2012 Douchebag of the Year

Before I announce the winner I want to tell you about something I read the other day.  I was looking through the USA Today last Tuesday and saw an article called "The Future of Iraq".  As I read through it I realized it was a half page dinar ad.  The dealer was First Liberty National in Houston, Texas.  The ad included several typical pumper lines that we've heard for years now.  Comparisons to the Japanese yen and the German deutschemark.  Millionaires created overnight by holding Kuwaiti dinar in 1991.  And of course, nothing is mentioned about Iraq's enormous money supply or the CBI's announced plan to redenominate.  I had to wonder how many more will be buying dinar now and joining the dinar forums, waiting for the latest intel about "the RV"?  I guess this is just going to continue until Iraq finally gets around to redenominating in another year or two.

Sophisticated Harvard grad/currency
expert James "Adam Montana" Wolf

The voting results are in and it was a tie.  Adam "Wolfyman" Montana and Breitling share the honors as the 2012 Dinar Douchebag of the Year.  As most of you know I'm no big fan of Mr. Montana.  I think his persona of a middle aged Harvard grad who profited on the Kuwaiti dinar (which he created in order to gain the trust of dinar investors and sell them a lot of dinar crap) certainly qualifies him as deserving of the honor.  At one time he claimed to have 1,000 members of his $17/mo VIP club.  That translates to about $17,000 a month if true.  And to entice people to sign up he stated that he used his leverage as owner of this enormous group to negotiate the best cash-in rates upon the RV.  Yeah, right.  Go ask your local banker what kind of rate they'll give your dinar group when it RVs and watch their reaction.  They'll either tell you it's a scam, or they'll chuckle and say "call me when it RV's and we'll talk", all the while showing you to the door.  Bankers know there's no big RV coming so there's no need to waste their time negotiating any special deal with any dinar group. 

Dinar authority, banker, real estate consultant,
network consultant, political consultant,
banker, video game developer, entrepreuner,
manufacturer, and professional investor
Anthony Patrick (Tony) "Breitling"

While Adam's behaviour is infinitely doucheworthy, Breitling has also presented himself as some kind of expert in order to develop a following of his own that I refer to as the Velvet Elvis Investment Club.  Not too sophisticated, to say the least.  Several times a week thousands of mobile home dwellers access the internet to listen to the latest insight from their favorite investment guru.  While he certainly hasn't profited to the extent that "Adam" has it's not for lack of effort, that's for sure.  He has pumped the dinar (especially the lower denoms through the Treasury Vault), the ISX Report, and a very risky high interest banking strategy through an essentially insolvent institution in Iraq called Warka.  Additionally he has promoted a MLM real estate scheme called REIC, and a penny stock called LD Holdings (LDHL) which was being marketed by Brad Huebner until he did the perp walk for dinar fraud.  And Breitling has also told his followers that he can get them the best rate upon the RV, but you have to email him to get in on it.  Now I wonder what B does with all of those email addresses?  I'm sure he never uses them to market any of the above.  I'm sure he sets them aside only to be used upon this big RV we've all heard about.   

You see, both of these guys are scammers.  They have sold their followers on the idea that they are sophisticated investors with expertise on the dinar, when in fact no licensed investment advisor or currency expert would dream of recommending investing in the dinar.  They know that revaluations of 20% or more are extremely rare, and most dinar investors would need a 20% increase just to break even.  They also know that there's a very good chance that the IQD will be demonetized if Iraq redenominates.

When I wrote about Adam Montana last year there was an exodus of biblical proportions at his forum Dinar Vets.  I think many people viewed Mr. Montana as the last refuge of reason in this dinar circus with ridiculous rates and bogus intel from clowns like Okie and TerryK.  What a shock to find out that he's as big a shyster as any of them.  He has apparently managed to survive and seduce a new crop of dinar newbies, however. 

