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Saudi King Abdullah Hospitalization Sends Stocks Tumbling But It's Oil That Is Suddenly Paying Attention
Earlier today, Saudi Arabia's stock market fell sharply with the Tadawul All Share Index plunging following a Saudi state TV report that King Abdullah had been admitted to hospital for tests. As shown in the chart report, the index tumbled as much as 6% in the minutes after the Saudi Press Agency report which quoted a brief royal court statement.
But while the ill king of the King, aged 90, is hardly news to the discounting stock market, a few more nuanced interpertation of not just what happens if and when the King passes away but what Saudi succession looks like, is much more relevant for oil - especially now that Saudi Arabia has unilaterally decided to tear apart OPEC in its push to put US shale producers out of business.
As Emad Mostaque of EC Strat, accurately observes:
Oil prices are now at levels that cause real concern on the streets of Saudi Arabia, with the prospect of succession the icing on top that has caused retail investors to take the market down another leg.
This policy may not make it through a succession period, where public support and good will is essential, particularly as it has nearly been 20 years since the last change.
The new regent could decide to keep existing policy, change it completely or anything he decides. Similarly he has free reign to realign Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy as he wishes, which is a discussion for another time and place, but could have significant regional impacts.
The full note from the source can be found below.
Summary: King could change, new King can do (almost) anything he wants, including changing oil policy
The Saudi market collapsed 6.5% today on Saudi Press Agency reports that King Abdullah was admitted to hospital for medical tests.
Ordinarily this shouldn’t be a big deal and is nothing new, with King Abdullah having had back surgery in 2012 and spent an extended period in convalescence in Morocco in the last year. However, having led the Kingdom for almost 19 years (as of Friday) and at the official age of 90 years old, this report raises the question of eventual succession once more.
Unlike Oman, where Sultan Qaboos has been unwell in Germany and his heir unknown, we know that King Abdullah’s heir will be Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud (79), who succeeded Prince Nayef as Crown Prince in 2012 having been Minister of Defence and Governor of Riyadh previously. Next in line is Prince Muqrin (69), the youngest of that generation of Princes, meaning a likely generational jump thereafter.
While any process of succession should be smooth with the next two leaders defined (and some strong probabilities as to who follows after), there is significant uncertainty as to what path Saudi Arabia may take going forward.
This is particularly pertinent in the case of Prince Salman, who is one of the “Sudairi Seven” brothers, children of Hassa al Sudairi and King Abdulaziz. This group, the eldest of whom was the previous King Fahd, is extremely powerful politically and economically in Saudi Arabia. This presents a contrast to King Abdullah, who had no full-brothers and has balanced various groups in Saudi Arabia with great skill.
Given the almost plenipotentiary powers of the King (see article 44 of the Basic Law), Prince Salman could realistically decide to do almost anything he wants if he deems it in the best interests of Saudi Arabia.
This includes matters of spending, where significant sums are likely to be spent on succession to ensure it goes smoothly and the social contract in Saudi Arabia is maintained and, more pertinently for global markets, on oil.
In the oil market Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali al-Naimi has in recent weeks, with the support of King Abdullah, emphasized a shift in Saudi Arabian policy to not cut production and allow the market to determine where the oil price should go, even if it means oil falling further from here.
In our opinion, this is not another step in Saudi Arabia “flooding the market” for political reasons as a look at collapsing Saudi exports and premium seasonal differential prices shows, but rather them captalising on a scenario caused by structural factors causing the oil price to fall to try to take out significant amounts of oil investment and ensure a higher price in the future as other producers can no longer rely on a “Saudi put” to stabilize oil prices on the downside.
They have significant flexibility in their budget should they choose as we outlined here: http://www.ecstrat.com/research/balancing-budgets/ and there are a number of measures they could take (eliminating subsidies, raising short-term debt for more independent monetary policy) to weather the storm and improve the economy long-term.
However, oil prices are now at levels that cause real concern on the streets of Saudi Arabia, with the prospect of succession the icing on top that has caused retail investors to take the market down another leg.
This policy may not make it through a succession period, where public support and good will is essential, particularly as it has nearly been 20 years since the last change.
The new regent could decide to keep existing policy, change it completely or anything he decides. Similarly he has free reign to realign Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy as he wishes, which is a discussion for another time and place, but could have significant regional impacts.
This uncertainty should normally increase oil prices, but instead we see them down again today, just as Libyan civil war over resource control (as discussed here: http://bit.ly/ecstrat4, p 13) where production looks to be back at year lows of 200kbpd versus the 900kbpd that apparently kicked off this rout, actually saw prices fall again.
It seems that we are in a complete capitulation period now in oil, as the sharp decrease in CTFC in the last report shows and with producers scrambling to try to make up for revenue shortfalls by selling any stock they can now they feel they can no longer rely on the GCC, increasing flow to the market and keeping the curve in backwardation. Consumer demand is elastic, but not instantaneous (they don’t keep spare tankers for storage being mostly just in time), leading to a perilous period of dead space.
Given the lack of availability of credit for anything oil related unless you’re BP, this may continue for a period, but the lack of investment and potential shifts in the Middle East over the next year, coupled with the recent rise in long-dated oil back towards $80 augur for higher prices into 2016 unless we see a significant slowdown in China next year as JP expects, in which case the path will be more painful (JP sees $60 as the new normal for oil, a level he predicted a few years ago)
The Saudi Tadawul stock exchange is likely to stay under pressure, but we have previously seen intervention in the market if it falls too far, something that is likely to be repeated.
