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 Foreign Affairs / A Surprising Explanation Of Russia's Invasion From A Former Top-level CIA Offici by naijapower(m): 6:55am On Mar 08, 2022 |
BY TYLER DURDEN TUESDAY, MAR 08, 2022 - 03:00 AM A surprising op-ed in MSNBC arguing that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was likely "preventable" if the US and NATO had merely tried to take a path of muscular diplomacy and potential compromise appears to have slipped passed the mainstream media censors and gate-keepers. Since the start of the Thursday Feb.24 invasion, the prevailing narrative concerning Russia's motives has been largely limited to an ultra-simplistic hollywoodwesque story that goes something like this: one day a big bully and monster named Putin decided he wanted to invade and kill people in a neighboring country, and that he further wants to "resurrect the old Soviet Union". But in a refreshingly realist op-ed piece, MSNBC political columnist Zeeshan Aleem exposed the self-serving Washington narrative which was intended more for the consumption of masses as false. Aleem points to a much more complex and nuanced reality, reminding the public of what should be obvious to any student of history - that the top diplomats and US officials who oversaw post-Soviet negotiations with Russia over Europe's security order in the 1990's knew full well that if NATO ever got expanded up to Russia's borders, it would be suicide. It was predicted decades ago that war would be triggered in such a scenario. As the political relations professor and scholar John Mearsheimer put it in 2015, "What’s going on here is that the West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path, and the end result is that Ukraine is going to get wrecked." Relying on some of these past scholars and US statesmen, the recent MSNBC piece describes a war that could have easily been avoided: The fact that the NATO status question was not put on the table as Putin signaled that he was serious about an invasion — so plainly that the U.S. government was spelling it out with day-by-day updates — was an error, and potentially a catastrophic one. It may sound cruel to suggest that Ukraine could be barred, either temporarily or permanently, from entering a military alliance it wants to be in. But what’s more cruel is that Ukrainians might be paying with their lives for the United States’ reckless flirtation with Ukraine as a future NATO member without ever committing to its defense. After all, the columnist points out, it was hugely unlikely that Ukraine would have ever become a NATO member for many years to come anyway, given that Article 5 necessitates that any potential member must have control over their own borders. Of course, given the Donbass conflict which has raged since 2014, this alone would preclude Kiev's entry. But neither Brussels nor Washington was interested in "losing face" or making any level of concessions to Moscow, and now Ukrainians are suffering immensely after for years they were promised a "path" to NATO: But for the West to offer to compromise on Ukraine’s future entry into NATO would have required admitting the limitations of Western power. "It was the desire of Western governments not to lose face by compromising with Russia," Anatol Lieven, senior research fellow on Russia and Europe at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and the author of “Ukraine and Russia: A Fraternal Rivalry,” told me. "But it was also the moral cowardice of so many Western commentators and officials and ex-officials who would not come out in public and admit that this was no longer a viable project." ..."Cowardice" which was no doubt linked to the climate of accusations of "everyone's a Russian agent!" if they don't fall in line to the dominant narrative of the past five years since the Trump-Russiagate claims. The MSNC op-ed further includes some stunning commentary from a former top level CIA analyst: "The choice that we faced in Ukraine — and I'm using the past tense there intentionally — was whether Russia exercised a veto over NATO involvement in Ukraine on the negotiating table or on the battlefield," said George Beebe, a former director of Russia analysis at the CIA and special adviser on Russia to former Vice President Dick Cheney. The CIA's Beebe follows with this almost unbelievable line: "And we elected to make sure that the veto was exercised on the battlefield, hoping that either Putin would stay his hand or that the military operation would fail." Again this illustrates perfectly Mearsheimer's prior prediction: "...the West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path, and the end result is that Ukraine is going to get wrecked." George Kennan, the living legend who had fathered America’s policy of containment against the Soviet Union, called NATO expansion “a strategic blunder of potentially epic proportions.” Thomas Friedman, America’s most prominent foreign policy columnist, declared it the “most ill-conceived project of the post-Cold War era.” Daniel Patrick Moynihan, widely considered the most erudite member of the US Senate, warned, “We have no idea what we’re getting into.” John Lewis Gaddis, the dean of America’s Cold War historians, noted that, “historians—normally so contentious—are in uncharacteristic agreement: with remarkably few exceptions, they see NATO enlargement as ill-conceived, ill-timed, and above all ill-suited to the realities of the post-Cold War world.” And now tragically the world is witnessing the blowback, suffered most intensely and immediately by the very Ukrainian people that NATO powers claimed to have wanted to protect. 1 Like |
