Member Info for mrtibbles

Are these he kind of "Good faith Investors you are referring to, most would have been quite at home in Hitlers or Josef Stalin's regimes ,

British Banking the City of London have gained a reputation for being the place for money laundering and for crooked and dictatorial and oppressive regimes squireellew awaty their blood money, but its time to put a stop to turning a blind eye to this filthy type of investment

From its biggest private house to a disused tube station, London has long been an attractive place for the Russian president’s cronies to buy property. Their ill-gotten wealth permeated the capital at the expense of us all

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/06/how-london-became-the-place-to-be-for-putins-oligarchs

We are exhausted. We fear we’re losing international attention, that people are tired of news about our war. At the same time, we know that what started in Ukraine will continue in the rest of Europe.

And that includes economic warfare. The cost of rebuilding Ukraine is already close to half a trillion dollars and rising every day. Who will pay that? Ukraine can’t, not ever. The people of Europe? US taxpayers? Putin’s hoping the debt drags us all down.

But what if Vladimir Putin paid his own bill?

$300 billion in frozen Russian state funds are just sitting in banks in the West. The G7 is meeting right now, discussing using it to give Ukraine a future.

That money would change everything for us. But Germany, France and Italy are dragging their feet. So please, join with me to call on European leaders to do the right thing. Sign now!

**The Russian government has increased online censorship.

If you live in Russia or territories occupied by Russia, we urge you to consider potential repercussions before signing and sharing this campaign.

Posted: 21 February 2024

https://rb.gy/t0lwz7

Siko

Sorry I missed the 19th Dec 2023 Van Eck Major Holdings change, Tornado is quite correct, a slight reduction by Van Eck!

Hi Siko,

Glad you raised this because on checking on the Cenramin homepage unless I am missing something it seems that although some like BlackRock have been selling Van Eck have actuality increased their holding, which is somewhat reassuring!

Possibly then Van Eck have had a whiff of something good, lets hope so!

https://www.centamin.com/investors/regulatory-news/

Centamin's Institutional Shareholders 2023 vs 2024

August 2023

2023 Van Eck 110,273,580

2024 VanEck 111,725,659

Hi Cowichan, welcome back!

This will no doubt cause some puzzlement, or even concern amongst many shareholders as to why funds like these especially Van Eck are selling now, it would be naive to think that that funds don't have some insight into the true state of things prior to a the March annual results market update.

Retail investors should be asking questions because this doesn't usually happen without some good reason?

Tibbs

To raise some cash perhaps Sisi will sell off some more of Egypt's national assets as has happened with the state owned hotels?

Cenatmin has already commissioned the solar farm, so possibly rather than spending money hooking up to what may be an unreliable Egyptian electricity grid that is using diesel powered generators it would be preferable to increase the Sukarli solar capacity and add some wind turbines?

Come to that Egypt has plenty of sunshine and winds so why is their national grid not making use of those rather than heavy oil?

Real gold is essential in the manufacture of the vast majority of the computers, electronics and and smartphones to enable the trading of crypto currencies

Gold is used for making electronics as precious metals conduct electricity well and do not rust/corrode. Electrical resistibility of gold is the lowest of all metals, except for silver and copper. But silver and copper readily tarnish causing contact resistance to increase. For low current, low voltage conditions and low contact force, gold is often the best choice technically and in some applications such as automotive RF connectors and MEMS switch contacts, it is the only choice.

Electrical compounds made with gold are highly reliable, we can find them in cell phones, laptops, computers, screens, GPS units, calculators, and other small and large electronics.

The biggest challenge is to recover gold from the devices. The amount of gold used for the compounds is very low and it is hard to recycle the devices and recover the gold from them. That means there is ever less gold available for easy use in the world.

Gold is used for medical purposes as well being found in many devices which are used in healthcare, gold has been used for medical treatments.

Gold is used because it is chemically inert, non-allergic, easy to mold and work with and its aesthetic appeal when used for fillings, crowns, bridges and orthodontic appliances.

Gold is also used to treat some medical conditions such as cancer, arthritis and other specific uses. such as in aerospace because when sending something into space you want to make sure to make it out of the most quality materials. so gold is used in space shuttles, the metal is used in circuitry as a connector and conductor, gold-layered polyester film is applied in spacecraft helping with temperature stabilization and infrared radiation reflection.

Gold is used in the production of glass, one of them being because of aesthetics and because of usefulness, a small quantity of gold is used in glass as it is annealed to get its beautiful ruby colour and also for making glass for climate-controlled buildings, gold also added to the visor on astronauts’ helmets, as it protects them from infrared radiation.

