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There is no Gold in [Aqaba / Abu Dhabi]
Uh, so remember when we were, like, gonna buy $7.5 billion in Citi stock? Yeah so, maybe not so much. In fact, since we have you on the phone, how about you pay us $4 billion just because?
Citigroup Inc. said the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is seeking to end an agreement to buy the bank’s stock, or to receive more than $4 billion in damages.
Abu Dhabi Investment, one of the world’s top two sovereign wealth funds, filed a claim alleging “fraudulent misrepresentations” tied to its agreement to buy $7.5 billion of common stock, Citigroup said today in a statement.
What? Financial problems? Don't you know we are one of the world's top two sovereign wealth funds? Look, it says so right here in our brochure. Our cousin builds an oasis in the sands, creates islands shaped like trees, or the world or whatever the hell he wants. They play tennis on the world's most dangerous tennis court there, snow ski in 50 grad like it's nothing. Haven't you seen the artist's conceptions of our majestic skyline? That place was just a pile of sand when we started building. Now look at the drawings! We bought the Queen Elizabeth II just so we could see the expression on British faces while we watch it rust, get it? Our other cousin drives around a diamond encrusted Mercedes, for fuck's sake. That's diamond... encrusted... like encrusted with diamonds. Real diamonds. What? Swarovski crystals? Bullshit. Those are REAL. They spend more keeping the sand out of our city than most cities spend on their city. We have the largest damn per capita carbon footprint of anyone on the planet. You know how much electricity it takes to keep that honorific? Are you getting it yet? See all those buildings? No, they are not "incomplete" they are mostly done. Stop interrupting. Our cousin built that with his allowance. Who do you think pays that tab? Financial problems? I'll kill you with the world's largest ruby and tourists will be skiing over your frozen body in the middle of the desert and not even know it if you repeat that slanderous crap again. Got it? Good. Ok. Now that that's all clear, about the $4 billion you are going to pay us....
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Bailing out your cousin - USD 10 billion
Watching Vikram's jaw drop - priceless
Did you say diamonds? Well that is just the picture perfect form of carbon. Can I take my carbon footprint and exchange it for diamonds to put on my ride?
lyrical eroticism.
nasty like Spice.
I do so love your ability to communicate the facts Marla.
in somewhat related news on the banking front:
left wing liberal Steny Hoyer (botox girl's man puppet) admits today that his vote to repeal Glass Steagall was probably a mistake and indicates a willingness to go back to a Glass Steagall environment.
And, guess who else is now getting in on the act...John McCain.
And, we have Jim Bunning and Bernie Sanders in agreement on the stupidity of reappointing Bernanke.
Lions sleeping with lambs. Wild hyenas nursing 3 legged baby zebras back to health. The banks just may have tipped the scale and unleashed the fury of the American citizen.
p.s. Lloyd...I told you on these very pages months ago that your PR guys were taking you down the wrong path, but you didn't listen to me...
p.s.s. Lloyd...you really ought to retire those FDIC TLGP bonds pronto or else I am going to have to say "i told you so" again!
on the citi/Abu dhabi lover's quarrel...
as i recall, the share price was negotiated down in the recent past from the original agreement to somewhere around 37 bucks per share that the sand castle builders were committed to buy at.
perhaps they could argue that they were under the impression that this would be the pricing AFTER the reverse split?
Marla...they need a crackerjack American attorney like yourself. Might be some nice coin while waiting for the SEC to remit your tipoff payments.
So, the Dubai World collapse is not quite as contained as we thought...it still has that uncomfortable house of cards feel,
What doesn't have the 'house of cards' feel these days?
Seriously, just read the headlines (paraphrased) from ZH the past 2 days: Abu Dhabi bails out Dubai World; Mexico downgraded from BBB+ to BBB; Austria's Hypo Alpe Adria Nationalized; Two largest Irish banks partially nationalized; "For the first time ever, at the end of December New York State will have a negative cash balance"; CRE is a shit show; Citi repays TARP?; unemployment at 10%+ (higher if you don't believe BLS stats).
In the words of Taleb, the risk increases, not decreases, each day! I don't know how much longer this will continue, but I feel a lot like a turkey and my calendar says it's mid- November.
really well done.
don't mind the see-throughs, nothing happening here...
great chob Marla
Bravo darling!
what do you get in a culture without-a science in they-a history but with-a lots of money.
Abu Dhabi
they-a superfly-a of the middle-east
This is how I imagine the last property speculator arrives at Dubai (Not the same continent but you get the idea)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3U79aw2JUI
Does the EU have he equivalent of a CITI level collapse? A CITI level fraud? Where is tat Sandy Weil? You know, that American genius.
I soooo love this. Just needs a soundtrack, some well known actors attached and Peter Jackson to direct. Bravo!
At $31.83 to $37.24 apiece? Tee hee.
from NY Times...
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority "... hold(s) more than a 25 percent stake in the company that privatized the city’s 36,000 parking meters. German financial company Allianz also has a large minority interest, and the remaining 50.1 percent is held by partnerships assembled by Morgan Stanley."