With a likely opening to foreign investors in April, the focus must be on “value” stocks above all else, with oil names providing the beta despite their curious earnings profile as unlike global energy names their feedstock is heavily subsidized, so it’s mostly a question of how much profit they will make versus swings from losses to profits.
* * *
And then there is a different angle, one that perhaps not all is as it seems, courtesy of some tweets on the ground:
#Saudi King's desert resort equipped with high-tech field-hospital. So, I think he wasn't taken to hospital for normal check-ups as reported
— Rami (@RamiAlLolah) December 31, 2014
#Saudi King evacuation helicopter landed in Medical City in #Riyadh few hours ago.. National & Royal guard on alert.. pic.twitter.com/O8UOhKGGA2
— Rami (@RamiAlLolah) December 31, 2014
»
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May need to cut back on the harem.
That's uh..... That's tragic..... I'm gonna go have a drink.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0GDcA-gqY4
He looked in the barrel of the CIA cancer gun for playing his own oil game?
The bigger news will be when the CEO of Citigroup, er, Abdullah's successor replaces him after his death. He's a serious hard liner and almost all but guarantees he'll open up the Israeli expressway to Tehran by allowing the IAF to overfly the kingdom and bomb the shit out of Iran.
This is a call to all white people who want to make up for the terrible legacy of slavery and colonialism: STAND UP NOW AGAINST POLICE RACISM AND POLICE BRUTALITY. If you believe that what happened in Ferguson is an outrage, then make your voice heard! I want the Michael Brown's killer sentanced for LIFE. I may be white, but I hope that by standing with the protesters in Ferguson, I will be forgiven for the evils of my ancestors and accepted by the black community.
Interesting...cloning one of our beloved comic-relief trolls. Probably a go-down-in-flames attempt, but let's see.
Your 2014 Black Swan, Part Deux
Nice King you got there! Shame if something happened to it.
--A Lad Named Vlad
The sooner this guy goes away the better.
The entire royal family being put out to pasture would be a plus too...
"Saudi King Abdullah Hospitalization Sends Stocks Tumbling"
You know... these kinds of headlines really make me chuckle. So, we're to picture the scrambling rat traders on the stock exchange floor screaming, "The Saudi King's sick! Sell! Sell! Sell!" It's so ludicrous.
Putin poisoning?
I'm starting to wonder whether there's been a secret breakthrough with fusion:
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/531836/does-lockheed-martin-really-...
Abdullah may have had a heart attack on the news.
A New Year’s toast..
Here’s to the king!
May he roast crisply with mohammed in jahannam.
And here I thought 'ol fashioned protestant hell was good enough for the fuckers. Thanks for teaching me something new.
Imma let you finish, but Buddhist Hell is the scariest Hell of all time
There is a breakthrough in fusion due to the enabling development of very fast and very high power switching technology. It's just a matter of time, probably less than 10 years, to work out the engineering details and produce electricity commercially. I think Lockheed's technology is similar to LPP Focus Fusion's approach of plasma containment for very short time intervals. Lockheed has a lot more resources than LPP, of course. Lockheed also appears to be working on a less demanding (and less desirable) solution that is not aneutronic.
I suspect the Rothschilds, who have effectively monopolized the fossil fuel industry for the last 150 years or so, realize the effect fusion energy will have on their monopoly and the impossibility of monopolizing this technology. Maybe this is the reason they seem determined to engage the world in another major conflict and kill a few billion people and take their assets.
Another possibility: Lockeed's fusion solution may be just another Rothschild diversion to buy a time extension for their oil monopoly. If Lockheed manages to make it work with a very nasty radiation component due to the neutrons, the resulting bad publicity may damage other fusion solutions as well.
Doesn't Lockheed Martin make the the F-35? Arguabily, the worst military airplane in the United States history with joke software that still has not been debugged? The USA has many fine programmers but the F-35 must have the same coders as ObamaCare.gov. Meanwhile, the Russians have some of the best programmers in the world working on the S-300/400/500 and their other weapons systems.
LMT's F-35 - anincrredibly flawed design that cannot be fixed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxDSiwqM2nw
I would not believe anything they say. Lockheed was pretty cool when Kelly Johnson designed planes. Still NWO war industry BS.
Meanwhile, Andrea Rossi's e-Cat is still kicking around and has still notr been debunked as a fraud or has been proven to be real.
http://ecat.com/
The fact that the US Patent & Trademark Office is jerking Rossi around may mean he is onto something.
Free or cheap energy will always be blocked or stopped.
Regardless of how bad and overpriced the F-35 is, it's going to be a money maker for Lockheed. What else matters as far as they're concerned?
Lockheed Martin has very powerful friends in high places.
Rossi or one of the many other groups working on so-called "cold fusion" is another likely possibility for cheap energy. It may not be possible to stop all the low cost fusion energy projects around the world now.
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/156393-cold-fusion-reactor-independen...
.
I'm not racist, I hate everyone equally....and this post of yours is borderline retarded.
No wait it is retarded.
" I forgive my ancestors " ...good find a window and jump.
That's the problem with white people. They think they're not racist, but subconciously they are, without even realizing it. How do you explain that the average income for whites in America today is 10 times that of blacks? It couldn't possibly have anything to do with slavery and colonialism could it? White people have pillaged the world for centuries, and now the rest of the world is rightfully demanding what was stolen from them.
