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A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within. The essential causes of the Roman decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggles and failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, and consuming wars.
–The Story of Civilization III (1944)
"Mischief springs from the power which the monied interest derives from a paper currency which they are able to control, and from the multitude of corporations with exclusive privileges…which are employed for their benefit."
–Andrew Jackson
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Just this headline is heart breaking. Can’t you feel the pain of these people? Hundreds of them are seeking work to feed their families and to maintain some dignity. Then you see these financial houses paying unprecedented bonuses.
They tell us to get over it. I can’t go any further on that.
What comes around goes around with life eventually being a perfect balance. These criminals are damned.
When I went to work for the First of Michigan Corporation as a trader in the December month the firm gave me a $50 Christmas bonus. I was grateful for it as I anticipated nothing.
My heart breaks when I read about Main Street. My blood boils when I see and hear Wall Street. I find F-TV totally incredible. It is nothing more than a group of mad men and women spinning the web of the destruction of their own country.
$13 an Hour? 500 Sign Up, 1 Wins a Job
By MICHAEL LUO
Published: October 21, 2009
BURNS HARBOR, Ind. — As soon as the job opening was posted on the afternoon of Friday, July 10, the deluge began.
C.R. England, a nationwide trucking company, needed an administrative assistant for its bustling driver training school here. Responsibilities included data entry, assembling paperwork and making copies.
It was a bona-fide opening at a decent wage, making it the rarest of commodities here in northwest Indiana, where steel industry layoffs have helped drive unemployment to about 10 percent.
When Stacey Ross, C. R. England’s head of corporate recruiting, arrived at her desk at the company’s Salt Lake City headquarters the next Monday, she found about 300 applications in the company’s e-mail inbox. And the fax machine had spit out an inch-and-a-half thick stack of résumés before running out of paper. By the time she pulled the posting off Careerbuilder.com later in the day, she guessed nearly 500 people had applied for the $13-an-hour job. “It was just shocking,” she said. “I had never seen anything so big.”
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
There are rumors that Indonesia Central Bank was not alone in this recent experience.
Indonesia c.bank receives no bids in reverse repo
(AFX UK Focus) 2009-10-22 10:13
JAKARTA, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Indonesia’s central bank failed to absorb any funds from its 21-day and 66-day reverse repo auctions on Thursday as there were no incoming bids. The central bank, Bank Indonesia, had aimed to absorb a total of 2 trillion rupiah ($212.4 million) of excess cash from commercial banks by selling series of treasury bills and fixed-rate bonds. In its latest such auctions, Bank Indonesia absorbed 500 billion rupiah through its 21-day reverse repo auction and received no bids from the auction of 66-day reverse repo. The central bank held 22.08 trillion rupiah worth of tradeable rupiah government bonds as of October 20, down from 23.36 trillion rupiah at the end of September, finance ministry data showed. ($1 = 9,415 rupiah) (Reporting by Sonya Angraini; Editing by Sara Webb)
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Day by day the plan unfolds. Economics beats war.
Wall Street owns the US, but China is going to own the world. Wall Street has no plan beyond their immediate pocket book.
Long term to Wall Street is less than it takes to say it. It is good Russia does not have a long term plan to work. Those guys are really mean.
What is the use of knowing all this?
China’s first ‘overseas’ bond attracts strong demand
By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
Oct. 21, 2009, 2:54 a.m. EDT
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The Chinese Foreign Ministry said late Tuesday that its first-ever yuan-denominated bond sale outside mainland China was three times oversubscribed.
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The Chinese Foreign Ministry said late Tuesday that its first-ever yuan-denominated bond sale outside mainland China was three times oversubscribed.
The sale in Hong Kong amounted to 6 billion yuan ($880 million) worth of two-, three- and five-year issues, the ministry said in a statement.
It attracted about 18 billion yuan worth of orders, including close to 150,000 applications from individual investors, it said.
Bank of Communications senior fixed-income dealer Midas Chu was quoted in a Dow Jones Newswires report as saying the "very satisfactory" results demonstrate yuan bonds’ popularity in Hong Kong.
