End to Iraq’s political impasse nears

President of the Kurdistan Regional Government Masud Barzani speaks to the press in Baghdad on Thursday. Mr. Barzani confirmed the Kurds, the bloc that came in fourth place in the election, will retain the presidency the second highest position in Iraq's political structure. Photo: AP.

Iraq’s eight months of political deadlock appeared to be coming to an end on Thursday after a complex agreement was reached between parties, paving the way for the formation of a new government.

Elected officials are set to convene Parliament later in the day to appoint a speaker, setting in motion the final steps towards a tentative power—sharing deal between Iraq’s multiple political, religious and ethnic groups.

It would be only the second session of parliament since the March elections, with the first session in July lasting less than 20 minutes.

Leading politicians from all major parties at a meeting late Wednesday in Baghdad appeared to have agreed to form a broad—based administration with Nuri al—Maliki, from the Shiite—led Dawa party, staying on as prime minister.

Politicians had agreed that “the presidency of Iraq will belong to a Kurd,” Massoud Barzani, president of the northern autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, said in a televised address on Thursday morning.

Sources in the capital said former prime minister Iyad Allawi’s secular Iraqiya List, the largest party in parliament with 91 members, would get the foreign minister’s portfolio and most likely grab the role of speaker of parliament.

The Iraqiya List had nominated high—profile Sunni member Osama al— Nujaifi to take the post of speaker, Iraqiya spokesperson Haidar al— Mula said according to regional news network al—Jazeera.

Once a speaker is chosen, the parliament can move toward naming a new president, who would then have the job of appointing a prime minister, according to the country’s constitution.

Mr. Al—Maliki, who heads the broader Shiite—majority State of Law coalition, which won 89 of the 325 seats in elections in March, exuded confidence on Wednesday.

“We will not only experience the birth of a new government but even the beginning of the rebuilding of the Iraqi state,” he said.

However, al—Iraqiya, which had been hoping its leader Mr. Allawi would get the premiership still showed signs of dissatisfaction within its ranks as details of the power—sharing deal were released.

“We are the largest faction, according to the election results, and if the others have divided the positions among themselves, that would mean that democracy in Iraq is over,” said Mr. Abdul Qadir Mahdi, an Iraqiya List parliamentarian.

The party’s leadership was said to be meeting to discuss its final position on the power—sharing deal.

Iraq set a world record with its 249 days of failing to form a government.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article880127.ece

Q & A - Monetary Progress in Iraq ... Currency ...

Not sure who wrote this ... but it's someone's analysis about this investment. IMO, it's a very worthwhile read.
...................................future city in Iraq

Iraq's Currency ~

_*Will the Iraq's Currency be revalued?
_*When will Iraq's Currency be revalued?
_*How will the Iraqi Currency be revalued?

1) Iraq is an extremely wealthy country when you look at their natural resources and potential GDP. The expert consensus is that Iraq has at least the second largest oil reserves and natural gas reserves in the world. There is strong speculation that Iraq actually has the largest oil and natural gas reserves in the world. Additionally, many people don’t realize that oil from Iraq is some of the world’s cheapest oil to drill and refine—the oil is very “rich” and close to the surface with few impurities or hindrances to drilling. (Oct. 4, 2010 Iraq Announces Jump in Oil Reserves ...)

2) Iraq’s cost of production per barrel of oil is minimal compared to other world oil producers. This all means that Iraq’s profit margins on their oil production are some of the highest in the world. Additionally, Iraq has a vast agricultural system and abundant fresh water supplies from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers---Iraq is known as the “Bread Basket of the Middle East.” Moreover, Iraq has a large and traditionally hardworking productive population. The bottom line is that Iraq has staggering wealth in natural resources and tremendous GNP and GDP.