Its your pure and simple ignorance. Black people's income is depressed because progressive society is content, no, desirous of a black population completely dependent and permanently attached to their masters. No thinking person can possibly believe that blacks are restricted from employment or educational opportunities given the completely over the top affirmative action and civil rights causes. You are an idiot. If people are hesitant to hire blacks it is simply out of their fear of being sued for wrongful termination or discrimination. Every effect occurring is as was always intended.
Don't feed the trolls!
On second thoughts - no, do. Do feed the trolls.
In the interests of thrusting race relations to new heights of enlightenment, I submit this highly informative site to y’all.
It seems to be a bit cop gung-ho, but most of the street news coverage and color commentary is precious.
The shortcut on my desktop is named “Tru Dat”.
( I have no connection)
http://truenewsusa.blogspot.com/
MT, truly inspired library concept. And MDB, why don't you take your skanky ass down to Ferguson and show them the luv on New Year's eve?
I hear the scream of a drag as you take line out.
Wouldn't it be a hoot if MDB_ was fonz reincarnated?
pods
It would, but he's not. Fonz has a very difficult time NOT telling you exactly what he thinks. Putting on a phony troll persona just isn't in his DNA.
"No thinking person can possibly believe that blacks are restricted from employment or educational opportunities given the completely over the top affirmative action and civil rights causes."
You no idea of how it really goes down homes.
bleh nevermind
"the average income for whites in America today is 10 times that of blacks"
You made that up.
Still, it's good to hear from the best troll to ever infest ZH again.
10X kinda tipped his hand too easily. 3X would have been better.
Just trolling the phoney trolls!
MillionDollarBoner.. You can reach out to people who will listen. Give it a shot.
Gangster Party Line
http://www.gangsterpartyline.com/
Now that was some funeeee stuff. Thanks for the link!!!
The statement "the problem with white people" is racist. So why should anyone listen to a racist ?
Sounds to me like black people need to learn how to fight smarter.
White people don't steal from black people, however, jews steal from EVERYBODY and have 500x the income of normal white people in the middle class. Why? Federal reserve, banks, owning media and destroying white culture, white civilization, turning the country into a multicultural diverse fuckhouse.
The original MDB was way more creative than this troll-in-training.
MDB You're back, how was shuffleboarding on the Kartoffelstrasse? Hopefully that spa at Hormel was a restful one.
MDB, your brand of blogging humor was missed.
I see however, that the new crop doesn't get it. Oh well.
The old crew mostly didn't get it either. I didn't get it for quite a while. Then you read something like this and you know he's pulling your leg:
"I may be white, but I hope that by standing with the protesters in Ferguson, I will be forgiven for the evils of my ancestors and accepted by the black community."
That's a classic MDB line right there.
That is not the real MDB.
Oh how cute. Has the next dictator been chosen from God too? How the fuck do otherwise educated people recognize the existence of a king or queen in the 21st century?
I have to laugh at you 'oil guys' clutching at whatever straw all the way to $40 or lower oil. You sound just like the gold guys from $1500 to $1200.
We all need a rationaliztion or two to make it through the day, but as you are day-dreaming remember to stay bent over.
Right, cuz all those 'tight' oil plays that led to a supply glut are still going to be churning out the black stuff all the way down to $5*
Or is it that we just don't need oil any more. Because Obama?
*A Mathman reference for you old guys; the shit is everywhere, man!
It's because there hasn't been a market price for oil in 40 years and now were getting much closer to it.
It's because the speculators who got fat on phoney FED $ are finally getting gutted.
It's because the little guy is finally getting a break.
It's because the "oil game" and all the political nonsense and lies associated with it are ending at last.
Technology finally caught up with this oil BS.
The 'oil century' was about blood really.
Good riddance.
Electric cars are here.
Game over.
Game over is when we drive by your stranded ass in the middle of nowhere, thumbing for a lift. We’ll just honk the horn and wave. Look honey, it’s a tree hugging environmentalist marooned on the highway.
/LOL
I'm no tree hugger.
Electric cars are coming to market where they will compete with internal combustion engines.
We'll see who wins.
But in any case, there will be a check on the purveyors of gasoline and on the eco-nazis who want to criminalize you for what comes out of your exhaust.
Electric cars will disrupt the current oil company / eco-nazi paradigm and I'm fine with that.
But electric cars run on...COAL.
Game on bitchez.
Shows how little you know, it's not black stuff. Have a look and learn a little.
http://i59.tinypic.com/2ly5owy.jpg
That is 53 API LTO straight from the well head.
my son brought back a container too, greenish and strong gas odor-as good as it gets.
ready to burn, baby burn. nice fire starter, ha,,,
Shows how little you know, it's not black stuff. Have a look and learn a little.
http://i59.tinypic.com/2ly5owy.jpg
That is 53 API LTO straight from the well head.
Nice...Bakken is darker and greener, but with a similar coaly bouquet...light overtones of oak and mint.
Whatever, as long as it keeps coming up, I will keep selling it. I made a lot more a few months ago, hopefully I will in the future. At least I am not selling you insurance or financial swindles.
perhaps gold and oil have other things in common.
Perhaps you missed that
Both were turned into bubbles. If you cannot recognize bubbles, leave your money in cash or bend over.
is that because they continue to print gold?
and continue to find huge reservoirs of oil that take less and less energy to extract?
and that neither are in demand across the world?
whose population is falling?
The price of anything can be manipulated. And that's what happened to gold, oil and all other commodities. And stocks. And bonds. Oil and gold were manipulated up, and now they are being dropped.