"This would encourage [mainland] China to issue more on a regular basis in the future," Chu was quoted as saying.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
The question is this because of great growth of the West as MOPE would have us believe or is it the passing of the leadership baton to the East and the death of the dollar? I think the latter combination is the answer.
BHP’s Argus Sees ‘Unprecedented Growth’ for Minerals
By Rebecca Keenan
Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) — BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, said demand for minerals is on the verge of “unprecedented growth” as China and India drive consumption.
“To support Asia’s increased demand for natural resources, we need to increase our resource production,” Don Argus, 71, chairman of BHP, said today in a speech at a lunch in Melbourne.
BHP yesterday reported record first-quarter production of iron ore as steel companies resume output at mills in China, Europe and the U.S. on signs of recovery in the global economy. Commodities, as measured by the Reuters/Jefferies CRB index of 19 commodities, have gained 24 percent this year.
“We stand at the threshold of an era of unprecedented growth due to demand generated by China and, in the future, India,” said Argus, who is scheduled to retire and will be succeeded by Jac Nasser as chairman in early 2010. “One of the statistics that gives me that confidence is steel consumption per capita or steel intensity.”
Melbourne-based BHP dropped 0.4 percent to A$39.66 at the 4:10 p.m. Sydney time on the Australian stock exchange.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
The difference between Wall Street and reality is infinite.
The pain in Main Street is excruciating. The joy in Greenwich is over the top.
It is going to collide. History tells us that.
Losing their lifeline – 7,000 a day
As the Senate debates whether to extend unemployment benefits, more than 200,000 jobless Americans are set to see their checks stop in October.
By Tami Luhby, CNNMoney.com senior writer
October 22, 2009: 3:35 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Another day, another 7,000 people run out of unemployment benefits.
One month after the House passed a bill extending unemployment benefits, the issue is still being debated in the Senate.
Democratic leaders in the Senate introduced a bill two weeks ago to lengthen benefits in all states by 14 weeks. Those that live in states with unemployment greater than 8.5% would receive an additional six weeks.
Senate Republicans, who twice objected to swift passage of the bill by unanimous consent, want to add several amendments. Their requests include paying for the increased benefits with stimulus funds rather than by extending a longstanding federal unemployment tax through June 2011.
While leaders in both parties are trying to negotiate a compromise, Senate Democrats Wednesday evening took a step to limit the debate on the bill and bring it to the floor as early as the end of next week. If it passes, the Senate legislation must then be reconciled with the House version, which extends benefits by 13 weeks for those living in high-unemployment states.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
US Government bonds are upgraded and downgraded every day.
As the dollar rises and falls, dollar instruments are more or less reliable.
Financial integrity, the basic ingredient of worth, is decided on every day in the marketplace.
No one needs Moody’s when you have the Euro and the USDX. The test of the US dollar comes in November 09, not in Moody’s rating discussions four years from now.
U.S. AAA rating not guaranteed
The U.S. could lose its AAA rating if it fails to reduce its deficit over the next 3-4 years, Moody’s says. Steven Hess, Moody’s lead analyst for the U.S., acknowledges reducing the gap won’t be easy: "Raising taxes is never popular and difficult politically, so we have to see if the government can do that or cut expenditures." Earlier this year, markets were spooked after S&P cut its outlook on Britain to Negative from Stable. Meanwhile, Moody’s said today European countries’ rising debt won’t trigger across-the-board downgrades.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
This is critical to those of you with large deposits, CDs or other instruments or commitments with most vulnerable regional banks.
What this teaches you is even if the money is due to you, it will have to be fought for or taken as a settlement lower than what is due. Be advised.
Washington Mutual argues JPMorgan owes it $4 bln
Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:26pm EDT
By Tom Hals
WILMINGTON, Del., Oct 22 (Reuters) – Washington Mutual Inc (WAMUQ.PK) told a federal judge on Thursday that JPMorgan should be forced to return more than $4 billion to the bankrupt holding company, whose bank was seized by regulators and sold to JPMorgan.