... "Minutes from a recent Chicago Parking Meters LLC board meeting show that one Abu Dhabi Investment Authority executive and two Allianz officials were among the board members present when officials discussed revenue figures from the meters and expressed a desire to increase enforcement against parking scofflaws."
Open tyranny in Crook County!!!
full story here: http://bit.ly/86XvBu
"The mayor won City Council backing last week to balance his 2010 budget with almost $600 million from the upfront parking company payment, meaning almost all of the windfall will be spent within the first two years of the deal."
...which takes care of 2010. Later they'll worry about balancing the next 73 budgets without parking revenue. Make it up by doubling Towing & Storage rates? Or will that be sold off too?
Headlines to be seen soon in a newspaper near you:
Obama Warns Emirates on WMD Programs
On the Run from Iraq, Al-Qaeda In the UAE
The Dark Side of Oil Wealth: Terrorist Financing in Abu Dhabi
Suspected Terrorist Bomber Arrives From UAE, In Custody
Emirati Vessel Bound For Iran Stopped, Boarded
This story is just getting started, and could end in tears. Citi doesn't have any tanks or planes that I know of, but they bought a very good friend who has them to spare.
who could've known, that a cross pen would be used as a weapon of mass destruction?
Hmm, the definition of a "sophisticated institutional investor," claiming they didn't know what they were getting into.
The waterfall may be just starting...
LOL! Super awesomeness^2!
Marla - $4 Billion is merely a 'nibble' for those people... Made me think of King Julian,
What is a simple bite on the butt among friends? Come on, give me a nibble.
Inflation soaring in India but RBI refuses to hike rates out of fear that they will offend the Fed & Lord Obama!!
Man Marla, you've been hanging out with Cheeky too long, is this like when all the sand washes out the $3M of bought and paid for sand we put out on Honeymoon Island and it washes away in 3 weeks?
umm umm umm
The sharks are all bleeding and feeding on each other.
"and if you don't believe me.. I'll put a jihad on you.."
I once landed a Twin Otter on a lime green patch of flat earth (copper sulfite?) surrounded on all sides by towering red sand dunes, in a part of the Empty Quarter (Ru'ub al Khali) shared by the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In the hour or so I walked around in the 58 degree Celsius environment, exploring the dirt and finding only a single small bush in the entire Allah-forsaken landscape, I drank several liters of water---and still had a parched throat and no need for a toilet. That visit was as close to the surface of the moon as I will ever get.
I have no doubt that even today some thobe-clad sheikh, sitting behind a giant Gaboon Ebony desk littered with fifteen assorted color and bejeweled cellphones---plus a model of his Bugatti Veyron---is frittering with a set of ivory worry beads and viewing blueprints for the World's Largest Waterslide and Juice Bar, to be constructed on the footsteps of Chindit and Wilfred Thesiger.
Were you looking in the 58-degree-C desert for a hot "date"?
The dates from palm trees...
http://www.palmwonders.com/
He said he found "a single small bush."
Must have been Barbara, Jena is married...
Between you and MsCreant, I think all possible humor has been extracted from this, bleak as it is. Stunningly beautiful spot, but like Dubai, hardly a place to call home. The only thing anybody did there was light off a few sticks of dynamite and record the echoes from below (oil exploration).
By the way, I used to love the "dates" and cardamom laced green coffee.
Your posts are great. Made me think of the movie Dune, though Dune did not capture anything quite like that.
You should read the books by Frank Herbert.
I have read most of them.
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Nice passage!
I too walked around in a 58ºC environment. That was in my visit to Las Vegas. Beautiful similarities...
Now you north-Americans go laugh at the Arabians about building a dream on a desert.
Then wake up!
Warmest tempurature ever recorded in Las Vegas is 117F
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Record_high_temperature_in_las_vegas
58C converted to Fahrenheit is 136.4F
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-us&q=58+celsius+to+fahrenheit&aq=2&aql=&aqi=g2&oq=58+celsi
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Maybe they are just smart and know they have lots of leverage here? I dunno, maybe they are broke but irrespective of their financial situation wouldn't they be crazy not to file this claim? The US is throwing out free money to this Bank and Abu Dhabi has 8% of the world's oil and political appeal given its Middle East local, no?
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/abu-dhabis-citigroup-inves...
Will the U.S. investors, citizens, and taxpayers be allowed to join in the lawsuit against Citi for fraudulent misrepresentation?
At the very least we should be able to file "friends of the court" briefs against Citi.
So is this $7.5 billion an assumed part of Citi's Tier 1 capital? Was it assumed as a fait accompli when the Stress Tests (sic) were performed? Are the Keystone Cops advisors to ADIA? How bad does one have to be to be outside of the Top Two Sovereign Wealth Funds?
Marla, love your spinning baby!
Better than the writing for the Daily Show - and they're winning Emmy's.
No number of oil barrels will ever make the sheik costumes with matching headpiece, sunglasses, and full face beard cool. They seem to have gotten the memo on minimalism in fashion, but missed the timelessness of being classically understated on transportation. So they have won the pimp my ride competition and want more prestigious investments? Perhaps we could encrust cubic zerconia to the C stock certs and add some tungsten to match the diamond weight - then throw in some custom tailored wardrobes from this century for good will.