The country of Iraq will not be allowed to decay into a state of instability. Iraq is not Somalia, Vietnam or Rwanda -- It is a strategic Middle Eastern country with tremendous potential wealth. It is in the best interest of every Western country and most Middle Eastern countries for Iraq to succeed as an independent stable economy and country. No Western or Middle Eastern country is going to stand by while Iraqi’s vast oil reserves and wealth fall under the control of a neighboring rouge country or insurgency---it just won’t happen.

3) The political and economic powers of the world are doing everything possible to stabilize Iraq and bring their economy in line with the rest of the world as soon as possible---this is in the best interest of all nations.

World leaders understand that wealth and prosperity in a country lead to stability and increased productivity---people don’t revolt when their needs are being met and their quality of life is improving. One of the fastest ways to stabilize a country is to increase its wealth and the quality of life for the population as soon as possible. The cost of increasing an entire population’s wealth is much less than the cost of war and widespread instability in the oil-rich nations of the Middle East.

4) The history of the Iraqi Dinar demonstrates strong potential for growth. At one time, the Iraqi Dinar was worth over 3000 times ($3.20/Iraqi Dinar to <.001/Iraqi Dinar) what it is currently worth, while at the same time oil (Iraq’s largest natural resource) was selling for approximately $15 per barrel -- less than 1/5th of today’s price.

5) Excluding rogue nations (Iran, Syria, and other nations as defined by the US), the lowest exchange rates in the Middle East for countries like Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Israel, etc are no lower than $.26 per Dinar, Sheqel, Dirham, Rial, Riyal, etc. If the value of the Iraqi Dinar increased in value to just the lowest valued currency of the mainstream Middle Eastern countries, it would result in a 260 times increase in value. More simply stated, 1 million Iraqi Dinar purchased for approximately $1000 US dollars today would be worth $260,000 US dollars if the Iraqi Dinar were valued at $.26 US Dollars—the lowest current valuation for a mainstream Middle Eastern country. If the Iraqi Dinar were to reach a value equivalent to its historical rate of $3.20 US dollars per Iraqi Dinar, the value of an approximate $1000 US dollar Iraqi Dinar investment for 1 million Iraqi Dinar would be worth $3,200,000 US Dollars. As a note, the current exchange rate for the Kuwaiti Dinar is $3.44 US dollars for 1 Kuwait Dinar---it would take $3,440,000.00 US Dollars to purchase 1 million Kuwaiti Dinar.

6) Since its inception in late 2003, the Iraqi Dinar has steadily increased in value—indicating a recovering economy and increase in conversion of natural wealth resources. The bottom line is that the Iraqi Dinar is currently at an extremely low valuation compared to the US Dollar. The currency has steadily increased in value since inception in late 2003.

Iraq is a country with phenomenal wealth potential; and additionally, has the backing and support of the major political and economic powers of the world. There currently seems to be minimal risk that the Iraqi Dinar will decrease in value. The tremendous potential upside return compared to the minimal downside risk seems to make the Iraqi Dinar a compelling investment opportunity worth investigating.

One compelling speculation that may relate to the value increase of the Iraqi Dinar is the actual amount of Iraqi Dinar being held by the United States Treasury Department. A significant increase in the value of the Iraqi Dinar would more than pay for cost of recent US war efforts in the Middle East and greatly alleviate the tremendous debt recently initiated by the US Government. The US Government’s current runaway spending seems to suggest that the US Treasury Department is expecting a massive windfall in the near future that will cover debt. Although this theory seems logical and despite the fact that this theory is parroted by many, this speculation can not be confirmed.

In determining when the Iraqi Dinar will increase in value, all indicators point toward something happening in the near future (next 12 months) if not the very near future (next 3 months). The appreciation of the Iraqi Dinar has been unprecedentedly flat over the past 8 months despite low Iraqi inflation and a weakening US economy and US dollar. The Iraqi economy has been on a continual surge of economic growth for the past couple of years as Iraq has continued to stabilize and rebuild.

The news coming out of Iraq from numerous returning military members with various reliable sources indicates a rapid move and increase in valuation occurring prior to, or in conjunction with US troop reductions. Indicators also point to an increase in the Iraqi Dinar exchange rate occurring prior to, or shortly after Iraqi elections.

