Iran has forged hundreds of agreements with Latin American nations and pledged billions of dollars to fund them.
More deals could be in store this week as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad embarks on a trip that starts in Venezuela on Sunday and includes stops in Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador.
Well before the Iranian leader's arrival in Caracas, his plans for a Latin America tour grabbed global attention as tensions grow between many Western powers and Iran over the nation's nuclear program.
"As the regime feels increasing pressure, it is desperate for friends and flailing around in interesting places to find new friends," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Friday.
But analysts say Ahmadinejad's visit is the latest step in a longstanding, calculated effort to shore up support in the region.
As Iran strives to improve its image, get around stiffening sanctions, dampen America's global influence and secure a stronger foothold in the United States' backyard, relationships with Latin American countries have become increasingly important.
Iran's state-run Press TV described cooperation with Latin American nations as one of the "top priorities of the Islamic Republic's foreign policy" in a recent article about this week's trip.
"Iran has an extremely active diplomatic move afoot," said Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington.
'Cultural ties'
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/08/world/meast/iran-latin-america-ties/index.html
Speculators Raise Wagers on Price Gains by Most in 17 Months: Commodities
Hedge funds raised their wagers on higher commodity prices by the most since July 2010 after signs of accelerating U.S. growth bolstered optimism that demand for raw materials will strengthen.
Money managers expanded their combined net-long positions across 18 U.S. futures and options by 25 percent to 671,915 contracts (.MMLOSH) in the week ended Jan. 3, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Bullish bets on cotton rose the most since April 2009 and those on coffee doubled. Crude-oil holdings reached a three-week high.
Prices for metals and bulk commodities such as coal rose at least 85 percent of the time since 2004 when global industrial production strengthened, Macquarie Group Ltd. estimates. U.S. unemployment fell to the lowest in almost three years, and it joined China, Australia, Germany,India and the U.K. in reporting manufacturing gains. Almost $253 billion was added to the value of global equities last week on speculation economies will skirt a slump as Europe’s debt crisis deepens.
“You’ve been seeing a risk-on trade across the board, not just in commodities,” said John Bailey, the founder and chief executive officer of Stamford, Connecticut-based Spruce Private Investors LLC, which advises investors holding about $3 billion of assets. “Between a calming in Europe and better-than- expected numbers in the U.S., including employment and housing, that has led to a risk-on attitude among managers.”
Index (MXWD) Gains
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials rose 2.6 percent last week and reached a seven-week high on Jan. 5. The MSCI All-Country World Index (MXWD) gained 0.8 percent, touching a one-month high on Jan. 4. The U.S. Dollar Index, a measure against six trading partners, added 1.3 percent, and the yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced 0.8 percentage point, Bloomberg Bond Trader prices show.
Thirteen of the 24 raw materials tracked by the GSCI gauge advanced, led by a 5.3 percent gain in Brent crude, a 4.6 percent increase in heating oil, and a 4.7 percent jump in gasoil. Cotton increased 4.4 percent, the third consecutive advance, and gold rallied 3.2 percent, the biggest gain since the week ended Dec. 2.
The U.S. expanded at a rate of 1.8 percent in 2011 and will probably grow 2.1 percent in 2012, according to the median of 70 economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Employers added more workers to payrolls than projected in December, Labor Department figures showed on Jan. 6. Manufacturing (NAPMPMI) expanded in December at the fastest pace in six months, the Institute for Supply Management said on Jan. 3.
25 comments:
President Ahmadinejad meet President Chavez. Dumb and Dumber.
I don't think that Ahmadinejad nor Chavez understands there is a "Big Club" and they are not in it. For the most part they have been a nuisance, but now they want to play with the big boys and they will crush them. Why does he think we spend a 1/2 trillion dollars a year on the MIC? So that we can swat bugs like him who think they don't need to follow the rules of the "Big Club."
It would be 'interesting' if Ahmadinejad's airplane experienced unexpected mechanical difficulties while en-route across the ocean.
all the bragging about spending money we have to borrow from china.
how insane is that?
and china isn't too crazy about us lately either.
QB & CL, hop on over to The Mean Old Investor's blog to see my comment about The Mill.