They do print gold. You may not think its gold, but others disagree. You can participate in the gold market with those people or sit out.
The price of oil was artificially inflated. Inflated well beyond that which supply and demand would have dictated. Are there huge reservoirs of oil that take less and less energy to extract? That's irrelevant, because the price was too high for what is already at hand.
Whose population is falling? It's irrelevant, but I'd say Japan, Western Europe, White America, you know the guys that do the consuming.
.
You be ILLIN'
Die you son of a bitch die!
Russian FSB move no doubt. Polonium?
INBRED FUCK!
Downvoted by Prince Bandar? damn...FUCK YOU BANDAR! (inbred fuck!)
On the Contrary:
What will surprise those who may already be surprised about the Dönmeh connection to Turkey, is the Dönmeh connection to the House of Saud in Saudi Arabia.
An Iraqi Mukhabarat (General Military Intelligence Directorate) Top Secret report, “The Emergence of Wahhabism and its Historical Roots,” dated September 2002 and released on March 13, 2008, by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in translated English form, points to the Dönmeh roots of the founder of the Saudi Wahhabi sect of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab. Much of the information is gleaned from the memoirs of a “Mr. Humfer,” (as spelled in the DIA report, “Mr. Hempher” as spelled the historical record) a British spy who used the name “Mohammad,” claimed to be an Azeri who spoke Turkish, Persian, and Arabic and who made contact with Wahhab in the mid-18th century with a view of creating a sect of Islam that would eventually bring about an Arab revolt against the Ottomans and pave the way for the introduction of a Jewish state in Palestine. Humfer’s memoirs are recounted by the Ottoman writer and admiral Ayyub Sabri Pasha in his 1888 work, “The Beginning and Spreading of Wahhabism.”
In his book, The Dönmeh Jews, D. Mustafa Turan writes that Wahhab’s grandfather, Tjen Sulayman, was actually Tjen Shulman, a member of the Jewish community of Basra, Iraq. The Iraqi intelligence report also states that in his book, The Dönmeh Jews and the Origin of the Saudi Wahhabis, Rifat Salim Kabar reveals that Shulman eventually settled in the Hejaz, in the village of al-Ayniyah what is now Saudi Arabia, where his grandson founded the Wahhabi sect of Islam. The Iraqi intelligence report states that Shulman had been banished from Damascus, Cairo, and Mecca for his “quackery.” In the village, Shulman sired Abdul Wahhab. Abdel Wahhab’s son, Muhammad, founded modern Wahhabism.
http://m.strategic-culture.org/news/2011/10/26/the-doenmeh-the-middle-ea...
So, in other words, the Saud Dynasty are Zionist Crypto Jews.
They Saudi royal family and its control of the Saudi oil fields are a major and necessary branch of the Rothschild financial octopus. Any hints of independence from the Zionist empire are just elements of their Hegelian Dialectic, engineered to confuse the livestock, both Goyim and Jewish.
The Rothschilds realized 150 years ago that the ones that controlled the oil controlled the earth. They used their money creation factory to make sure they were the ones that controlled access to energy.
great post.
King's desert resort equipped with high-tech field-hospital.
Does it work???
I Shale kill the King!!!!!!
I've been thinking. What if the Saudi is tearing apart OPEC to shut down shale is actually a helping hand to the US? We already know that falling oil will make things mighty uncomfortable for a few opponents of the US, in addition to the shale plays. However, we've known for a long while that the shale models have been overly optimistic about well life. There is a lot of debt involved in drilling. So rather then letting the bubble burst and debt to go boom, along comes Saudi smashing oil to the mat creating an external to the US reason for shale collapse. This might even qualify for some of Uncle Sugar's subsidies to help bail them out - what luck!
Just another kooky theory to add to the pile.
anything is possable, Saudia Ariabe destroying our shale industry is an act of war in my opinion
I'd be very surprised if Goldman didn't go short just in time. They're the smartest guys in the room!
(or the best connected... one of the two)
a war on ourselves?
The sixth sheik's sheep only shaves when uncle sam says so
Shale oil produced here also competes with our number 1 export.
Debt.
The more oil that is produced here, the less FRNs can be exported to the rest of the world (inflation), which will makes prices here reflect the ungodly amount of fiat that has been printed.
We in the US have survived this printing by exporting all our inflation thus far.
pods
..and perhaps the fact these games are ramping tell us the export games are ending?
or at least starting to falter
This could be SA doing this at the request of the US government. How fucked up is that?
I had a thought about nat gas drilling in NY years ago when it first stalled (09ish). I came to the conclusion with all the printing going on (we were balls to the wall QE then) that if they started producing huge amounts of gas in NY it would fuck things up for them, as the $$ would be coming in instead of going out and inflation would explode.
The USA has had it well for a long ass time, where we can export debt and get goods in return.
Probably a lot of people getting pissed at the current paradigm, but I bet SA is not one of them.
pods
soon your inflation will be returned back :)
Got a friend in industrial RE. This crash is killin the biz.
" Some folks really dont give a flying fuck "
Maybe the King and Poppy Bush can be room mates in Hades this year....(fingers crossed)
Satan is calling. Hopefully if things get really bad that Putin has an SS-18 Satan for the good king.
tests... Like a prostate check?
BEND OVER ABDULLAH!!! HERE COMES THE PLANE!!! BRRRRRR!!!!
FIST IT BABY!!