When I wrote about Breitling however, he felt compelled to rebut my exposés.  My commentary on Tony was strictly fact-based analysis.  I had no history with the guy and no need to go after him other than out of a sincere desire to expose his ignorance and the danger of taking him serious.  But he made it personal with repeated namecalling and accusations.  He said I'm evil.  I'm a terrorist.  I'm a liar.  I'm a bubble head.  I'm a fag.  I'm a shmuck.  I'm a moron.  Throughout his lame attempts at rebuttal Mr. B basically called me everything but a child of God.  While at first I found it amusing (especially since he claims a background in debate) it does tend to grow tiresome after awhile, so I have to admit that I'm not at all dismayed at his inclusion in this award.

So the 2012 Douche of the Year goes to James "Adam Montana" Wolf and Tony "Breitling" Elder for misinforming the dinar community about a myriad of dinar related topics in order to market their wares to the unsuspecting. 

The Montana Trail (part 1)
The Montana Trail (part 2)
The Montana Trail (part 3)
The Montana Trail (part 4)


Breitling Busted!!!
The Breitling Watch
The Breitling Catalog
More of the Best of Breitling

Happy New Year!

Well I trust that all of you who were glued to the internet waiting for a New Year's Day rate change have returned to reality by now. 

Before I address the events of last year I'd like to make a few bold predictions for 2013.  I will stake my reputation on the fact that the value of the dinar will not increase by more than 10% in any given month or by 50% this year unless there's a lop.  The same goes for the Vietnamese dong.  I also predict that we will see another indictment of one or more of the douchebags I've written about in the past.  I predict that Iraq's M2 will end the year at more than the current figure of 72 trillion unless they redenominate.  And finally, I predict that Obama and Maliki will both end the year without being removed from office.  Yeah, I know.  Some of you are saying that I'm pretty safe in those predictions, and yet what I'm saying flies in the face of what we're hearing from most of the pumpers and gurus.  You see, BGG recently announced that he's going to start keeping score with the track record of other gurus.  I just want this on record so that at the end of the year BGG can compare my record with his and everybody else's, not that I actually believe he'll acknowledge anything that I have to say of course.

2012 was a fascinating year for somebody like me who reads and writes about the dinar and dinar pumpitude.  Of course every week some guru was sharing their intel about the impending RV, and every week they were wrong.  Most of the year we heard stories of whales cashing in their dinar in Reno, Nevada ahead of the RV. People were convinced that they were somehow going to be allowed in on this early cash-in. It's a scam, of course. But what can you do? Some people never learn. I'm told that some arrests could be forthcoming regarding the Reno thing but as of yet we haven't seen any. Maybe it will happen in 2013.

 In January we saw the first increase in the official value of the dinar in three years when the dinar went from $.0008547 (1170 dinar per dollar) to $.0008576 (1166 dinar per dollar). Despite all of the gurus and pumpers who claim to have rock solid intel from CBI contacts and government officials, nobody seemed to have a clue that a 4 pip increase was coming. Amazing, huh? Of course, after the increase they all had to comment on what the increase means. Some said it was a head fake. Others said it was just a system test prior to the real RV. After a few months it became apparent (to some of us anyway) that this increase was done to address the spike in inflation resulting from the IQD exchanged for USD when coalition forces left Iraq at the end of 2011, and was probably the only RV we would see in 2012.

In March the Arab Summit in Iraq came and went without "the RV", despite the numerous claims from the gurus that they needed to revalue prior to the summit. 

In April we nailed down the true identity of Adam "Wolfyman" Montana, exposing him as a liar and a fraud.

In September four people were indicted on dinar related fraud and money laundering charges, three of whom have been featured in this blog's header.

In October CBI governor Shabibi was removed from his position under allegations of financial misconduct. Again, none of the gurus had a clue that this was coming, but they certainly seemed to understand the implications.