Ahmadinejad's grip on power in Iran is tenuous. Chavez is sick. I hope neither of them decides to start killing people in numbers akin to what the usa does.
Amen Edgar. Don't throw stones when you live in a glass house. As soon as we leave Afghanistan the Taliban will be back asap. Whoever winds up running Iraq is likely to rule as a tyrant.
Anon we don't borrow money any more and certainly not from the Chinese. We print it and until the congress stops the Fed they will print to infinity. Of course this is just my opinion. The leap in commodity investment could be good for the shiny metals, but I think bad for groceries and gas at the pump. Damn speculators LOL.
" ‘Economy Is Back’ "
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Yeah, sure it is.
Right...
It looks like gold and silver price is being manipulated again today ;-)
Problem is they are not doing a good job of it. Where are all the shorts? LOL
I found this linked to the Big Picture. Not too long of a read, but fascinating. I'd love to dig up a nugget like this. Well worth the read.
Why is finance so complex?
You won't be alone, Mammoth (comment MOI). I predict many will suffer as well.
I am hearing more and more of people using their money in various ways rather than get the pittance available for saving. One friend has worked to become more self-sufficient (buying goats, chickens, a beef cow, etc) and putting her money in the sheds, buildings, ground, etc. Some are buying more property (although that means paying taxes.
I'm debating using the savings for utilities that I get at end of winter quarter (if I have some) toward a new mattress. I always OVER-pay on my budget plan THEN take that leftover money and put it in a small CD. If it's a COLDER than normal winter, I'm covered. Warmer, I've put it aside. This year, maybe SPEND it with an eye to using the cash for something needed.
And you should see the elderly in my neck of woods buying Shop Rite canned veggies for $.48 a can. That's beans as well. I will take some money and buy a case or two. I buy NOW. THEN in July/Aug when no one thinks of the hungry (vs. holiday time) I will be able to donate. It's sort of my own personal SCHOOL'S OUT/HUNGER ISN'T social 'thing'.
Queenbee, that second part of your thread-post, about commodities jumping in price, bodes poorly for the billion or so hungry folks in the world (as well for those Americans who are not on Food Stamps).
Should food prices spike, this so-called 'arab spring' may have to be renamed something else as millions around the world revolt against their own governments because they can no longer afford to feed their family.
CL said, "I am hearing more and more of people using their money in various ways rather than get the pittance available for saving."
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With the in-laws only halfway into their annual 3-month visit, I must admit feeling smug, having stocked up on TP, paper towels, and all sorts of food items when they were on sale months before the in-laws arrived.
Being used to providing for a 3-person household (2½, actually), it just amazes me how much more food, etc. you go through when you have two extra people in the home.
I will definitely plant a bigger garden this year!
Yes I know that a commodity spike will not be good for the world that is hungry. People will be forced to sell homes in the US and rent as they will need the money for health insurance and food. What I gain in PM prices will not be as much as I lose at the grocery store. I average 120.00 a week for two people, but that includes food for the cats (about 25.00) and this week two T Bones. Hey I cannot eat chicken and hamburger all the time. Also I buy fresh bread and never the kind that lasts a month.
For anyone who has ever had cortisone injections in your joints you know the pain. Yvonne had one in each knee today. I have never had one, but I could tell it was excruciating. Now let's hope it works.
I see gold did reverse from +9 to - 6 so my comment was wrong earlier even though I think all markets are manipulated to some extent. Commodities is a risky investment.
Last but now least how about Tebow and the Denver Broncos? What a stunner. He is a QB that everyone said wouldn't make it in the NFL and won two national championships for the Florida Gators. Take that Pittsburgh.
Sorry QB, but I don't like Tebow merely for the reason that he's so ostentatious about his Xtianity, which means he's become a hero to the Faux Nooz knuckle-draggers. I don't follow pro football at all (except to hope that Indianapolis loses, because I'm still steamed about how Bob Irsay snuck the Colts out of Baltimore in the middle of the night in 1985. I was a fan since the Johnny Unitas days.) But I'm hoping Tebow and his team -- the Broncos, it is? -- lose, just so the "God made our team win" mindset is discredited. Yeaaaaaaah, God loves YOUR team and hates that other side, because He's soooooo micromanaging of human affairs that He alters sporting contests. What is God's view on the point spread, anyway?