The future is very unclear...which was always the plan. Its a gambler's paradise.
Let me show you how this fracking really works ...........
When he dies..there is going to be quite a fight to take his place...it wont come easy....they all think they are kings..or should be...it will be fun to watch..lots of car accidents i bet
From the post: we know that King Abdullah’s heir will be Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud (79)
I've seen Game of Thrones. The 'rightful' heir to a tyranny doesn't always become king.
Keep pumping baby, and I'm not talking about the ass end of your favorite camel. Our shale ain't going nowhere I'll take the cheap price at the pump no matter what lying, theiving 1% fuck it damages.
so is he the most powerfull person in the world? just when ol yellars was thought to be the power thrust reping the ole grand jp ites and old old money from euro land.
so where again does the power originate? seem like the torch got handed off.
Old Yeller should be referred to as "mumbles" BTW
The new regent could decide to keep existing policy, change it completely or anything he decides. Similarly he has free reign to realign Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy as he wishes
Wrong
Saudi Arabia is beholden to US power and takes its orders directly from Washington as a vassal state does. The new regent will follow Washington's orders to the letter.
The current oil price decline has been engineered by the US as economsic war against Russia, Iran and Venezuela. Oil prices falling to $10 in 1986, engineered by Saudi Arabia at the behest of the US, caused the collapse of the USSR.
“John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, allegedly struck a deal with King Abdullah in September under which the Saudis would sell crude at below the prevailing market price. That would help explain why the price has been falling at a time when, given the turmoil in Iraq and Syria caused by Islamic State, it would normally have been rising.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-oil-coup/5420293
can not argue with logic of new warfare w/o bullets.
so instead of bankers finacing war products they politically manipulate markets with insider gains. oh and they are selling arms too. fuckers have so much control of outcome no wonder we cheer their demise.
waiting patiently for all this asset bubble capacity to crash down and cause a sunami of wealth destruction(stockman post y'da)...new years wish number 1 = wealth destruction because it aint real wealth anyways, ha..
...and it aint MY wealth!
...but that is just my schadenfreud talking...
The new regent could decide to keep existing policy, change it completely or anything he decides. Similarly he has free reign to realign Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy as he wishes
Wrong
Saudi Arabia is beholden to US power and takes its orders directly from Washington as a vassal state does. The new regent will follow Washington's orders to the letter.
I'm not so sure. Obviously the Saudi royals rely on the US military as the ultimate backstop to their tyranny; but at the same time, they have been buying off many of the power players in Washington (and elsewhere).
I think it's less of an outright heirarchy of dominance, and more like a giant, oligarchic corrupt mulch that heaves with multiple, shifting layers as everyone involved struggles to grasp their slippery prizes. Some players are obviously more powerful than others, but lesser players probably gang up to increase 'their' share of the carcass (us).
It's like a giant, multidimensional, multiplayer game of sociopath chess. I bet it's quite fun, if you're not troubled by the smell of death.
clearly see and smell what you say...
one geasy money orgy lubed with black gold.
death is but a consequence of non compliance or outright wrong place wrong time,...
when things get this sick, both you and Just are right. Just's vision is how it has been but things are indeed falling apart which they were destined to do. The Saudi's are definitely vulnerable as their own people hate them, the standard of living is in a freefall and ISIS roams around their doorstep.
That said, Uncle Sam is rapidly losing popularity, power, credit....and his sanity
There is no honor amongs thieves, especially the insane ones
this will get ugly
I think you overestimate both the US's position and adeptness.
You further UNDERestimate the impact and intent of the current crude crush. Like the dufus who falls on his face, jumps up and says "I meant to do that!", some would have us believe this is Saudi doing US bidding, but it isn't that - at least not now (even if it ever was).
These are death throes.
Here comes the Oil Levitation....just in time for New Year's Eve! Die you fucking asshole. Hopefully he and George Bush, Sr. can have a joint service.
Hell, I'd lite one up for the occasion.
Do we really think the new king is going to change policy? I mean he is 90. Do we really think he has that much involvement in day to day operations or that the next king will be radically different?
Meet the new King same as the old King.
Man will never be free until the last king has been strangled with the entrails of the last priest,
If any signs come out that King Abdullah won't be returning, the next words out of Prince Salman's mouth may have even moar impact than Mr. Yellen's.
YeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaa. The King wears a dress and the Queens dance upon cloven hooves.
All hail King Obama. May his irresponsibility last for eternity.
one of his last comments.............
Thu, 10/24/2013 - 12:20 | 4086495 bank guy in Brussels
''It is deeper than that ... the torturing mediaeval Saudi Arabian regime is in mortal fear its days are numbered, and it will soon be overthrown ... hated by many of its own people, by many Muslims around the world tired of Saudi-funded extremism, but above all by its oppressed Saudi Shia minority who predominantly live in the area of the Saudi oilfields
The Saudi fears of demise are above all fuelled, though, by the recent events where China and Russia cornered the USA into abandoning the attacks on Syria and Iran ... which meant the US was being forced to walk away from the petro-dollar, and from support for Saudi regime
Petro-dollar is the whole reason for US-Israeli hostility to Iran - Syria (implicit threat to Saudi & petro-dollar), but Russia & China showed US gov they could not win.
Russia & China cornered the US gov - if attack on Syria, they would blow the Saudi oil fields, collapsing US dollar & US economy, so the war-game to protect the petro-dollar would not work.