"The UN is going to step in and restore Shabibi so he can RV"
"Shabibi wanted to lop so Maliki removed him so they can RV"
"Shabibi and Maliki both wanted credit for the RV and that's what the power struggle is about"

LOL!  Yeah, they were all over the map.  It turns out Shabibi wasn't restored and his replacement didn't RV. Again, not one guru that I am aware of got it right. It appears now that Shabibi was removed for reasons totally unrelated to the official value of the dinar.  http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/01/hardships-iraq-central-bank.html

And finally in December - the sickness/stroke/death/whatever of Talabani.  None of the gurus saw this one coming, either.  Okay, I'll give them a pass on that.  I mean, who knew that a fat, 79 year old smoker and drinker with diabetes might keel over?  Still, they all had their views on what this meant for "the RV".   


Since my last post I've noticed some noteworthy examples of douchebaggery.  FootForward has done conference calls where he claimed that:

1. Lower denoms (1, 5, 10, 25 notes) were printed in 2003 at the same time as the 50, 250, 500, 1K, 5K, 10K, and 25K notes.  (Nothing was provided to substantiate that claim, of course.)
2. Kuwait did RV in 1991, despite what anybody tells you.  (This was in response to a post from SWFG if I'm not mistaken.)
3. Talabani didn't have a stroke.  This is a bogus story to discourage investing in the dinar.  (There's plenty of disagreement on whether Talabani is dead, braindead, or simply in a coma but to my knowledge FF is the only one who thinks nothing happened here.)

I've written about this guy several times, but never really knew his story.  Well the other day I read this at Dinar Vets from a member named Rayzur.

I was quite taken aback... okay almost stunned when I saw FF being referenced as any kind of guru in a discussion that was actually talking as if he had any credibility.
I'm sure he is a nice guy, and at least at one time, had earnest intentions. And, that said, I remember when he first started coming into Okies chat room as this young (early 20's) kid about a year or so ago, who did not have a clue about the more salient points of the discussion, the mechanisms, properties, issues or considerations about Iraqi currency and that referred to as the RV. He mostly tagged along and would offer encouraging words now and then. Eventually, he started to increase his participation by adding his opinion about the RV, as determined by his prophetic vision or messages he would get in prayer. Vague though encouraging at first, he never really committed to an actual date or rate, and seemed to dovetail off Okie's predictions in direct correlation to the news Okie gave (with his own prophetic messages inter twined so as to look like his own words)... He was definitely a follower, albeit most encouraging (in vague feel good stuff), and increased his offering of prophetic messages consistent with the feedback and his intra-room following. He and BWM would talk a lot in the room... with BMW usually leading and FF following.
While initially fascinated watching the kool-aid being served in the room (and truly enjoying some great friends I met there in messages back and forth), I eventually left the chat room as it became just too difficult to take, filled redundant, insipid, inaccurate, wrong and meaningless word salads. I had been a member of DV throughout my adventures over to the hysterical room, and one day it just got to silly to justify returning for hit of amazingly stupid.

There are so many people from the Okie room now venturing out into the land as gurus... having apparently graduated from the Okie training school of meaningless, mindless, pontification, then mixed with the unique bedazzlement of the person (in FF case it would be his prophetic messages,.... which for the record have never ever in my awareness over the past year and a half, ever, even one time, been right no matter how small or inconsequential)....
The only remaining question for me with FF and most of the other graduates is whether or not they stay in touch with Chief Full O Bull (Okie). Has he remained their puppet master, with their voices his.... or are they functioning as an Okie franchise, and independently operated....

So according to Rayzur FF got his start hanging out in Okie's chat room and slowly built a following by talking about prophecy, prayer, and visions pertaining to the dinar.  That right there should be all you need to know.