Washington Mutual attorneys argued in a bankruptcy court in Delaware that records and depositions show the disputed money was on deposit at the holding company’s banks when they were seized last year in the biggest bank failure in U.S. history.
Washington Mutual Inc is seeking a summary judgment returning the money, while JPMorgan argued the issue needs to go to trial to determine basic facts, such as the nature of the funds.
Attorneys for JPMorgan & Chase Co (JPM.N) and federal regulators described Washington Mutual’s bookkeeping as a "shell game" making it unclear whether the money was a deposit or some other form of transaction, such as a capital contribution.
The judge, Mary Walrath, said she would take the issue under advisement and issue a decision at a later date.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
The only rational conclusion when green shoots are claimed is that we must have a hoard of zombie consumers out there.
Seen any stiffs lately bidding up home prices?
New Unemployment Claims Rise More Than Expected to 531,000
The Labor Department said new jobless claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 531,000 last week, from an upwardly revised 520,000 the previous week. Wall Street economists had expected only a slight increase, according to Thomson Reuters.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
WASHINGTON — The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week, after falling in five of the past six weeks, as employers remain reluctant to hire even with the economy showing signs of recovery.
The Labor Department said Thursday that new jobless claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 531,000 last week, from an upwardly revised 520,000 the previous week. Wall Street economists had expected only a slight increase, according to Thomson Reuters.
Economists closely watch initial claims, which are considered a gauge of layoffs and an indication of companies’ willingness to hire new workers.
The four-week average of claims, which smooths out fluctuations, fell slightly to 532,250, the lowest since mid-January and about 125,000 below the peak for the recession, reached this spring. But claims remain well above the 325,000 that economists say is consistent with a healthy economy.
The number of people continuing to claim benefits did drop for the fifth straight week to 5.9 million, from just over 6 million. The figures on continuing claims lag initial claims by a week.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
There is a new humility everywhere except in Wall Street.
They are so out of touch with reality that the Wall Street guys may really be ALIENS.
This is the bust in the boomtown that banks built
Beneath Charlotte’s shiny skyline, ‘a new humility’
By Binyamin Appelbaum
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
CHARLOTTE — A monument to the financial crisis is rising amid this city’s thicket of skyscrapers: a gleaming, glass-walled trophy tower that was intended as a fitting headquarters for Wachovia’s national banking empire.
It will open instead as the headquarters of a regional power company. Wachovia, unable to survive a run of bad decisions, was swallowed by San Francisco-based Wells Fargo during the depths of the crisis last year.
Few American cities prospered more over the past two decades than Charlotte, its growth propelled and gilded by Wachovia and its crosstown rival, Bank of America. Executives shoehorned gaudy mansions into old neighborhoods around downtown. Workers poured into vast subdivisions on the city’s ever-expanding periphery. With coffers overflowing, giddy public officials spent tax dollars on a manmade river for whitewater rafting.
Now Charlotte is suffering. Unemployment has spiked to 12 percent, well above the national average. Subdivisions sit unfinished. Mansions cannot be sold. The school system, which for years had recruited teachers from shrinking cities such as Detroit, laid off more than 1,000 employees this summer.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Are you concerned about being forced to take the H1N1 flu shot?
Consider the kind, caring, and green alternative.
TASER XREP
The TASER® XREP™ is a self-contained, wireless electronic control device (ECD), that deploys from a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. It delivers a similar Neuro Muscular Incapacitation (NMI) bio-effect as our handheld TASER® X26™ ECD, but can be delivered to a maximum effective range of 100 feet (30.48 meters), combining blunt impact force. The battery supply is fully integrated into the chassis and provides the power to drive the XREP projectile engine.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
My goodness, it is harsh out there.
Conservatory Lot Sells at Tax Deed Sale for $15,185
Lots in this Ginn community sold originally for $329.9 thousand to $529.9 thousand.