Emerging new uses for gold are nanotechnology, pollution reduction in air and water, fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries, and in solar cells.

Gold is too expensive to be used lightly and only when there is no possibility of finding another less expensive substitute.

Except for jewellery making, the way we use gold today was mostly developed in the last 20-30 years, although the need for gold and its qualities for making new technologies will most likely continue as there are very few substitutes, although supply is increasingly limited.

The CSIS Scholl Chair in International Business and Middle East programs break down the geopolitical underpinnings of the ongoing attacks as well as the eventuality of a protracted conflict and analyse their meaning for global trade.https://www.csis.org/analysis/global-economic-consequences-attacks-red-sea-shipping-lanes

The shipping crisis in the Red Sea affects global trade, but has not yet significantly affected the transportation of steel products

https://gmk.center/en/posts/dry-bulk-carrier-market-shows-volatility-at-the-beginning-of-the-year/

Recent attacks on several vessels by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea are limiting maritime traffic through the Suez Canal and leading to renewed disruptions to global supply chains as wait times and shipping costs increase

https://www.ey.com/en_us/strategy/macroeconomics/what-the-red-sea-crisis-could-mean-for-inflationase.

Lot's of people the world over care Steve, apart from those who are self centred and selfish.

The surge in the crypto market is comparable to the gold rush. Yet, this exciting market has a hidden dark side. Mining cryptocurrencies can have major environmental impacts on climate, water, and land, according to new research by United Nations scientists.

Bitcoin is the most renowned and popular cryptocurrency. This motivated the UN scientists to evaluate the environmental impacts of Bitcoin across the world by looking at the activities of 76 Bitcoin mining nations during the 2020–2021 period. The results are shocking. In addition to a substantial carbon footprint, global Bitcoin mining activities have significant water and land footprints.

https://unu.edu/press-release/un-study-reveals-hidden-environmental-impacts-bitcoin-carbon-not-only-harmful-product

Cryptocurrency mining is an extremely energy-intensive process that threatens the ability of governments across the globe to reduce our dependence on climate-warming fossil fuels.

If we do not take action to limit this growing industry now, we will not meet the goals set forth by the Paris Agreement and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to limit warning to 2°C.

https://earthjustice.org/feature/cryptocurrency-mining-environmental-impacts

Gold has intrinsic value. Ductility, conductivity, corrosion resistance, or appearance. The properties of gold give it value, we need it in a lot of applications. BTC having no intrinsic value is the same as stocks or paper money: they don't have any.

Comparison of the similarities and differences between gold and bitcoin.

Similarities:

Liquidity: Both have liquid markets where fiat money can be exchanged for them.

Divisibility: Both are divisible into smaller quantities.

Scarcity: Both have limited supply thus they act as a hedge against inflation.

Correlation with other financial markets: Both offer a hedge against equities due to their low correlation with the stock market.

No interest: Bitcoin and gold pays no interest. Instead, they can be valued based on the opportunity cost for cash interest.

Retrieving method: Gold and Bitcoin come into existence through the processes of mining, in contrast to paper currency which can be freely printed.

Differences:

Intrinsic value: Bitcoin has no intrinsic value, its value is dependent on market forces. Gold has historically been used as jewellery or for industrial applications.

Scarcity: Bitcoin’s supply is halved every 4 years (ends at 2140), gold is being mined every year. To date, 18.6 million Bitcoin has been mined out of 21 million total supply.

Security & control: Bitcoin is not controlled by anyone including the government. however there are security issues as the infrastructure to ensure its safety is not yet in place.

Storage: Bitcoin does not need storage and insurance thus enabling investors to save on these costs, unlike gold.

Transport: Bitcoin is portable and near frictionless to send and receive. It can be sent from anywhere to anywhere in just seconds as long as you have your keys.

Market value: Total market value of gold supply > Total market value of Bitcoin supply

Volatility: Bitcoin is more volatile as compared to gold.

Market liquidity: Gold’s daily trading volume is much higher than that of Bitcoin.

Hi Paul,

Had Basel 3 not been implemented then quite possibly the POG would have been lower than its present lever, so yes it has helped to some extent in stabilising/supporting the POG, albeit not as much as may have been hoped for.

The establishment tried to suppress the rise of the so called peoples crypto curries and when that failed those that control the markets have simply taken most of it over anyway by creating ETC crypto/trading funds enabling them to take back control and will be making even more profit out of something that doesn't have any intrinsic value.