Russia & China did offer the US 'breathing space' for a few years to maintain petro-dollar and 'reserve currency' status; this was secret centre of recent deal re Syria & Iran, that Saudis and thus petro-dollar will remain propped up for a while. Tho Saudis are nervous now, they know their days in power are numbered.
So are the Israelis, as their economy collapses without petro-dollar US 'gifting' as well.
Angry Saudi regime is looking for new 'sponsors' but they do not realise they are walking dead ... especially after threatening to sabotage the Russian Olympics ... China will not ride to the rescue when Saudi royal family falls, they will just do a deal with the new gov't in Saudi
---
Any Shia country is an inspiration for revolt against Saudis, so Shia countries or their allies, or nations pricing oil in non-dollars, are intrinsically threat to petro-dollar, thus Iran / Syria / Lebanon are targets, as were Iraq / Libya (both priced oil in non-dollars).
This is the structural reason for the US-Israeli hostility to Iran, the Israeli whopping lies about 'nuclear Iran', the crazy influence of Israeli Zionists over US politicians ... it's all a cover show for the fact that both the US and Israel have their economies dependent on the US 'reserve petro-dollar' ... it is the thing propping up the Bernanke Bux, actually ... the Fed's printed dollars collapse without the petro-dollar basis
---
So, significantly, US oligarchs, in accepting the loss of the petro-dollar, are also accepting the US empire is over, with quick mass impoverishment of the US people, as the US loses its ability to sell worthless dollars & debt to finance its uniquely horrid .5 trillion annual trade deficit (by comparison, the EU has no trade deficit at all!)
The somewhat plan for the USA, already visible in what US leaders say, is a much poorer USA taking over Canada to get its oil (US politicians already talking about this, and Canada's quisling leaders already signed away rights to US troops to enter Canadian soil after a 'terrorism' incident, which criminal US gov will certainly provide under false flag fakery).
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But the Saudi regime has no future, they are not stable, they have only been propped up by the dirty deal in 1970s, Kissinger and Saudis and Israel, to force all oil pricing in oil, giving USA unique ability to buy imported energy & goods for printed dollars, giving zero in return.
This is why US military was ordered to back Sunni Saudi Arabia, and is also the basis for the traitorous US-Israeli 'alliance' ... Israel is a weapon for regional chaos, for threats to petro-dollar, and for distraction from the ugly truth about what keeps the US economy artificially alive, and Israel's financing as well.
What you see now in US foreign policy - US walking away from Israel and Saudi - is US accepting that Russia and China won the game, the petro-dollar will fall a bit sooner ... tho Russia and China have given the US a couple of years to sort out its future ... US oligarchs getting their assets converted out of USD and so on.
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China & Russia will not prop up Saudi rulers like the US did ... they just want the oil, and they are fine with the upcoming culmination of the 'Arab Spring' ... the overthrow of the cruel House of Saud. Which also, ends all those Saudi-funded religious schools around the world driving Muslims into extremism ... Tho there will still be decades of blowback from all the Muslim women and children that US - Nato military and drones have murdered''
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-10-24/real-reason-saudi-arabia%E2%80%99s-shift-away-us?page=1
RIP Bank Guy.
Pretty sure he was one of the banker deaths.
and fuck, that was a great last post
Geez WC. I thot he might have said the wrong thing as many others that have gotten the boot. Ya think?
It was one of the best posts and best poster on ZH. I thought he got banned by ZH for some dumb reason. I hope whomever he or she is - is alright i fear you may be right.
They do not like people who can connect the dots, one reason is very few people can connect the dots.
Hey Bankguy, if you're lurking, come back soon mate.
He was a really decent guy & I think I only ever disagreed with him about Ed Snowden.
Anyhoo, I'm far too drunk to post anything remotely coherent, so to all my mates at ZH, have a happy new year (Despite the doom & gloom) and be safe out there tonight. I don't know about where you are, but the apes are seriously restless these days.
One of the best summations of the bloody Mid East I've read recently.
Dubai Banker reminds me a bit of Bank Guy in Brussels. Both are excellent.
RIP, BGIB, if were thrown off your perch, had your last squawk, and are now pushing up daisies.
The Saudi King is ill,
His replacement's a shill,
The powers that be
Can't wait you see,
To control and force their will.
Valiant, but not comparable to TLK.
The Lion King..?
Tartan Luther King
Limerick Lord of glittering mirthology
As each participant has declared their invincibility in the Oil Mexican standoff, each successive twist and turn builds the suspense.
It is like watching gang-bangers talk trash.
USA: "Look at my wingspan! My shale will crush you!"
Saudi Arabia: "You feelin' that punk? I have deep pockets! I can do this all day! Ain't even workin' up a sweat!"
Russia: "It is all a plot by our neighbors to break us apart, pull out our intestines and eat our heart. But it won't work because we will nuke them all! Especially our customers, the greedy low-price-loving bastards!"
I would like to amend my previous post.
" the greedy low-price-loving NAZI bastards!"
There, that better reflects the current rhetoric.
Not making it up. That's what you will really hear on channel 1.
I know. I know.
Some think I could cut slack one way. Some think all the slack should go another.
Not me.
Equal opportunity ridcule...because when you can't laugh you have to cry.
I still think Burkas will be flying when he dies.....Bunga bunga parties all week long baby
Long Nightshirts.
Those darn Google algorithms tilted another panic crisis. Color me shocked. / LOL
The Verve - Slide Away
If something as trivial as this sends stocks tumbling, then i wonder what would happen if a big volcano would erupt and shut down all aviation in a large part of the northern hemisphere for a few weeks, or months.