It appears that administratively, the IMF, WTO, and other world financial entities are working in close conjunction with the Iraqi Government to bring Iraq’s financial system online with the rest of the world. The expectation is that the Iraqi Dinar will soon be freely traded through banks worldwide---further accelerating their recovery and economy, and adding to overall stability.

To answer the question of “How” and “How high?” the Iraqi Dinar will revaluate, some speculation is in order. Based on historical precedents, an initial sudden significantly (overnight/over weekend) high revaluation seems very possible. This initial move could be anywhere along the entire spectrum of rumored possibilities from $.01 to $1.49.

After this initial revaluation, it seems likely there will be numerous significant incremental increases in valuation over a period of time. This continual increase in value after an initial base valuation will prevent an overwhelming surge on the world financial system. By incrementally increasing the value of the dinar, it will limit the number and amount of Iraqi Dinar exchanges as many investors and currency traders will choose to hold their Iraqi Dinar or purchase more as they anticipate further valuation increases.

In other words, a steady increase in the value of the Iraqi Dinar will create a free flowing market as some investors cash-out, others hold on, and others purchase Iraqi Dinar for the first time.

Author unknown ... Don't ask for link

Buckle up.

As I type this, a flurry of activity is taking place within security and financial circles around the world. Normally, this would signify just another busy day in the hard-working quarters of modern defence and finance, however this time there is good reason to suspect that the world may be about to witness something historic.
If not something violent, then certainly something spectacular.
I’m not going to waste time on a long, detailed post. Instead, I’m going to present the data, the facts and the patterns. Then I’m going to make you make up your own mind.
First are the financial movements that preceded the security movements, starting with the CNN Money report on October 1st, which shows an unusual .15 yield on treasury bonds. Basically, investors are betting big time on ‘you know what’ hitting the fan shortly.
Digging a little deeper we begin to see something interesting emerge. As of closing (again, October 1) on Friday, we see some unusually high option volume reported in Schaeffer’s Investment Research supporting this trend.
The S&P traders seemed to be on the bandwagon too. This video showing massive “put” options on the S&P for October speaks for itself.
It was only today that it became clear to many that the world economy is actually decoupling from the U.S, fleeing the sinking ship while it still can. In that industry, you look out for yourself.
To top it off, the other global capital of modern finance, London, has even worse news. According to an economic think-tank and Sky News, the UK is on the cusp of a second banking failure.
Now whether all of these events are pointing towards the same thing or not, the theme of something big happening soon is replete throughout the media lately. We should not be scared, nor should we panic. We must take a step back and look carefully at what is going on so that we can assess what, and where, the real danger actually is.
With the unusual activity happening in one place, we could be mistaken for missing the events unfolding in another.
That other place is Western Europe.
This week, the United States and Britain issued a strong travel warning to European-bound tourists. Without offering specifics, they said the threat was “high” and “imminent”, raising more questions than it answered. Yes, this happens from time to time and in most cases nothing comes of it.
That’s why when Japan issued an extremely rare travel warning to its citizens, this developing story suddenly became a lot more interesting to me. An official at the foreign ministry in Tokyo said that the warning “was not prompted by any specific intelligence but by the previous British and American alerts.”
Make of it what you will, but the key phrase here is “unusually rare travel warning”.
So, in summary, we’ve got massive bets on a bumpy ride ahead by prominent investors on the back of warnings concerning imminent terrorist attacks in Europe.
Surely one can’t be blamed if his ears XXXX up. We will hear of wars and rumours of war (or stock market crashes, terrorist attacks, etc, etc)
But rumours aside, something big is about to happen.

Reval is starting October 17th 2010!!!

Get your Iraqi Dinar ready! From inside sources, the reval of the Iraqi Dinar will begin October 17th 2010.

Check back soon for details on how to cash in.

Congratulations, it was worth the wait!