So why trade in real gold when the alternatives without any intrinsic value are easier to control and offer even bigger profits in the short term

Then the unexpected world events such as a 2 year pandemic lockdown followed by escalating wars/ conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen,and other West African States, higher inflation Nigeria & Argentina now around 250% and rising brought about because of a world reserve currency that is sustained by artificially high by FED manipulation and Wall Streets and London's unfettered paper trading on the futures commodities markets with the additional increased transportation costs due to excessively high oil prices and transportation cost's due to conflicts making basic commodity prices higher, even unaffordable to some

Also issues such as this

"It would also allow the Kremlin to consolidate control of Wagner’s business network in Africa, including potentially lucrative mining interests, following the death last year of the group’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin," the publication writes.

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/01/30/7439536/

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3250377/russia-hires-its-own-africa-army-succeed-wagners-mercenaries

https://ctc.westpoint.edu/after-prigozhin-the-future-of-the-wagner-model-in-africa/

Try listening to the BBC World Service,it was set up for times like this and there's coverage that you don't hear on the daily mainstream channels, or even see covered in most mainstream media.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p016tl04/episodes/player

Keep Well

Tibbs

I feel much the same Rebess,

it's pretty dam obvious despite the claimed market regulation and the introduction of new banking rules such as Basel 3 the FED and it's have just carried on with their policy of financial non committal innuendo in support of the press releases of fudged figures.

The FED really doesn't care a jot and is all the more ever blatant in the manipulation and price suppression on the Comex which the market is quite happy to go along with as long as it it creates some uncertainty and plenty of reasons to trade!

With the conflict in Gaza, Yemen, the Red sea shipping attacks and a full blown war in Ukraine in the FED knows it can do what it likes !

Meanwhile, China continues to assert its dominance in the gold market. According to a report from the World Gold Council, China’s gold market set all-time highs in several sectors in January. The WGC noted that 271 tonnes of gold was withdrawn from the Shanghai Gold Exchange last month, the busiest January on record and the third-biggest in the exchange’s entire history. Total holdings in Chinese-listed gold ETFs hit a record high last month At the same time, the People’s Bank of China continued to buy gold for the 15th consecutive month.

https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2024-02-16/are-investors-swapping-their-gold-bitcoin-inflation-fears-rise

Millman said that with U.S. markets closed for the President’s Day holiday on Monday while China’s markets reopen again after the Lunar New Year holiday, traders may be positioning themselves for a higher move in the short term.

“China will be trading for basically a whole session before US markets reopen on Tuesday,” he said. “Maybe the thinking behind this move is they don't want to get caught on the wrong side of it.”

Turning to next week’s economic news, Millman said that with the FOMC minutes the only significant release, he believes gold prices are more likely to decline than to rally.

https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2024-02-16/analysts-doubt-golds-strength-next-week-retail-traders-dont-stop-believing

Reading these articles tt would seem even convicted murderers in Eygpt are issued with a "Get out of jail free card" if they are rich enough and friends of Sisi, but if that were not enough then they are allowed to acquire formerly state owned assets that will make them even richer whilst the ordinary Eygptian people get even poorer and the Eygptian economy goes down the lavatory!

Kaldas pointed out that selling hotels will ultimately prove counterproductive in the state’s efforts to raise funds, as the desperately needed foreign currency that hotels bring in will now flow elsewhere.

Friend of Sisi Moustafa was convicted in 2009 for paying $2m to a former policeman to kill the Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim, cutting her throat in her Dubai apartment.

After a retrial where he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, Moustafa served half that time before he was pardoned by Sisi, and his former conviction appeared little impediment to his newfound role as a broker for Emirati cash injections into the Egyptian economy

Egyptian billionaire convicted of killing pop star lover spared death penalty

Hisham Talaat Moustafa, sentenced to hang over death of Lebanese star Suzanne Tamim (( Moustafa was convicted in 2009 for paying $2m to a former policeman to kill the Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim, cutting her throat in her Dubai apartment.)) ---->> https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/28/egyptian-billionaire-spared-death-penalty

Sat 17 Feb 2024 16.00 GMT

Moustafa is Egypt’s largest real estate developer, whose business empire has witnessed a rebirth since his release from prison in 2017, after President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi pardoned him of a murder conviction. His portfolio includes properties across Egypt’s new capital, the crown jewel of Sisi’s megaprojects, in addition to his hospitality arm, Icon, which owns several luxury hotels in Cairo.

His Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) has now acquired seven heritage hotels across Egypt, including Mena House. This includes others that serve as monuments to Egypt’s recent past, including the Sofitel Winter Palace in Luxor, the Old Cataract in Aswan and the Steigenberger Cecil on the Alexandria coastline. International hotel chains continue to run the hotels, but Icon bought a majority stake in the Egyptian government company which owned them.

The Egyptian prime minister, Mostafa Madbouly, celebrated the $800m sale to Moustafa, who lauded the acquisition for bringing in foreign currency. He added that the sale was financed by “a well-known international strategic investor”.

Weeks later, the mystery buyers were revealed as the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), a sovereign wealth fund based in the Emirati capital along with its subsidiary the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec Group), owners of the ExCel centre in London.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/17/desperate-egypt-sells-off-historic-hotels-as-it-dives-deeper-into-debt

Dear Alexei Navalny:

"They killed you.

Today, millions of us are weeping with your family and mourning your memory.

Your courage is what dictators fear most, the courage that all dictators fear most, the courage that inspires people to rise up against tyranny.

And for that, you paid a high price: first poisoning, then imprisonment and now death.

Our world is holding its breath as wars rage in Ukraine and the Middle East. Facing these dark times, your legacy will give us strength. We will not look away while our democracies fade.

Rest in power,

People from all across the world"

-------

The Russian government has increased online censorship.

If you live in Russia or territories occupied by Russia, we urge you

to consider potential repercussions before signing and sharing this campaign.

Posted: 17 February 2024

https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/navalny_tribute_loc/

Mr Bond,

i have answered as fully as I am able, although possibly not the answer that you want.

But let's be frank Sisi's regime is somewhat short of toleration of anyone who may dare to speak out

http://tinyurl.com/yzszdedv

ttps://www.amnesty.org.uk/urgent-actions/opposition-politician-s-health-deteriorating

https://www.newarab.com/news/egypt-35-members-presidential-candidates-team-arrested

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN1L826J/

However I haven't made any accusations of any Egyptians of corruption, I have refereed to the media websites where accusations of extortion are made by reputable NGO's and other aid agencies who have nothing to gain by making false accusations of anyone

You need to read my answer again, I am asking for some clarification of whether there is any substance or not in the allegations by some NGO's and other charitable organisations that friends or acquaintances of the president Sisi's family are operating an extortion racket by changing aid trucks over $5000 to cross into Gaza.

https://dohanews.co/charity-slams-egypt-linked-bribery-as-5000-demand-per-aid-truck-hampers-gaza-help/

http://tinyurl.com/4rv85hpr

If I don't get and answer from the UK foreign office via my MP then I shall be contacting the UN,The BBC world service and other media sources to see if they have any information regarding the truth

Sat 17th Feb Alliance News) - China and the UK should "strengthen exchanges and cooperation", Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi told his British counterpart on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, state media in Beijing said on Saturday.

China and the UK have traded barbs in recent months over accusations of human rights abuses and espionage.

The Chinese foreign ministry said last month it had sentenced a British national to jail for spying and has previously blasted the UK's support for pro-democracy protesters from Hong Kong.

Wang told British Foreign Secretary David Cameron in Munich on Friday the two countries should "enhance strategic communication and play their due roles in promoting security and maintaining peace", state news agency Xinhua said in a readout on Saturday.

Wang warned that the world faced challenges including "resurfacing Cold War mentality, rampant protectionism, and sluggish economic recovery", according to Xinhua.

He called for the two countries to "strengthen exchanges and cooperation... and bring bilateral relations back to the right track of sound and steady development".

Wang is set to make a speech on Saturday at the annual security gathering in Munich, which brings together top diplomatic and military officials from around the world and is seen as a barometer of transatlantic relations.

He also met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, holding what the Chinese foreign ministry called "candid, substantive and constructive discussions".

Peter Krauth, author of Great Silver Bull and editor of the Silver Stock Investor newsletter, to explore the rich history of silver as money.

The precious metal expert evaluate the current price of silver and analyse how the precious metal may be impacted by the gold price reevaluation, shedding light on what’s driving the massive outflows and industrial demand silver is seeing right now.

http://tinyurl.com/yvsx2wup

Embattled regional bank New York Community Bancorp suffered another blow Tuesday evening as Moody’s Investors Service downgraded its credit rating to junk status.

Moody’s said the downgrade was driven by concerns about “challenges” facing New York Community Bancorp after the lender shocked Wall Street last week by revealing a surprise loss on its exposure to the struggling commercial real estate market. The downgrade dropped the bank’s credit rating two notches from its previous level, marking a substantial loss of faith about the bank’s ability to repay its debt holders. http://tinyurl.com/ejfywffp