"The IRS exception will allow Citigroup to retain billions of dollars worth of tax breaks that otherwise would decline in value when the government sells its stake to private investors, the Washington Post report said."
Hey now, when I buy I failing company; I get zero tax benefits. Gosh, it seems like the administration is a teeny-tiny bit two-faced. God bless Obama and the entire Squid office on Broad St. May they live forever, like Hitler or Caligula.
This is a very serious issue and I am firmly on the side of ADIA on this one. I don't know who is more to blame, the people at Citi or the western advisors appointed by ADIA. What is clear to me is about 2 years ago, the critical state of the balance sheets of the US banks was becoming understood by the banks. They know their balance sheets were chocked full of toxic assets, that while there was some liquidity, there simply wasn't enough to cover the systemic volume, and if these things were haircut to get them off, the banks were toast. So, they went to the SWFs and tried to get raise capital at levels they knew were shall we say slightly optimistic. I don't think they thought it would be enough to prevent the system collapsing, but it would delay it for a while.
The Arab attitude is we do not use written guarantees, because we stand by our word. The western way is unless it is nailed down and written in blood, anything goes.
So, let's look at a few unconnected events:
Chinese state owned airlines repudiate exotic oil "hedges"
Kazak companies announce they will no longer use western markets for raising capital as they were not helpful during the crisis.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi start to contest various deals they entered into.
Seems to me there are too many instances of the banks screwing these guys over - shaking hands while picking their pockets.
Now, why does this matter?
The point about this is the economic balance in the world depends on resources. You can print as many Dollar bills as you want, but you can't print oil. The Arabs, the Kazaks, the Russians have plenty and the west needs it. The Chinese also need them and they have not screwed these people, but have been quietly waiting in the wings.
I tried to explain to people a few years ago that if the banks try to screw over these players, they will find out they have to pay a great deal more to secure the resources they need. In the west, the people think from pay cheque to pay cheque, needing income tocover each months debt payments. The politicians think from election to election. In the east, people think longer term.
My view is the nefarious actions of amoral western banksters has permanently shifted the geo-political balance. This may move slowly, but I think the die is cast.
You are 100% correct in this analysis in my view. I believe exactly the same analysis extends to Dubai also, ie that it was suckered into schemes that could not possibly succeed commercially, the consequence being that the West has risked losing the trust of the oil states.
New gulf single petro-currency anyone? it has just been announced.
Yes, clearly that Palm Island thing---two of them---was some dastardly amoral Westerner's idea, like building an 800 meter mixed use tower in the middle of nowhere. And some nefarious Westerner convinced that sheikh that he would be looking positively uptown with a diamond encrusted Merc.
History has shown us only too well that left to their own devices, the sheikhs would have wisely spent every last dinar and riyal on viable and efficient products and facilities whose only goal was the greater public good.
arguing about character of sheikhs v wall street banker is like arguing over which smells worse - fresh cat shit or fresh dog shit?
(personally, I find cat shit is worse.....)
only if cat piss is mixed in with it...
.
What the hell would they sell to raise the money? With Citi, they could merely put some assets in.
And those fat cat bankers better not expect more favors from Obama. Oh wait:
[The federal government quietly agreed to forgo billions of dollars in potential tax payments from Citigroup as part of the deal announced this week to wean the company from the massive taxpayer bailout that helped it survive the financial crisis.
The Internal Revenue Service on Friday issued an exception to long-standing tax rules for the benefit of Citigroup and a few other companies partially owned by the government. As a result, Citigroup will be allowed to retain billions of dollars worth of tax breaks that otherwise would decline in value when the government sells its stake to private investors.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/15/AR200912...
oh my fucking god I hate these motherfuckers more each day
He... is not perfect!
What's Aqaba have to do with anything?
Assuming you are not being facetious, just get a copy of one of the finest movies ever made (Lawrence of Arabia) and have yourself a watch. Among other things, you'll be reminded what filmaking, storytelling and acting are all about. Enjoy!
LOL...No, I meant investment wise. Unlike their investment in looser banks the Gulf projects in Aqaba and the rest of Jordan have been pretty profitable. Here is the next planned project in Aqaba and so far has not been canceled...
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZAWYA20090226084901/Marsa%20Zayed:%20A...'s%20Al%20Maabar%20launches%20$10%20billion%20Aqaba%20development/
"Real diamonds. What? Swarovski crystals? Bullshit. Those are REAL."
Poor Marla, she doesn't get too many diamonds. Even strippers know the difference between industrial-grade and jem-grade diamonds.
Timing is everything - Abu Dhabi lost 4.0B while Kuwait and Singapore reported 2.7B in gains over the last few months.
...now that is some funny sh*t...well written. Diamond...encrusted...like encrusted with diamonds...love it.
No Gold in Aqaba is from the Lawrence of Arabia.
Watch all the classics. You'll never need to spend money on new films, most of which will not last the 30+ years that classics do.