMBERG) - The former head of the JPMorgan Chase & Co precious-metals business and his top gold trader were convicted in Chicago on charges they manipulated markets for years, handing the United States government a win in its long crackdown on bogus "spoofing" orders. Michael Nowak and Gregg Smith were found guilty on Wednesday (Aug 10) by a federal jury after a three-week trial and more than eight days of deliberations. Prosecutors presented evidence that included detailed trading records, chat logs and testimony by former co-workers who "pulled back the curtain" on how Nowak and Smith moved precious-metals prices...

Lawmakers are pushing the Federal Reserve to move swiftly toward issuing a digital dollar, to combat steps from China and others they say could one day threaten the U.S. status as the global reserve currency. The bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Reps. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) and French Hill (R., Ark.), has sought for the U.S. to counter global competitors launching digital versions of their currencies. The House Financial Services Committee, which both serve on, might vote on related legislation as soon as next month. Ms. Waters has framed competition over new forms of central-bank money as “a new digital...

And once again, as happens often with consequential news in the United States and the West, no one has noticed and no one seems to care. If you’ve blinked over the last month, you may have missed it… China and Russia are taking their shot at the U.S. dollar. And as often happens with consequential news in the United States and the West, no one seems to notice or even care. Since the beginning of the year, I have been writing about the possibility of Russia and China challenging the US dollar’s global reserve status. Now, it’s happening. It shouldn’t...

Since its creation in the mid-2000s, the BRICS group of major emerging economies has promoted extensive cooperation between members, and recently, has begun pushing for a global realignment of geopolitical power to better match members' economic, geographic and demographic potential with their position in the international order. The BRICS group of nations could create a new world reserve currency to better serve their economic interests, former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, has indicated. "The best protection against the rotting euro will be the transition to new payment methods in...

Saudi Arabia, the largest U.S. export market in the Middle East, invited Chinese President Xi to visit Riyadh in March as relations with the U.S. have faltered since Joe Biden was elected, The Wall Street Journal reported.According to a report from CNN, U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Saudi Arabia is now actively manufacturing its own ballistic missiles with the help of China, a relationship that could lead to domino effects across Middle East countries. (snip) Saudi Arabia announced in March it was considering accepting the Chinese yuan instead of the US dollar in future transactions. (snip) It will end...

Russia's new 100 rouble banknote is impossible to withdraw from ATMs after Western firms that program cash machine quit the country following Ukraine invasion The Association of Russian Banks has asked for a six-month delay to rolling out the new 100 Rouble banknote as a new security feature is needed The Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier, a memorial to one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War, is featured on the note to fuel patriotism The Western companies which install and update ATMs have pulled out of Russia Russia’s new 100 rouble banknotes are impossible to withdraw...

Russia’s energy giant Gazprom on Thursday lost more than a quarter of its market value after the state-owned company decided not to pay out dividends. “The shareholders have resolved that in the current situation it is not opportune to pay out dividends based on the results of 2021,” Famil Sadygov, deputy chairman of Gazprom, said in a statement. “At the moment, Gazprom prioritizes the implementation of its investment program, including gas infrastructure expansion in the regions of the Russian Federation, and the preparations for the coming winter period. In addition, we undoubtedly must be ready to meet our obligations to...

Since the start of the year, the ruble has soared 40% against the dollar — outperforming every other currency in the world.Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the ruble’s robust recovery as proof that his economy has successfully withstood the onslaught of Western sanctions. “The idea was clear: crush the Russian economy violently,” Putin told an economic forum in St. Petersburg last week. “They did not succeed. Obviously, that didn’t happen.”

Why does it feel like real fiscal conservatives are an endangered species? The current US economic climate is an unsustainable disaster caused by the idiotic policies of not just the Biden administration but trumps as well. When trump took office the deficit was somewhat manageable, and trump proceeded to exploded 500% (increased by trillions)in 4 years. Trumps idiotic reckless spending is not somehow less damaging than bidens idiotic reckless spending just because he is on your team. Trump and Bidens economic policy is the equivalent of maxing out your credit cards getting payday loans and a reverse mortgage buying a...

As the Russian ruble defies currency market gravity, perhaps no one is more surprised than officials in Ankara and Buenos Aires.