Also, Breitling was recently talking about the hidden value of the dinar and he made a curious statement.  Referring to a story about the printing of the IQD back in 2003 he said:

(quoting Hugh Tant) "The cost to produce the currency was approximately six cents per note, which allowed for a very high quality paper".  Now ... you go look at today's rate, and they paid six cents for a tenth of a penny. Does that make sense to you?  No, it doesn't .... later on down the road that'll play into it being a hard manipulation.  It's just a stupid, dirty float.  It cost them six cents per note.  So just from the cost of printing the currency and getting the whole thing done, you go look at your currency and it cost them ... JUST ONE NOTE ... it cost them six cents to do that.  So that's what its real value is worth.  At a minimum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMrZKtR9L9o (10 min. in)


As I was listening to this bovine excrement I was absolutely floored.  "Breitling has outdone himself", I said to myself.  I figured I had to address this in my next update post, but the following day he offered a "clarification" that he was really referring to the new 1 dinar notes that have to be worth more than a tenth of a penny.  Well OF COURSE the value of the new currency will be greater than that of the IQD.  That's the whole point in redenominating - higher value and lower money supply.  But the transcript that I posted above shows very clearly that he was talking about the current value of the dinar being held down since it was printed in 2003, not the new value post-lop.  He even stated that he doesn't know what the printing cost is today, so you know he was referring to the cost nine years ago.

My theory on this is that B did that video and uploaded it thinking he had just given people some incredible info to justify a big RV when somebody probably pulled him aside and explained the difference between currency notes and monetary units, and upon realizing what a fool he had made of himself he went into damage control mode and came up with this lame-arse explanation.  Nice try Tony, but no cigar.

A week or so later B was at it again, saying that Donald Rumsfeld sold WMD to Iraq when he was Secretary of Defense back in the 80s.  This is one of those talking points from political hacks that eventually become accepted as fact when they're nothing of the sort - kind of like forum facts about the dinar.  Actually Rumsfeld was an envoy (not Sec. of Def.) in the 80s when we provided Iraq with economic aid, counter-insurgency training, battlefield intelligence, and some conventional weapons (not WMD) from third party nations like Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt in order to keep Iran from becoming too powerful.  I would challenge Mr. B or anybody else to produce any article from any reputable news publication stating that the US sold WMD to Iraq.  It's really not that relevant as to the future of the dinar, but I think this speaks volumes about the lack of adequate research and factual commentary he provides.  In the same video he stated that Obama and Biden advocated splitting Iraq up into three zones.  Actually this was a proposal made by Joe Biden in an op-ed piece in 2006, and it merely suggested that Iraq be decentralized into three autonomous regions to reduce ethnic tensions.  This was over two years before he became VP and it was never a policy advocated by the Obama administration.  Again, not too relevant per the dinar but it definitely speaks to the issue of credibility.


Shortly after that Frank Villa (frank26) made an absurd analogy between faith in God and faith in the RV when he said:

I'm really really tired and fed up of all the people that call me and complain because those are the people I ask them "are you a Christian?" "... well, I believe in a creator ..."  No, you're not a Christian.  I understand now why you're acting the way you're acting.  Doggone it, a Christian knows very well to be faithful ... that's the first thing ... the reason that we accept God because we have faith to accept Him.  And then the things that He brings us to we keep hold of that faith.  We don't let go of it like a little child that's not disciplined enough nor old enough to understand what is right and wrong.  

https://www.freeconferencecallhd.com/playback/?n=-17-65-67-17-65-67-17-65-67-17-65-67-17-65-6789986433-17-65-6710-17-65-67123-17-65-67-17-65-6762;0OTc3NDYwNjg=0 (48 min. in)

This isn't the first time a dinar douchebag has made such an analogy.  In January of last year Okie compared faith in his intel to faith in the resurrection of Jesus.  Listen Frank, a person can be a committed Christian and still have sense enough to recognize that your intel and analysis are worth about as much as the official value of the dinar you're pumping.  After a few years of hearing you and Delta tell people they're going to be blessed any day now when Iraq RVs, it's only natural that people get a little annoyed and choose to inform you of that fact, especially after seeing some of your fellow pumpers getting indicted for saying similar things. 

Later in that call Frank tells his listeners that Iraq is telling their people that they have so much gold that they're going to start using it to back up their currency. (58 min. in)  Actually Iraq already had some gold in their foreign currency reserves, and what they announced was simply that they were increasing the % of gold in the reserves, probably replacing some of the "iffy" euros in their possession. Yet another lie from Frankie Frankie.

