Member Info for MR.Spacetomato

Blacksteel, now that is a very interesting post. It says a lot about how fast they expect the sanctions to last! :0)

"Boris Johnson is visiting the Gulf in a stepping-up of his efforts to starve Moscow of its income from fossil fuels. But the PM is facing criticism over his trip as it comes just days after Saudi Arabia conducted a mass execution of 81 men".

Hopefull118: "I hope so, but I am somewhat cynical. I am not sure we can trust the Russians, and Vladimir Putin. That being said, perhaps they will accept a deal to save face, because it looks like they are being humiliated by both, the Ukrainian resistance, and the lack of military support from their allies".

I think that's precisely what the Russians may want you to believe. The western media all have stories telling of weak Russia military, yet it is the Russians who are gaining territory and encircling Kiev.

Let's look at the western media to see what they say on the papers, for instance, that the advancement of Russians troops is slow, right? The Ukrainian military are taking positions in large urban centers as they are no willing to to fight in open fields, yet the Russians have decided not to flatten those cities with heavy bombardment like they did in Syria, which obviously would cause a huge outcry in the world. So, one could say the Russians are careful in a way. And that will cost Russian soldiers lives.

Please, don't shoot me, i am just observing and I have a little interest in military tactics and history. There is always more to it than.what meets the eye. I remember a quote from an old chinese military strategis (Sun Tzu) that says" "All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”

Another interesting aspect of the current Russian assault is that they have not completely encircled Kiev, which is not advisable anyway, as it could result to a scenario similar to the Battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and the Zulus in 1879; I guess we all saw the film. I imagine the idea is to push the Ukrainian army as far back as possible to then retreat to the Dumbass region. I am sure the Ukrainians would have shelled Dumbass to the stone age if the Russians had limited to controlling that area only (the inhabitants of Dumbass have too much links with Russia I guess).

Therefore I think we are in my view at the end of the war, hopefully. That's my two pence for what's worth.

"March 16 (Reuters) - Talks with Ukraine are difficult and slow, but Russia sincerely wants peace as soon as possible, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky was quoted by Interfax as saying on Wednesday.

"The negotiations are hard, going slowly. Of course, we would like it all to happen much faster, this is a sincere desire of the Russian side. We want to come to peace as soon as possible," Medinsky said.

"We need a peaceful, free, independent Ukraine, neutral - not a member of military blocs, not a member of NATO," he added".

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-talks-difficult-slow-russia-wants-peace-ifx-cites-negotiator-2022-03-16/

Posted a few minutes ago

Ans JDM, you ain't the only one who thinks these snow flakes are a bunch of poodles poop who deserve to live in the empty society they are creating, superficial and boring! We are living in world where some men believe they are women in the full sense of the word, and women are now called "menstruators" and if you dare to ask what those dangling bits between their legs are, you may face things worse than sanctions.. you will be cancelled and publicly flogged, or worse, they may slap you with those dangling bits!

JDM, did that yesterday when Barclays investor customer rep had the unfortunate idea to ask me how I was doing!

We are not even out of the woods yet and the ramble in the jungle is starting to be heard!

https://www.ig.com/uk/news-and-trade-ideas/best-british-stocks-to-watch-if-russia-and-ukraine-agree-to-peac-220314

One thing I am glad I am not, and that is a "shorter"!! Man I am actually feeling sorry for anyone who might have shorted this stock. It is like living a real Hotel California nightmare!

"Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
'Relax, ' said the night man,
'We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!'

CWWX, in my view, even if evraz sold steel to a factory that builds tanks, why should evraz be punished? Isn't the business of a steel/mining company to make money to shareholders by selling what they produce?
We could say that the first commiting a crime here could be the ones providing the cash to the Russian government to buy the tanks, for instance, the money that came from the West that bought oil and gas from the state companies?

I just wish the UK government would display the same courage to go after the uk house building oligarchs, responsible for the cladding scandal that has made thousands and thousands of families who now own unsafe and worthless flats, and who now are facing bankruptcy caused by expensive repairs and permanent waking watch charges! That is another unspeakable crime that goes unpunished and the uk government is turning a blind eye to save their cronies, the uk house building oligarchs!

lodan1, no, of course not. His/her post was the meant to have an air of being the "educated" one here..the "sensible" type. The individual must have attained some kind education and thinks he or she knows more than others, yet not enough to qualify as an expert, so anyone else who voice their views here must be less qualified, yet he/she knows anything about any of us. Maybe he/she cannot tolerate that some folk might even know more than they do?

