Saudi Arabia

With all eyes firmly focused on WWIII in Ukraine (oh, and don't forget Al Qaeda's pivot to attacking Saudi Arabia), China - as we noted here - decided now was the appropriate time to send an oil rig into Vietnamese (admittedly uncertain) territorial waters. The Vietnamese are not happy and is blasting China this morning after a Chinese vessel intentionally rammed two of its ships. As Reuters reports, the foreign ministry in Hanoi said the collisions took place on Sunday and caused considerable damage to the Vietnamese ships with six people sustaining minor injuries. Vietnam's foreign minister noted, "Chinese ships, with air support, sought to intimidate Vietnamese vessels. Water cannon was used," adding that "Vietnam won't fire unless China fires first." China has not yet responded to the Vietnamese allegations of ramming, but did have this to say, "The United States has no right to complain about China's activities within the scope of its own sovereignty."

You might not realize it, but yesterday was a very important date. Yes, of course, it was Cinco de Mayo. But possibly more important, it’s also the deadline for banks around the world to sign up for information-sharing agreements with the IRS.

With Syria (and its Al Qaeda-funded "rebels") having taken a back seat in geopolitical developments, some wondered what are all those heavily armed mercenaries doing. The answer emerged moments ago when Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry said Tuesday it had thwarted a major plot by a militant group with links to extremist elements in Syria and Yemen, arresting 62 suspected members.

• Both sides bury dead as Ukraine slides towards war (Reuters)
• Dollar wilts to 6 1/2-month low; shares drift (Reuters)
• Draghi Grapples With Money Markets Signaling Recovery Too Early (BBG)
• Foreign wristslaps: Credit Suisse Nears Record Tax Plea: Credit Suisse Settlement Expected to Exceed $1 Billion (WSJ)
• OECD joins IMF in cutting global growth forecast, demanding moar QE from ECB  (WSJ)
• Three Bankers Bolster Blankfein as Goldman Trading Sinks (BBG)
• Strong performance from eurozone services sector (FT)
• OECD Cuts Forecast for 2014 Global Growth; Urges ECB Action (WSJ)
• Elite Colleges Don't Buy Happiness for Graduates (WSJ)
• How Russia Inc. Moves Billions Offshore -- and a Handful of Tax Havens May Hold Key to Sanctions (BBG)

Oil prices have increased recently as tension in Ukraine has escalated and raised concerns about the risks of disruption in Russian energy exports. There is a risk that the security situation in the east Ukraine will worsen even further ahead of the 25 May elections. As Nordea notes, Russia is as important an oil exporter to Europe (of both crude and refined products) as it is a gas exporter, and the consequences of a cut in Russian oil supplies could be as grave since the global oil market has little back-up capacity to lean on. As a result, a halt in the oil deliveries from Russia to Europe will spark a sharp spike in oil prices (potentially to $150/bbl) and in a worst case scenario an oil crisis and European recession (and major slowdown in global growth) and US shale oil or an SPR release will prevent the spike.

This is an impressive, comprehensive analysis of the February 2014 Ukraine coup from the perspective of a senior Russian academic. It details the interests and affiliations of the main Ukrainian domestic players - oligarchical clans many of whose leaders have dual nationality - with some shocking and little known detail. It exposes the glaring hypocrisies and double standards of the western sponsors of the coup and their Russian/Ukrainian '5th Column traitors'. It sees the coup and Russia's successful incorporation of Crimea as major game-changing events in the on-going, US-lead post-WWII machinations of the West to subdue Russia to its own agenda and outlines how Russia should now respond. All-in-all a must-read for westerners needing to understand what is really happening in both the Ukraine and the wider Anglo-US-NATO globalisation drive which it brings into sharp focus

As China's ravenous appetite for oil surpasses that of the US which is enjoying an unexpected, if transitory, boom of shale oil production, which according to some experts may have already peaked, it means suddenly China is far more are the mercy of its core suppliers - the same way that for decades the US had no choice but to be best friends with Saudi Arabia, at least until Canada became the biggest supplier of crude to the US by a huge margin. So which are the countries that China relies most on for its daily energy importing needs? The map below has the answer.

All Wars Are Bankers’ Wars

In the aftermath of the disastrous, for both the US and Saudi Arabia, false flag campaign to replace the Syrian regime with one which would be amenable to allowing a Qatari gas pipeline to pass underneath the Al-Qaeda rebel infested country, there were numerous rumors that the reign of Saudi's infamous former ambassador to the US and current intelligence chief, Prince Bandar "Bush" bin Sultan - the man who we suggested was the puppetmaster behind the entire failed operation - had come to an end. Some two months ago, Shia Post reported that "News sources announced that the chief of the Saudi spying apparatus Bandar bin Sultan has been dismissed." Moments ago, in a tersely worded statement from the Saudi Press Agency, it was indeed confirmed that, perhaps in response to his failed handling of the Syrian conflict, Prince Bandar has indeed been sacked.

Combining China's aggregate domestic production and apparent imports indicates that she has now over 3,514 tonnes. Assuming the U.S. still owns all the gold held by the Fed, this would make China the world's second largest national owner... but it remains unclear whether the Fed's published Gold holdings are actually the property of other nations. Clearly the recent price rise in gold owes something to inflation fears, repressed interest rates and to the Ukrainian situation. In the meantime, a growing awareness of a possible serious and increasing shortage of physical gold and a decline in the power of western central banks to suppress the price, point to a resumption of the fundamental bull market in gold, despite a possible increase in fears of recession.

Read Seymour Hersh’s devastating account of Obama’s Red Lines and Rat Lines and weep for the Republic. It is no more.

For the first time ever in the history of US-Russian relations we are seeing a public debate about a threat of economic sanctions that may have a long-range negative effect on global energy security. The Obama administration acts as if it is guided by a chapter out of an old Soviet textbook on political economy. At the moment, apparently, the sacred dogma of the free market, from Samuelson to Friedman, can be conveniently overlooked for the sake of punishing a sovereign nation. When the head of the most influential state in the world talks about manipulating market prices to punish recalcitrant players, what kind of “global free market” and fair play are we really talking about? After a series of headline-grabbing statements about the possibility of “switching” European consumers over to American gas, the US media hastened to announce the launch of Obama’s oil and gas offensive against Russia. In reality the EU is not currently prepared, neither technically nor in terms of price, to buy its energy resources from the US.  It would take at least ten years to adapt even the technically advanced German energy system to work with American gas supply. In a crisis, when it is particularly urgent to see a quick return on an investment, such projects are unrealistic.

This is just getting embarrassing.

In terms of economic might, BBVA has created an index of "world market power" enabling an at-a-glance view of a nation's impact on the global economy via relevance of exports, exposure to external shocks, technological content, and retained value-added. And the winner is... Hint, not USA...

You’ve probably heard about the recent leaked conversations involving Turkey. It was stunning to hear the highest-ranking Turks casually discussing how to provoke a false flag incident that would justify a large military intervention in Syria. This is a big deal because Turkish troops in Syria opens the door to NATO troops in Syria, which drastically expands the conflict. In case you didn’t know, a false flag is an incident that is designed to deceive people into thinking it was actually carried out by someone else. The same tactic is used by the world’s militaries and intelligence services to nefarious effect. Many believe the Reichstag fire incident that allowed Hitler to drastically expand his power was a false flag operation. So, why would the Turks propose doing such a thing in Syria?