By Toby Tobin
Palm Coast, FL – October 21, 2009 – In its 2005 sales launch, real estate developer Ginn-LA (Bobby Ginn and his financial partner Lubert Adler) sold 337 lots in The Conservatory at Hammock Beach for a total of about $142 million. Buyers anxiously anticipated news that they had been selected to purchase one (or more) lots in a golfing community that was being developed surrounding a Tom Watson signature golf course. Lot prices ranged from $329.9 thousand to $529.9 thousand. As it turns out, the lucky ones were those who were not selected. One lot purchased then for $425.9 thousand was sold yesterday at a Flagler County tax deed sale. The only bidder paid $15,185; the minimum bid to cover back taxes, interest, penalties, and fees.
Of four Conservatory lots originally scheduled to be sold on September 20, two were redeemed or withdrawn prior to the sale, a third was rescheduled for the November sale.
The Conservatory is not representative of the Palm Coast and Flagler County real estate market, but it mirrors what is happening in some Ginn communities. Tesoro and Bella Collina were both fueled by speculative buyers and suffered a similar market collapse. But parts of Ginn’s former empire remain relatively healthy. Hammock Beach (and Ocean Hammock) owners are building homes. The developer, whose local efforts are now managed by a subsidiary of Reynolds Plantation, recently reintroduced unsold condominiums albeit at prices roughly half the original launch prices. Sales, while not brisk, are encouraging.
In spite of the amenities, which include access to the premier Hammock Beach Club, The Conservatory seems unable to gain market traction. It consists of a beautiful Tom Watson designed golf course and magnificent clubhouse, four model homes, and one privately built home. Potential buyers are apparently wary of a community with:
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
They are the buyers on all modest reactions in a step ladder down fashion. One would imagine that they have to be bullish.
COT only loses when it takes on governments. They proved that twice in the 70s in a spectacular way.
Top Chinese miners see rising gold price ahead
China’s leading producers expect gold price to rise further, want metals price stabilisation and better technologies for their operations
Author: John Chadwick
Posted: Wednesday , 21 Oct 2009
TIANJIN, CHINA – China is leading the global mining industry in more ways than one. Both its demand for metals and the capital it is making available to foreign mining companies are benefitting the global mining industry. In a Day 2 keynote session on mining development at the China Mining conference in Tianjin, presenters from three of China’s biggest mining companies expressed their expectation for the gold price to rise further. There was also examination of China’s very significant overseas investment in Australian and Canada and calls for metal price stabilisation and for "changes in iron ore prices to be more rational." Modernisation of the mining industry and better technologies are needed according to a number of the speakers.
The latter comment came from the first speaker in the session, Zhou Zhongshu, President of China Minmetals Corp. He expressed concern at the current iron ore pricing system and asked that future iron ore prices should take into account the price at which the products are sold. He pointed to the steel plants in China that were making a loss.
He had begun by considering the effects of the global financial crisis and noting how companies like his had helped support Australia’s mining industry. He quoted a figure of $9.7 billion that had been invested this year in Australia’s mining industry by the time of the conference. But, he said, companies around the world "need more help in getting capital from China."
He stressed a global need to stabilise prices – "volatility is bad." And, commenting on other countries’ fears about Chinese outward investment, he expressed the view that China believes in open trade. "We need outward investment and it is contributing to the world economy." He asked that no one be afraid of a "China conspiracy."
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Have we not discussed the guarantee is no better than the guarantor for years now?
FDIC Staff Seeks Emergency Debt-Guarantee Program
By MICHAEL R. CRITTENDEN
OCTOBER 20, 2009, 3:45 P.M. ET
WASHINGTON — A government program many believe helped stabilize the fragile banking sector last year will be allowed to expire at the end of October, but firms will have access to a six-month emergency facility.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s debt-guarantee program allowed banks and other firms to issue debt backed by the FDIC for a fee. This allowed banks to have access to short-term funding when markets were frozen last year. Issuing government-backed debt made the investments less risky because if the bank failed, the government would cover losses.
The program still covers $309.4 billion in outstanding bank debt, but banks won’t be able to issue new debt under the program after Oct. 31 except in "clearly unforeseen and unexpected events," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said Tuesday, as the agency finalized its expected decision.
The FDIC would have to approve any firm requesting emergency funds on a case-by-case basis and would reserve the right to impose any condition on those firms it wished, including limits on dividends and executive compensation.