They must see the war in Ukraine in black and white, just like the media and many governments are painting for the populace. I believe they fail to see the various angles of this conflict, be that ancient tribal rivalries, cultural aspects of language and politics, maiden/anti-maiden choices, NATO and American vs Russia security fears, historic aspects during Soviet and Nazi invasion during WWII, to name a few?

Anyway, not wasting my time tossing arguments. Hopefully the war will end in a few days.

"March 13 (Reuters) - Russian and Ukrainian officials gave their most upbeat assessments yet on Sunday of progress in their talks on the war in Ukraine, suggesting there could be positive results within days.

Separately, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Russia was showing signs of willingness to engage in substantive negotiations about ending a conflict in which thousands have died. More than 2.5 million people have fled".

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-delegate-says-talks-with-ukraine-may-soon-produce-draft-agreements-2022-03-13/

Hopefully this could come to an end soon.

Expanding on my commentsto Hedge, I meant to say Russia ought to fund great part of the rebuilding efforts. As infinity mentioned they will eventually resume their ties with the world and rebuilding Ukraine will be part of it.

Hedge, unless Russia believes Ukraine is an actual Russian province, in which case they should.

Good morning all.

So, doing some reading on news and came accross spanish paper about Deripaska tweet:

"En un tuit abrasador, escribió: «Dado que no hay un solo hecho que respalde las fantasías del gabinete de Boris, serán los tribunales y la policía los que decidan el futuro de todos en esta historia de sanciones"».

Love that..this will be an expensive legal battle for Boris deluded accusations..shooting first and asking questions later.

Agreed. Move our shares to a stock exchange where governments cannot meddle with free market or where real democracy and unbiased media exists.

https://www.ft.com/content/b874b81b-aaa4-4850-b4dc-8fb1b172721e

Jim Rutherford, Evraz

"Jim Rutherford, who stepped down from the board of Evraz a week ago — before the main exodus of directors — is a former analyst and City fund manager. During a 16-year career at Capital Group he became one of the most powerful institutional investors in metals and mining companies.

After leaving Capital in 2013, Rutherford, who is from Belfast, joined the board of Anglo American, where he served as a non executive director for almost seven years. In 2017, the Financial Times reported that Anglo American had blocked Rutherford from taking a position on the board of En+, the metals and energy group then controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Rutherford joined the board of Evraz in June last year and was paid $125,000, according to its 2021 annual report. He is also chair of Centamin, an Egyptian focused gold company listed in London, and the senior independent director at Anglo Pacific, a mine finance company. In a statement Rutherford said: “My decision to step down, which was notified to the company a couple of days beforehand, was a very personal choice. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the senseless Russian invasion of Ukraine.” “At no point while I served as a non-executive director of Evraz, nor during my due diligence process before I joined the board, did I see anything that would in any way contradict the firm denials made by the company in response to the accusations by the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.”"

Boys and girls, brace your wallets.. first we get inflation and then a huge recession. Getting me tin..no, plastic cap on. :0(

Very good letter, AIG.

Perhaps we could also add the accusations against EVR seem rich in comparison with the data compiled by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), where UK companies were granted 30 licences to export £3.7 million worth of goods classed as for military purposes to Russia between the Crimea invasion and 30 September 2021, when data was last released.

This included £1.4 million worth of components for military aircraft, helicopters or drones, and £1.2 million of ammunition.

Sure, Boris Johnson announced on Thursday (24 February) that licences allowing exports to Russia would be suspended, as part of a new package of sanctions.

Yet, till then the number of licences granted for exports to Russia since it annexed Crimea rises to 1,129, worth a combined £1.2 billion. How much of this was used against Ukraine recently?

Shame we don't get much media attention on this.

Thanks, January2.

ProxLDM,

So many pension funds have been hit hard with the current Russian/Ukraine war, and the sanctions are clearly helping hitting the nail on its head.

"BlackRock declined to give a breakdown of its Russian securities or detail exactly which funds have taken what losses.

But the asset manager has marked down the value of its largest Russian exchange traded fund, ERUS, from about $600mn at the end of last year to a total value of less than $1mn. It has suspended trading and waived the management fees on all of its Russian ETFs as well as an emerging Europe fund that was heavily exposed to Russia. That fund had a net asset value of €622mn at the end of January, but has been marked down to €269mn.

If tensions and sanctions ease, Russian securities could start trading more freely again and recover some of their value. In that scenario, BlackRock’s funds and clients could benefit as prices recover".

It is a can of warms that has been opened.