The Ruble crash continues

Notes Today: 

 

• Bank of Russia raises key rate to 20% from 9.5% in emergency measure.
• Russia bans foreign clients from selling their securities, effective immediately - TASS 
• Moscow  Stock Exchange won't open as scheduled..

• Reuters reports that the Bank of China's Singapore division has 'stopped financing deals involving Russian oil and Russian companies

• Rapid change in Germany! Decades of security policy changed in a day, and now seriously considering extension of nuclear power plants. 

• Swiss President Ignazio Cassis says it's "very probable" that Switzerland will follow the European Union on Monday in sanctioning Russia and freezing Russian assets.  

• EU shuts down airspace to Russia 

• BP to offload 20% stake in Rosneft 

• EU  imposes sanctions on Belarus, bans petroleum imports, sharing technologies. 

• Brazil’s Bolsonaro won’t condemn Putin.

• Russian Forex Reserves (Probably quite useless because of sanctions)

Where is Russia's Money?

Russia, like the US, has safeguards for nuclear

deployment. Every nation has contingencies for

when a madman is in charge. 

Hoping they’ll work.

Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

– Carl Sagan 

 Miss Ukraine Anastasiia Lenna

 Cartoon Of The Day

Notes Today:

 

• Ukrainian President Zelensky was asked to evacuate Kyiv at behest of US, Zelensky replied “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation- AP 

• American’s views of Russia are tanking. 85% now view it unfavorably -- the highest since the end of the Cold War. 

• At least two of China’s largest state-owned banks are restricting financing for purchases of Russian commodities. 

• “I believe the war must be immediately halted” - Communist Party State Duma deputy Mikhail Matveev becomes first Russian federal level lawmaker to oppose the Ukraine invasion. 

• The sums involved are mind-boggling. Novokmet et al. estimate that in 2015 the hidden foreign wealth of rich Russians amounted to around 85 percent of Russia’s G.D.P. To give you some perspective, this is as if a U.S. president’s cronies had managed to hide $20 trillion in overseas accounts. 

 

 

Notes Today:

 

• There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell,’ Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said as he addressed his Russian counterpart, Vassily Nebenzia, during an emergency meeting held by the U.N. Security Council 

• Russia blocs all shipping movements of commercial vessels in the Azov Sea – this will affect grain cargoes.

• Ukraine has asked Nato member Turkey to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Russian ships.

• Wheat is up 50 (5.65% limit).
• Corn up limit
• Beans are up 75 (4.5%)
• Crude up 5 (6%)
• Gold up 34 (1.8%)
• Bitcoin is down 2985 (7.88%)  Please note DOWN!
• S&P holding together remarkably well, down only 1.5% - so far…
• Ruble tanking
• 
  
  
  

• Russian markets are crashing 1.3 million  shares  to sell Gazprom  and 0 buyers..
• Russia's RTS Index plunges by almost 50%

 Ruble

PUTIN Invades

 Ruble

 

Quick Overview is up to date

Soybeans

 

Dow Theory

 HUI Gold Bug Index

 XAU Gold and Silver Index

 

Quick Overview is up to date

 Russia Index

Unprecedented Soybean prices for this time of year. 

(from Karen Braun @kannbwx )