The FDIC has raised more than $9 billion in fees by covering debt through the program. Ms. Bair said winding down the program was "a good sign markets are normalizing and the system is repairing itself."
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Mr. Levitt, it is just another national disgrace. Add it to the pile.
Former SEC Chairman Levitt Calls for Probe of Public Pensions
By Martin Z. Braun and Erik Schatzker
Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) — The former head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said President Barack Obama should empower a “blue ribbon” panel to investigate pay-to- play at public pension funds that oversee more than $2 trillion.
Arthur Levitt called for the panel after California’s $200 billion pension fund disclosed that a former board member was paid $50 million by private equity firms for successfully marketing investments to the fund. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or Calpers, called for a special review of fees paid to middlemen to win state business.
“It’s a national disgrace,” Levitt said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “It’s pervasive. It’s in pension funds all around America, and people are being badly hurt by this.”
State and federal prosecutors in New York and New Mexico are investigating whether money managers illegally paid politically connected placement agents and made political contributions for access to the retirement funds. Carlyle Group, where Levitt is employed as a senior adviser, paid $20 million to resolve a corruption probe by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The firm wasn’t charged.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Let’s see how loud the screams and yells are on this.
U.S. to Order Steep Pay Cuts at Firms That Got Most Aid
By STEPHEN LABATON
Published: October 21, 2009
WASHINGTON — Responding to the furor over executive pay at companies bailed out with taxpayer money, the Obama administration will order the firms that received the most aid to slash compensation to their highest-paid employees, an official involved in the decision said on Wednesday.
The plan, for the 25 top earners at seven companies that received exceptional help, will on average cut total compensation this year by about 50 percent. The companies are Citigroup, Bank of America, American International Group, General Motors, Chrysler and the financing arms of the two automakers.
Some executives, like the top traders at A.I.G., will face tight limits on their pay. In addition, the top-paid employees at all the affected companies will face new limits on their perks.
The plan will also change the form of the pay to align the personal interests of the executives with the longer-term financial health of the companies. For instance, the cash portion of the executives’ salaries will be slashed on average by 90 percent, and the rest will be replaced by stock that cannot be sold for years.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Refer to my comment yesterday (referring to the US dollar market activity) that says if you feel the financial leaders are stupid, you may in fact be the one who is stupid.
Morgan Stanley fears global central banks will ‘monetise’ public debts
Morgan Stanley has warned clients that central banks in high-debt countries may try to stoke inflation as a deliberate policy to rescue governments and tackle the legacy of the crisis.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Published: 7:02PM BST 21 Oct 2009
It said the surge in the public debts of Western countries is comparable to the effects of war, with the big difference this time that aging populations and excess capacity will make it hard to erode the burden through economic growth.
Faced with a Hobson’s choice between inflation and default, central banks may conclude that it is the lesser evil to “monetise” public debt, even if they are independent bodies.
“If the fiscal path is deemed unsustainable, it may be preferable to create limited inflation early on — to nip the debt problem in the bud – rather than to allow a mounting debt burden. We think the risk cannot quite be dismissed out of hand,” said the bank.
This would be a deliberate transfer of wealth from lenders to debtors, a political minefield. It would cause huge losses for bond holders.
Morgan Stanley said any country embarking on this course would risk investor flight. However, the policy might work if carried out openly by setting a higher inflation target for a limited time. “They would not want to scare the horses,” it said.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Further agreement with what I have been telling you for so long.
Niall Ferguson: The Dollar Is Finished And The Chinese Are Dumping It
Joe Weisenthal
Oct. 20, 2009, 2:50 PM
Economic historian Niall Ferguson warns that China’s love affair with the dollar is fading faster than anyone realizes.
TechTicker: "The idea they don’t have anywhere else to go or would shoot themselves in the foot if there were a steep decline in the dollar or appreciation of their currency reassures many people in Washington ‘we can relax’," he says. "An appreciation of the renminbi may reduce value of their international reserves but increases the value of every other asset the Chinese own," most notably the commodity assets they have been buying all over the world.