Which brings me to the Douchebag of the Year award. Try as I might I couldn't decide. So many douchebags to choose from ..... what to do? I've decided to just let my readers pick the winner. My only role will be to nominate the candidates.  I nominate everybody who received a Douchie in 2012.  You can see the list here.  Make sure you only select one from 2012, as the list includes winners from 2011.  Either email me or post your choice in the comments below by midnight January 31.  The winner will be announced shortly thereafter. 


Despite all of the lingering douchebaggery there is at least one dinar site that has opted to move on from the "waiting for the RV" mentality and do something productive.  Proteus from Revalue.US is putting together a new site called PrimeLIVE.us where different contributors will be offering tips on how to develop skills, talents, and ideas to enhance their lives rather than vegetating while waiting for the ever elusive revaluation of the dinar.  The theme is "being pro-active".  This positive step is long overdue IMO.  Kudos to the PrimeLIVE gang.

Continuing with that thought I was fortunate enough to come across this post the other day at Dinar Vets.  Marlys wrote:

I grew up in a very small poor town. I had a happy childhood and didn't know how poor we were.
However, I learned from the behavior of my parents and others around me that dreaming meant dreaming of things that were never attainable so why bother.

With the hopes of having more than a little bit of money from the revaluation of the dinar I started dreaming of things that I wanted that really could be obtained.
As time passed and the RV never happened I found that these were things were things I really wanted such as setting up a scholarship fund for art students in my dad's name.
I decided to take matters into my own hands and started taking classes to learn how to trade options in the stock market. It's been a year now and I've got a pretty good handle on it. I'm making money but not enough to support my kids....yet. I will eventually because I have dreams, real dreams, and I'm going to get there.

Another area that has greatly changed in my life is my relationship with my older brother. He is only five years older than me but is from my mom's first marriage. I've always idolized him but he has never felt a part of our family. When he learned about the dinar he felt the need to share it with my two other siblings and me. We talked a lot about the possibilities of the revaluation and our future. We talked about how we could help our children and how we could help others with the money. We found we had a lot in common. He is now my trading partner and we talk almost daily.

The dinar may never revalue and I think I'm okay with that. Don't get me wrong, I hope it does and soon, but if it doesn't my life has been so richly blessed already that it will just be icing on the cake.

I'm not one to share my thoughts very often but I wanted to let someone know how much I have benefited from just being made aware of the dinar.       

http://dinarvets.com/forums/index.php?/topic/137949-dinar-has-changed-my-life/#ixzz2GuFSe9SR


It's great to dream Marlys, so long as those dreams have some basis in reality.  Getting rich off of "the RV" isn't realistic.  The best dream is the one where you can roll your sleeves up, go to work, and make it a reality.  You seem to have a firm grasp on that.  Congrats!
 
Have a happy and prosperous new year everybody!

Seasons Greetings!

Yes, I'm still alive.  Just devoting my time and energy to other things these days.  Despite my dinar detox program I must admit that I do still follow some of the douchebaggery in the dinar forums and conference calls, but not with the interest I once had.  But, this being the season for giving I figured I'd take a few minutes to offer my comments on some of what I've heard and observed. 

First, it seems that since Brad Huebner and Rudy Coenen were indicted for fraud that some of the pumpers have suddenly become quite shy, while others have decided to drop the notion of a big RV.  The popular theory now is that the dinar will be allowed to float.  By speculating on a float the gurus can sidestep the legal quagmire of misrepresenting the CBI's currency reform plan.  That was part of the case for fraud presented against Brad and Rudy.  Instead the gurus can now just say that Iraq won't follow through with the CBI's plan but will float the IQD until it returns to its former valuation. 

