Equities News (March 28)
“The petrodollar was born” in 1975. When OPEC members exclusively adopted the dollar for pricing, it “had the immediate effect of strengthening the U.S. dollar,” with the greenback becoming “the world’s reserve currency, a status formerly enjoyed by the British pound, French franc and Dutch guilder.” Today, however, “we may be witnessing the end of the petrodollar as more and more countries, including China and Russia, are agreeing to make settlements in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. This could have wide-ranging implications on not just a macro scale but also investment portfolios.”
Tags: 1975, China, Currencies, Franc, Greenback, Guilder, Implications, Macro scale, OPEC, Petrodollar, Pound, Reserve currency, Russia, Settlements, Strengthening, U.S.
The Economist (March 23)
“On Ukraine China has played an awkward hand ruthlessly and well. Its goals are subtle: to ensure Russia is subordinate but not so weak that Mr Putin’s regime implodes; to burnish its own credentials as a peacemaker in the eyes of the emerging world; and, with an eye on Taiwan, to undermine the perceived legitimacy of Western sanctions and military support as a tool of foreign policy.”
Tags: China, Legitimacy, Peacemaker, Perceived, Putin, Russia, Ruthlessly, Sanctions, Subordinate, Taiwan, Ukraine, Undermine
Washington Post (March 21)
“The aim of setting the cap on Russian crude at $60, roughly 20 percent below the main international benchmark price, was to whittle away at Russia’s cash hoard while still providing it with sufficient incentive to maintain exports and keep global oil markets stable. It is now time to lower the Western cap further, in increments, to $40 per barrel or less.”
Tags: $40, $60, Aim, Barrel, Benchmark, Cap, Crude, Exports, Incentive, Oil markets, Russia, Stable, Sufficient, Western
Wall Street Journal (March 18)
“Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin is the latest marker of the deep ties between Beijing and Moscow as the war in Ukraine continues into its second year.” As Xi advances “an increasingly assertive diplomacy” to “pursue… his country’s rightful place as a great power…. China’s relationship with Russia is especially important.”
Tags: Assertive, Beijing, China, Deep ties, Diplomacy, Great power, Moscow, Putin, Relationship, Russia, Ukraine, Visit, War, Xi
Wall Street Journal (March 2)
With “the rapidly advancing nuclear capabilities of all four of America’s nuclear-capable rivals—Russia, Iran, North Korea and China,” it is time to reevaluate nuclear strategy. “Instead of pursuing 1990s-era fantasies about reducing the role of nuclear weapons, Washington needs to understand that… it is entering a long-term strategic-arms competition.” The U.S. must “strengthen its strategic forces to provide an adequate deterrent for itself and the more than 30 formal treaty allies that rely on U.S. nuclear weapons for their security.”
Tags: 1990s, Advancing, Allies, Capabilities, China, Competition, Deterrent, Iran, North Korea, Nuclear, Rivals, Russia, Strategic arms, Strategy, U.S., Weapons
Wall Street Journal (February 21)
“Arming Russia would be a new and explicit demonstration of China’s hostile intentions toward the U.S. and the West. It would certainly erase Beijing’s seeming desire… to put U.S.-China relations on a better course. It would also require a firm U.S. response, which would have to include further economic decoupling.”
Tags: Arming, China, Demonstration, Desire, Economic decoupling, Explicit, Hostile, Intentions, Relations, Response, Russia, U.S., West
Financial Post (January 13)
“The peculiar clemency of Europe’s winter weather this year is proving a game changer for the region’s prevailing economic and investment trends. A halving in natural gas prices over the past month alone reflects one of the mildest winters on record in the region and takes significant sting out of the Russian gas shock that followed Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.”
Tags: Clemency, Economic, Europe, Game changer, Halving, Invasion, Investment, Mildest, Natural gas, Prices, Russia, Weather, Winter, Winters
Oilprice.com (December 26)
“Although the EU embargo and the EU-G7 price cap on Russian crude oil at $60 per barrel didn’t immediately roil the oil market – although traders were concerned about a possible demand hit from slowing economies – uncertainty is growing over how the bans on Russian imports will affect supply balances over the next few months.”
Tags: $60, Bans, Barrel, Crude oil, Demand, Economies, Embargo, EU, EU-G7, Imports, Oil market, Price cap, Roil, Russia, Supply, Traders, Uncertainty
The Guardian (October 12)
“Within a decade, the US will need to deter two major nuclear weapons powers for the first time,” as can be seen from “the Russian arsenal that is increasingly being brandished by Moscow and an expanding Chinese stockpile.” President Biden’s “new national security strategy (NSS) depicts China as the most capable long-term competitor, but Russia as the more immediate, disruptive threat.”
Tags: Arsenal, Biden, Brandished, Capable, China, Competitor, Deter, Expanding, Moscow, National security, Nuclear weapons, Russia, Stockpile, Strategy, U.S.
Fortune (September 24)
“Nowhere is this crisis more pronounced and more dangerous than in Europe, where a long-standing gambit on cheap Russian gas has backfired.” With winter, it looks certain to get even worse. “Even the slightest uptick in energy demand… could push entire sectors of Europe’s manufacturing industry to shut down entirely, devastating European economies with a wave of unemployment, high prices, and in all likelihood public unrest and divisions between European nations.”
Tags: Backfired, Cheap, Crisis, Dangerous, Devastating, Economies, Energy demand, Europe, Gas, High prices, Manufacturing, Pronounced, Russia, Unemployment, Uptick, Winter, Worse