China’s "current strategy is to diversify out of dollars and into commodities," Ferguson says. Furthermore, China’s recent pact with Brazil to conduct trade in their local currencies is a "sign of the times."
Perhaps most importantly, China’s massive stimulus program is helping to generate internal consumption in the People’s Republic, meaning local manufacturers are less dependent on exports. Because of the "rapid growth" of Chinese domestic consumption, Ferguson predicts China’s international trade surplus could be gone by next year.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
You think we need a consumer protection body that really works?
Latest bank fee is for paying off credit card on time every month
By Sandra Block, USA TODAY
You floss regularly, yield to oncoming traffic and use your credit cards judiciously, dutifully paying off your balance every month.
You may believe that your exemplary behavior shields you from unexpected credit card fees. Sadly, that is no longer the case.
Starting next year, Bank of America will charge a small number of customers an annual fee, ranging from $29 to $99. The bank has characterized the fee as experimental. But card holders who have never carried a balance or paid late fees could be among those affected.
Citigroup, meanwhile, has started charging annual fees to card holders who don’t put more than a specific amount on their cards, typically $2,400 a year. Other banks are charging inactivity fees if customers don’t use their credit cards during a specific period of time. You heard that right: You could be spanked for staying out of debt.
These fees are the credit card industry’s response to credit card legislation that will, among other things, restrict credit card issuers’ ability to raise interest rates on existing balances. Credit card issuers are looking for ways to raise income before the new rules take effect in February. During the first quarter, 27% of credit card offers included annual fees, up from 18% a year earlier, according to Synovate Mail Monitor, a credit card direct-mail tracking service.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
How else on Earth do you think this growing mountain of debt can be satisfied?
French official says U.S. trying to inflate away debt
10.20.09, 06:30 AM EDT
PARIS, Oct 20 (Reuters) – The United States is pumping out liquidity to try to inflate away its debt, leading to the depreciation of the U.S. dollar, Henri Guaino, a top advisor to French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday.
He told reporters on the sidelines of a conference of Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party that the United States was ‘flooding the world with liquidity’.
Guaino worried about a risk of an inflationary cycle.
‘Historically, we have only ever got out of such situations with inflation. We can also get out with deflation, but it’s much more painful politically, socially,’ he said.
‘How can we stop the depreciation against the euro, if not by creating euros? The result is that you create inflation.’
But ‘if we lose control of inflation and there is hyperinflation, it’s a catastrophe for everyone,’ he added.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Please add this to your list of things to focus on when you here reverse repo, testing the waters for draining liquidity, cutting down on QE or it isn’t a second stimulus plan it is just an elongation of the first stimulus plan.
7 Months After Stimulus 49 of 50 States Have Lost Jobs
America Now Over 6 Million Jobs Shy of Administration’s Projections
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The table below compares the White House’s February 2009 projection of the number of jobs that would be created by the 2009 stimulus law (through the end of 2010) with the actual change in state payroll employment through September 2009 (the latest figures available). According to the data, 49 States and the District of Columbia have lost jobs since stimulus was enacted. Only North Dakota has seen net job creation following the February 2009 stimulus. While President Obama claimed the result of his stimulus bill would be the creation of 3.5 million jobs, the Nation has already lost a total of 2.7 million – a difference of 6.2 million jobs. To see how stimulus has failed your state, see the table below.
Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
Here is another report on the ALBA. Soon Iceland will be dumping the dollar.
Latin America plans US dollar replacement
Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:13:51 GMT
Leftist Latin American leaders have agreed on using a new intra- regional trading currency, dubbed as Sucre, instead of the US dollar.
Bolivian President Evo Morales, who hosted leaders of the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean (ALBA), said that the “document is approved.”
During the seventh ALBA summit, the leaders agreed on the currency reform as well as approving plans to impose economic sanctions against the coup leaders in Honduras, AFP reported.
The currency, Sucre, is named after Jose Antonio de Sucre who fought for Spain’s independence alongside Venezuelan hero Simon Bolivar in the early 19th century.
Sucre is scheduled to be rolled out in 2010 in a non-paper form.