Before I continue let me review what was stated in the indictment.  Under the "General Allegations" section we find the following:

7. The term "revaluation" (casually shortened to "RV" in dinar-sales parlance), refers to the contention that at some point in the near future, the dinar will rise against the U.S. dollar, a circumstance which will enrich earlier purchasers of the dinar.  BRADFORD HUEBNER, CHARLES EMMENECKER, RUDOLPH COENEN and MICHAEL TEADT repeatedly advanced claims to potential investors over the telephone, through web pages, and through a weekly internet conference call that even relatively small investors in the dinar would, following the "revaluation" or "RV", become wealthy overnight.

8. A "redenomination" of the dinar refers to an actual proposal by the Central Bank of Iraq, announced as recently as June 21, 2011, to re-print the currency to remove three zeroes from the physical dinar banknotes as a matter of convenience.  A redenomination of the Iraqi currency would not lead to a revaluation by the same amount, and may have no effect on the currency's value.  Under a redenomination, a new currency replaces an old currency, but the value remains the same.  Under the proposed redenomination, the Iraqi government would issue a new dinar note that will be equivalent to 1000 current dinars.  The exchange rate would be 1.17 new dinars to the dollar, equivalent to 1,170 current dinars to the dollar.

http://www.realscam.com/attachments/f12/1576d1348185792-bayshore-capital-investments-bh-group-bhgroup_indictment.pdf


Some dinarians have read this and still cling to the big RV fantasy, dismissing the wording in the indictment as "smoke".  Folks, you don't put a case like this together without making sure it's solid.  If there was any chance that Iraq would revalue their currency to any substantial amount the prosecution wouldn't have included any reference to it in the case for fraud IMO.  They would just prosecute them on the hedge fund and money laundering stuff.   

So we can see here that in the case for fraud the indictment lists the misrepresentation of the CBI's proposal to remove three zeroes (a redenomination or "lop") as an RV that will make investors wealthy overnight.  Some of these gurus took notice and quit saying that we're gonna be rich when they remove the zeros.  Thus the float theory.

The problems with the float theory are numerous.  First of all, countries as unstable as Iraq don't float their currencies as a rule.  It would hurt their economy to subject the dinar to the volatility that a free float would present.   

Secondly, nothing in Iraq's history suggests that the official value of the dinar is being artificially held down.  To the contrary, it appears that it is being propped up considering the difficulty Iraq has had in keeping the market price in the same ballpark as the official value as it fluctuates from 1200-1300 IQD to the dollar.  The often touted story from 2004 about the CBI buying back dollars with dinar to keep the dinar from appreciating too much was a reference to the market price, not the official value.  Remember, the IQD is pegged to the USD so the official value can't appreciate apart from a decree from the CBI.  It has been eight years since they had any concerns about the market price going too high in Iraq.  The problem now is the value going too low. 

Additionally, a float does nothing to reduce the money supply, which is the reason the dinar's value is so low in the first place.  Until the money supply is significantly reduced a float would likely result in depreciation rather than appreciation. 

It is my belief that when the CBI makes a reference to floating the value of the dinar they're either talking about a managed float of a few % with the official value or they're talking about raising the market price via the auctions by manipulating the money supply within Iraq.  They have no intention of putting the dinar on a free float in the international market IMO. 


Another issue that keeps coming up is the Feasibility Study from the Ministry of Planning in Iraq.  Supposedly this study shows us the real value of the dinar at $3.20 but they can't come right out of the gate that high.  They need to RV to something like $1.13 and then slowly float up to $3.20. 

I would like to put this Feasibility Study/Justification Report nonsense to rest once and for all.  It has nothing to do with the IQD.  It refers to the official value of the dinar as $3.20 but the dinar's official value has been less than a tenth of a penny since 1995 according to the CBI website, so it has to be at least 17 years old.  I think you'll find that the study was published in 1984 and revised in 1990 regarding the old Saddam dinar (thanks to Brian for the info on this). 