Not trivial, the King sets the oil market and since the Kingdom of Saud Arabia is tied with Russia and the US for top oil producer this is an important position.
I guess there might be some arguments in the event of his death, but the oil will continue to flow regardless of who sits on the big seat. Of course, a new leader might want to make some changes.
The volcano in question would be Bardarbunga in Iceland who has been shaking since August.
She sits right on top of a mantle plume, under some 800 meters of ice where the rifts that cut Iceland in half meet.
http://images.dailykos.com/images/102026/large/rift.jpg?1408953893
Remember this?
AP Twitter account hacked, 'explosions at White House' tweet crashes markets
ya jus can't fuck with 'earl'?
CIA jackal assasination? Or maybe he's been dead for awhile and they were waiting to announce it?
Maybe a distraction from all the cash everyone is making?
Gazprom Success On Display in Iraq……..War Sure Helps Big Oil
Ex Goldman-Sachs Analyst Creates Hedge Fund Betting On Russian Asset Rise
China Buys 2% Stake In Italy’s Saipem…….Too Obvious If Russia Bought ‘Em
You mean the Caliph is NOT eternal ?
Wow ! But the Sauds have a whole fleet of outdated models of sheikhs, like those 1950 Chevys and Pontiacs !
...do they still have shish-kebabs?
I like shish-kebabs.
What a shit hole of a country. Makes every other country, well except NK perhaps, look much better. A total welfare state of fuck ups who happen to have oil. Tribes, still.
Wow...I have gone to the hospital for "tests" also. Glad they did not announce it on ZH because you all would have announced me dead on arrival...Very few die because they go to the hospital for tests...In fact, usually when a person goes for "tests" its a good thing because if the person has health problems they will catch it early...
Wow, and which country are you king of?
DOA..? Don't know about that, but in ZH terms you're already brain dead.
Thanks for playing.
Yikes....up until now, all my posts got really high thumbs ups!!! Better than most actually. What did I say wrong?? Instead of putting me down, tell me why I am wrong. I am here to learn as I hope we all are. Please enlighten me in regards to thinking that because someone is going into the hospital for tests that it makes any difference?? Is this a pretext to the CIA killing him? Maybe, I suppose, but we dont know. I would think that if the oil price plunge was to hurt Russia, then the CIA would not care. THen again, it hurts U.S. fracking, which is another story. Please, instead of calling me names, give me info why a person going for tests is such a big deal. Oil is at the 53 mark right now, not changed from yesterday..
please enlighten me! Calling me names is not productive..thanks..or, maybe you are shorting oil and dont care about truth? Money over truth? I dunno, just asking.
Yikes....up until now, all my posts got really high thumbs ups!!! Better than most actually. What did I say wrong?? Instead of putting me down, tell me why I am wrong. I am here to learn as I hope we all are. Please enlighten me in regards to thinking that because someone is going into the hospital for tests that it makes any difference?? Is this a pretext to the CIA killing him? Maybe, I suppose, but we dont know. I would think that if the oil price plunge was to hurt Russia, then the CIA would not care. THen again, it hurts U.S. fracking, which is another story. Please, instead of calling me names, give me info why a person going for tests is such a big deal. Oil is at the 53 mark right now, not changed from yesterday..
please enlighten me! Calling me names is not productive..thanks
Year end closings: http://investfts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/year-end-closings.html
The concept that Saudi Arabia has "declared war on American shale" is seriously misleading. The Saudis hate/fear Iran and their Shia resurgence more than they fear American oil production. Saudi Arabia's largest export customer is the PRC, not the USA and the number one supplier of oil to the USA is Canada, not Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi led attack on oil prices has far more to do with regional fears and conflicts than simple economics. The Saudis know that Iran is rising, the USA sliding downwards, Iraq and Syria are finished, ISIS is causing greater radicalization throughout the region and Russia is eyeing the region for more influence. Most of the local OPEC members (Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Qatar, etc) are in general agreement with the Saudi approach and they really do not care about other OPEC members (read Venezuela).
If the USA shale oil market implodes due to its weak financial structures, that is probably a long term bonus to the Saudis, but not their immediate goal.
The Saudi oil wells are about as healthy as the 90 year old devil zio king. The USA has had Iran on embargo for ages. Iran has pumped far less oil over the past 40 years.
I am sure the USA knows exactly how much oil the Saudiis and Iran have. The big 3 in oil before Canada, Venezuela and Russia grew to be bigger global players were Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq.
I think the Saudi fields are dying and Iraq and Iran still has loads of oil.
Russia/Rosneft doing wells in Iraq is hopefully a good sign that Iraq might find some stability being friendly with Russia. The Russians could post a few squads of speznets or those Chechen volunteers to keep the NWO away.
As far as a war? Iran could take Saudi Arabia in a month or less. The local Shia would help. Whether you love or hate Iran; the Persians were great warriors.
Interesting that the USD should rally as oil crumbles, while all other oil producing nations see signficant currency weakness.
If fundamentals still matter AT ALL, (doubtful), the USD should get hit hard beginning early next year (2015) when shale production finally begins to collapse.
With that being said, we must ask ourselves--in a world with MUCH cheaper oil, what currencies will benefit most? It may be those furthest from oil, and closest to gold, when the perception of solvency and REAL monetary wealth supplants the illusion of economic growth and artificial paper wealth.
