New attack vector??
Forty-eight undocumented immigrants lift the lid on how they worked at 11 Trump properties for up to two decades telling of the President's love of Tic Tacs and Swiss face makeup and how he would give his father-in-law his hand-me-downs
http://www.hideoutnow.com/2019/12/forty-eight-undocumented-immigrants.html
Cutting Russia off from SWIFT would mean declaration of war – Russian PM
Restricting Russia’s access to the SWIFT international banking payment system would virtually mean a declaration of war, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has warned.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Medvedev recalled the West once seriously considered the option, and Moscow is aware of it.
“This would in fact be a declaration of war, but nevertheless it was discussed,” the Russian prime minister said, adding that this is one of the reasons why the government is looking into ways to protect the Russian part of the internet.
The global interbank SWIFT system facilitates cross-border payments between 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries worldwide. First calls to disconnect Russian banks from the money transfer network emerged in 2014 in response to Moscow’s alleged role in the conflict in Ukraine.
The idea was floated again last year by Washington’s special envoy to Ukraine at the time, Kurt Volker. In an interview to Voice of America, Volker said that such a “nuclear option” is still on the table, but it would “have costs for everybody involved.”
In the wake of the potential threat of being cut off from SWIFT, Russia began working on an alternative – a domestically developed financial messaging network called SPFS. The system operates according to the same standards as SWIFT and is already being used domestically. It is set to be linked with the Chinese cross-border interbank payment system CIPS and India’s future payment mechanism. The Russian payment system will also work with Iran’s SEPAM, as Iranian banks have had no access to SWIFT since last year after the US reinstated sanctions.
https://www.rt.com/business/475089-russia-swift-ban-war/
Aramco raises $25.6bn in initial stock offering
The sum raised could surpasses the $25 billion raised by the Chinese online trading group Alibaba in 2014
NEW YORK — Saudi Arabia's state oil company Aramco launched its initial stock offering on Thursday, pricing at the high end of the target range and raising $25.6 billion, two sources told AFP.
Aramco shares will sell on the Riyadh stock exchange at a starting prices of SR32, putting the value of the company at $1.7 trillion, the sources said, making it the biggest company ever.
That sum raised by the oil giant surpasses the $25 billion raised by the Chinese online trading group Alibaba in 2014 when it entered Wall Street.
At $8.53 per share, the company would raise $25.6 billion from the IPO, making it the world's largest IPO, topping Alibaba's 2014 listing.
At this level, Aramco would have a market valuation of $1.7 trillion, overtaking Apple Inc. as the most valuable listed firm. Aramco is to make a formal announcement later Thursday.
The energy giant had been offering 1.5 percent, or three billion, of the company’s shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) at an indicative price range of SR30-32 ($8-$8.53). A third of those shares, 0.5 percent, were allocated to retail, or individual investors.
Aramco completed the retail portion of its IPO last Thursday. It was 1.48 times oversubscribed with SR47.4 billion ($12.64 billion) in orders.
According to the IPO prospectus, Saudi Arabian retail investors that hold their shares for a minimum of 180 days, or six months, will be eligible for a 10 percent discount through the allocation of additional bonus shares.
The Aramco IPO is a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan, which aims to wean the Kingdom off its reliance on oil to diversify the economy. The proceeds from the listing will go towards these diversification initiatives and could be invested in sectors such as logistics, mining, or developing the manufacturing and industrial economy.
“We understand that the bulk of the funds raised will go to the government or the Public Investment Fund, potentially adding to the sovereign’s already strong fiscal net asset position of 72.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP),” S&P said in a note on Saudi Aramco’s IPO.
“Productively deployed, we believe the assets could also help maintain growth potential through our three-year ratings horizon,” S&P added.
The IPO may also impact the regional markets by encouraging a greater number of companies to list across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) after a quiet third quarter, PwC said in early November.
“We anticipate the coming quarter to be significantly more active with the recent announcement of Saudi Aramco’s record breaking flotation on Tadawul, along with many other companies which have expressed their intention to list in 2019,” said Steve Drake, partner, Capital Markets, PwC Middle East.
The company, which plans to pay a base dividend of $75 billion in 2020, reported a profit of $111.1 billion in 2018 and $46.9 billion in the first half of 2019. — Agencies
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/584293/SAUDI-ARABIA/Aramco-raises-$256bn-in-initial-stock-offering-Sources
Quick baker needs to be jerked off!
https://twitter.com/TeamTrump/status/1202597834937307136
DROP THE FISA REPORT D5 ON D5
Sleepy Joe Biden Says He Will Not Appear Voluntarily if Called to Testify on Pay-for-Play Allegations in Senate Impeachment Trial (VIDEO)
FOX News reporter Peter Doocy confronted Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in Iowa City, Iowa on Thursday.
When confronted about the likelihood that he will be called in to testify for his son’s multi-million dollar pay-for-play schemes Joe Biden said he would not appear voluntarily.
Joe Biden: No, I’m not going to let them take their eye off the ball. The president is the one who has committed impeachable crimes. And I’m not going to let him divert from that. I’m not going to let anybody divert from that. And like I said plenty of times, I’ve released 20 years of tax returns. Let him release some of his.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/sleepy-joe-biden-says-he-will-not-appear-voluntarily-if-called-to-testify-on-pay-for-play-allegations-in-senate-impeachment-trial-video/