From the website for the Ministry of Planning we read:

In turn, The Guidance For Technical And Economic Feasibility Studies And Post-Project Assessment Of Development Project (Regulations No. 1 for the Year of 1984 and it’s amendment for the year of 1990) has specifies a series of steps to be undertaken, which lead to the completion of a Capital Budget.

http://www.mop.gov.iq/mop/index.jsp?sid=1&id=295&pid=259

Then if you click on the 7th link that says "The Exchange Rate of Foreign Currency in Economic Feasibility Studies" you will find the study in question.

The real value of the IQD is not $3.20.  It's not $1.13.  It's not $.86.  It's a tenth of a penny.  According to the CBI website's financials there's 72 trillion dinar in the M2 money supply.  This study was conducted when Iraq's money supply was measured in the billions, not trillions, so it makes no sense to base any analysis or investment decisions on anything in this report. 


Then there's the dong.  When all else fails pump the dong.  Think about it, folks.  Vietnam has had over 35 years to raise the value of their currency.  And it keeps going down.  Why?  Because they want it to, that's why. 

"The government has pushed to lower the value of the Dong in the hopes of pushing up exports and fostering export oriented economic growth (also referred to as export led development)."

Vietnam's economy is growing, and countries with emerging economies like this prefer a depreciating currency to an appreciating one so that they can pay their debt with cheaper currency and increase their exports.

Prior to the 1970s most mortgages in the US were fixed-rate mortgages.  In other words, the homeowner paid the same interest rate for the duration of the mortgage.  When double-digit inflation hit in the late 70s many homeowners were paying 7 or 8% interest on homes that were appreciating at nearly 15% a year and interest rates were higher than that.  Lenders were losing money and the homeowners were loving every minute of it because they were paying off the mortgage with cheaper dollars on a home that was rapidly increasing in value.  Lenders were actually bribing them to refinance.  This is what led to the emergence of ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgages).  Lenders wanted to cover their arses in the event of an unforseen recurrence of high inflation.   

In the same way countries like Vietnam can pay their bills with cheaper currency by allowing it to depreciate somewhat, so long as it doesn't get out of control.  The only reason Vietnam would have for raising the value of their currency is if inflation was a concern like it was in Iraq from 2006-2009 when they were raising the value of the IQD by about 9% a year.  Believe it or not neither Iraq, Vietnam, nor any other country is going to raise the value of their currency just to put wads of cash in the pockets of speculators.  That's a shocker, huh?


There's a few other topics being bandied about in the dinar world like Ban Ki-moon and Chapter 7 (irrelevant), and the Kurds (ditto).  Breitling is telling people that Germany's currency returned to its pre-war value in eight years so Iraq is dragging their feet a bit. In fact the German deutschemark didn't "return" to anything. It replaced the pre-war currency the German reichsmark in 1948 so any notion that a currency can return to its pre-war value without a redenomination isn't supported by the history of the deutschemark. FootForward is telling people that hedge funds drove the Kuwaiti dinar up to $9 after the Kuwaiti "RV" in 1991 which is about as accurate as his World Series prediction.  BGG is still talking about Maliki, Shabibi, Barzani, Talabani, Allawi and everybody else in the GOI and CBI who might have something to do with Iraq's currency reform, as if any of this is going to lead to substantial profits for any of BGG's listeners.  And the dinar?  Well, last I checked it hasn't done diddly.  That's a shocker too, huh?  I actually thought that removing Shabibi might bring about some increase in the dinar's value but it looks like his replacement is content to leave it be.

This is the time of year when gurus traditionally start setting dates and telling everybody it's going to be a very Merry Christmas and a very prosperous New Year (read BIG RV!!!).  And of course the holidays come and go and ..... nada!  Just a reminder of what to expect.

Last year I wrote a post called A Letter to Santa in which I asked to see some pumpers go to jail.  Well Santa delivered four indictments in September so he's halfway there.  Good job, Santa!  Now I am making the same request this Christmas.  How about a few more indictments in 2013?  You can do it, you jolly old elf!  I know you can!   

Merry Christmas everybody!