We Obolaed some Sheiks?
I always admired King Abdullah. Not just for his movie star good looks but also for his fierce independence from the City of London and Wall Street. Liberty has flourished in Arabia during his tenure. We should all be grateful that such a principled monarch coming from a long line of human rights conscious leaders has blessed our planet.
DEATH!!!...to this rothschild puppet!
The sooner the better these ancient dinosaurs die, the better off the world will be. All of them lizards must go before they eliminate all of the rest of the world. At this time, it is a race to see who does it first. THEM, or the people of the world. One or the other must wipe the other off the face of the map, before the other does it to you!
DEATH TO ALL MONEYCHANGERS AND THEIR PUPPETS NOW!!!
Oh, and have a Happy New Year too.
I bet there is a moment of silence for this deeply religious... err deepy rich foreign carpetbagger.
I can just see Congress bowing down.
one has to come to the realization that it's the globalist, (the most influential, wealthiest in the world), pushing towards their nirvana, a nwo, with them in total control.
they use countless ism's, and the worst most inhuman possible tool, human nature, and the human psychic to get to where their at now, that's why they think it's conceivable they can control the world, (a totalitarian nwo).
how did the Saudi royal family gain control of all it's people, they gained control of all Saudi Arabia's wealth, (assets), and for it's citizens to share in it's wealth, they had to conform to the royal families rules.
this is why Americas left ideologies have just about full control over america.
the BIS, through the fed., have given the lefts ideologist the power of the purse, and have convinced over 1/2 of Americans that they can't make it by themselves, america is the reason for your position in life, but here's some money for you, just remember me in nov..
seemingly since last nov., and actions since then has proven Americas elected officials are getting their share out of the purse also.
just remember, all countries, all religions, all sexes, all nationalities, all individuals are puzzle pieces to be used, as tools, to complete the final puzzle, (nwo).
there will be war, things are going against the globalist, a bartering system, not using the BIS's approved currency, in the most powerful commodity, oil, (the brics), the truth is coming out, there's a global recession, and there's a glut of supply, at lower prices, this puts people in worse condition in some regions, more than in others.
can you imagine the shock of the citizens of the world finding out that prices on the most important commodity, actually can go down, when supply, and demand driven, not just propped up by propaganda.
90% of Americans believe Saudi oil is the only oil supplying america, and without it america would collapse, those 90% wouldn't believe the truth, but only the price at the pump today.
I try telling them, for decades the worlds been paying Saudi prices, using American dollars.
that's like forcing you to shop a sach's, and can only use their credit-card.
the truth is the world population has been subsidizing some oil co.'s, and some oil producing countries.
some countries use this subsidy for maintaining a certain life style, some for control of their population, and other countries for their survival, and all co.'s to make more money.
the BIS made a greedy mistake, have opec, (the worlds preconceived monopoly on oil), to make a monopoly type move, all they've proven is the true price of oil is not $120-$160 per barrel, and they don't have a monopoly.
we'll have to read propaganda for probably for another year, how many wells are vacated, how many co.'s default, how many added to the unemployed, how much civil unrest is in Saudi Arabia, how much pain it's caused in Russia, and all of Europe.
my first propaganda spotting, maybe, first I'd like to know, did the Saudis hire some of the us govt. bls accountants, the Saudis are predicting a $40b deficit in 2015, with a $40 b raise in govt. spending in 2015, how does this make any sense when your gdp is 90% oil sales, which today are 50% less, that means they expect the same income as 2014, do the sunnis already see this accounting miracle, and their upset.
happy new year, and don't jump unless you can see the bottom.
Usurious is pretty much spot on and it's good to read something intelligent, those remarks are far more intelligent than the article itself which just says the same things several times to redundancy. I might offer that Prince Salman is no marshmallow. He's a religious ultra conservative radical Wahabbi and that cannot be ignored. That sect hates the US and is not fond of Iran. They're not stupid either, they know very well what kind of games the US and Britian are playing, and that both are losing. Saudi would welcome a pipeline to China and in order to screw over the West would do quite a bit to collapse those and associated currencies including lower oil prices to crash the dollar. Relations with Saudi Aramco have always been touchy and it looks like they're much worse. China and Russia can and probably would give Saudia Arabia the military backing. I cannot even begin to see how people can think Saudi Arabia would include sympathizers and backers of Israel if an alternative is offered. It has probably been offered. On the off chance that Saudia Arabia goes up in civil flames you might consider Bin Laden Arabia. The irony of it all!
A new paper, taking a newer look at the weight of enrgy (oil) in the economies
http://phys.org/news/2014-12-thermodynamic-analysis-reveals-large-overlo...
In neoclassical models, reductions of energy inputs by 7%, as observed during the first energy crisis in 1973-1975, should have caused total economic output reductions of only 0.35%, whereas observed reductions were up to an order of magnitude larger. By using the larger weight of energy, the new model can explain a much larger portion of the total output reductions during this time.
If correct, their findings have major implications. First, the new model doesn't require the Solow residual at all; this residual disappears from the graphs that show the empirical and the theoretical growth curves. Energy, along with the addition of a smaller "human creativity" factor, accounts for all of the growth that neoclassical models attribute to technological progress.
Second, and somewhat unsettling, is the impact that the findings may have in the real world. In 2012, the International Monetary Fund stated in its World Economic Outlook that "…if the contribution of oil to output proved to be much larger than its cost share, the effects could be dramatic, suggesting a need for urgent policy action."