As for I'madinnerjacket and Chavez, I say more power to 'em, even though they're megalomaniacal gas-bags.
It probably doesn't need pointing out but I'll do it anyway that Ahmedinejad is more of a front-man than the real power in Iran. That lies with the mullahocracy and the Revolutionary Guards. They like to let Mahmoud strut around the stage to deflect the attention from how they're running things, though, and he's enough of an egotist that he plays along.
Chavez is not perfect -- he's Castro without the communism and killings -- but in many ways, he's trying to make things better for the common people in his country. As long as they support his political faction, that is. But it's better than the U.S. political parties, which enact policies that screw over even the little people who vote for them, just to help the rich people.
And don't forget that Citgo Oil, which is part-owned by Chavez and Venezuela, provides low-cost heating oil to people in the U.S. Northeast as part of a charity program. It might be a small thing, but it's more than ChevTex and ExMob do, eh?
Bukko I am not a Tebow fan I just thought it was an interesting story. I know he is some sort of Christian, but I doubt that Christian's think that their god cares what happens in a football game.
Seems the markets are spinning in circles today going nowhere fast. Dollar is down gold is down and silver is up. The Dow up 38 points really means very little to me.
Green shoots for everyone except the poor. Bennie and the Ink Jets, Turbo Timmy and Hopey are doing a heckuva jobs. Bread and circuses for everyone!! Did anyone scan the linky I put up?
Too much stuff to scan! I need to be living life, not wanking on the Internet like I'm doing right NOW. Shame on me...
Queenbee, which linkey? The Bloomberg article?
“The economy is back,” Chris Rupkey, the chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., wrote. “Despite some evidence of slowing in places like Canada, Brazil, China, and of course Europe, the prospect for continued growth in the U.S. is a bright one.”
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What planet does this economist live on? Is anybody here seeing 'bright prospects' in the US these days?
I just met with the county inspector this afternoon. He told me there are almost no projects to inspect in this county right now. I would say this guy has his finger on the pulse of the local economy...moreso than some economist who lives within his own fantasy-world.
Now that is a good philosophical debate. What does it mean to be living? Reading a book is good? Watching TV bad? Internet surfing bad or worse a waste of time, but reading a newspaper is being informed? Spending time with children or partner, taking a walk, working? Eating in or eating out, saving money or spending it? Going to the bar and hanging out with friends?
So many things we judge arbitrarily as if any of this matters. In my opinion nothing really matters at all except to the individual making the judgement.
Bush worse than Obama? Hitler worse than Stalin or Pol Pot? Mother Teresa better than Ghandi? George Washington or Lincoln? The list really is endless as based on subjective opinion.
For every winner there is a loser in the markets. Is the Grand Canyon just a hole in the ground or an amazing site to see?
Don't mind me I have nothing better to do than to ramble. No matter how much stuff or knowledge you accumulate in the end you are just as dead as the Tibetan monk who had nothing.
People must not be using enough aluminum foil as Alcoa just turned in its first quarterly loss since 2009. I encourage everyone to use more aluminum foil.
O.k., here’s a use for aluminum foil:
To clean your old Silver coins:
1. Pour 1 cup warm water into a 1-qt. glass or ceramic container. Stir in 1 tbsp. salt & 1 tbsp. vinegar until dissolved.
2. Add a 3-inch-square piece of aluminum foil.
3. Submerge the silver that you want to clean so that it weighs down the foil. Make sure both the silver and the foil are completely submerged. Let it soak for one hour.
4. Remove silver and rinse it in clear water. Rub it with a soft cloth to remove the remaining tarnish and dry it with a dry cloth.
Could Boeing's use of composites in construction of their new 787 Dreamliner, have made an impact on Alcoa?
Probably not as much impact as the 'recovery-less' so-called economic recovery.
Wow Mammoth what a great idea for cleaning silver. Does it work with silverware and silver sets? As far as the Boeing Dreamliner is concerned, I wouldn't doubt it had an impact.
I see the economy recovering everywhere. Life is good when you don't have to work and the gov't gives you food stamps and the state gives you free UE money and if you work all the social services just right, you can get pretty much everything you need for free. Sarcasm intended.
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