| Foreign Affairs / Putin Orders Companies To Make Debt Payments To Foreign Creditors In Rubles by naijapower(m): 9:28am On Mar 07, 2022 |
knowledge is profitable to direct. Last week, following reports that as part of its countersanctions, the Russian central bank had banned payments to foreign owners of ruble bonds known as OFZ, we said that it was now just a matter of days if not hours, before Russia was in technical default (similar to what happened in 1998 when a Russian default led to the collapse of a little-known hedge fund known LTCM, which was bailed out and ushered in today's era of moral hazard). And sure enough, late on Friday Bloomberg reported that ahead of the weekend foreign holders of Russia’s local-currency government bonds still haven’t received coupon payments three days after they were due, citing financial data provider CBonds and five investors at American and European firms. Russia’s National Settlement Depository received the interest - 11.2 billion rubles ($98 million) on 339 billion rubles of bonds known as OFZs due February 2024 - from the government on Wednesday and paid local investors, they said. But international investors weren’t paid because of the Russian central bank’s order barring foreign payments. “Money is in NSD, payments to Russian bondholders were made,” said Elena Avdonicheva, Head of Russia & CIS Fixed Income Department at CBonds. “Payments to non-residents weren’t made due to government ban, this money is frozen in NSD until further notice. Technically we can expect that money will reach bondholders later.” So is it time to declare Russia officially in default? Not quite yet: local Russian debt has a grace period of 10 working days after the Moscow Stock Exchange (assuming it ever reopens) publishes what it calls a technical default, according to Cbonds. Adding to the confusion, it also unclear if that will happen because technically, Russia paid. “Officially in Russia it is not called a default,” Avdonicheva said. “But if we follow the logic: money hasn’t reached bondholders in the right time and investors couldn’t reinvest coupon payments, then it is a technical default.” Ultimately, the determination of whether or not Russia has defaulted will come from the rating agencies, which will announce some time in mid-March that Russia has entered what is known as "Selective Default", at which point it will be in default across its entire bond universe. Meanwhile, even while Russia did make a partial payment on its reuble-denominated debt, all eyes are now on Russia’s foreign-currency debt, where the government is due to pay more than $100 million of coupons on two dollar bonds on March 16. It also has another interest payment due on March 21 and a $2 billion bond maturing on April 4. International bonds have a 30-day grace period and a failure to pay in that time could trigger credit-default swaps, though there’s concern about whether those would pay out as well. Furthermore, with Russia effectively prohibited from making outbound dollar transactions, a dollar-denominated default is now just a formality. So in an innovative attempt to circumvent this eventuality, on Saturday Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing companies to pay foreign creditors in rubles, even though we doubt any of Russia's foreign creditors have any interest in being paid in rubles which have lost 50% of their value in the past week. The decree establishes temporary rules for sovereign and corporate debtors to make payments to creditors from “countries that engage in hostile activities” against Russia, its companies and citizens. The government will prepare a list of such countries within two days. According to Saturday’s decree on servicing foreign-held debt, payments will be considered executed if they are carried out in rubles at the central bank’s official rate. While most Russian corporate bonds denominated in foreign currencies have plunged to deeply distressed levels in recent days as investors weighed the impact of sanctions imposed on the country in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, on Friday JPMorgan published a list of companies whose bonds it believes are money-good including Lukoil, Novolipetsk Steel and Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel. The Russian government responded to the sanctions by reducing dramatically access to foreign currencies, which could restrict the ability of bondholders to receive interest and principal payments. In a separate announcement on Sunday, the Central Bank of Russia said it will temporarily ease reporting requirements for Russian lenders in an effort to shield them from the pressure of sanctions. Commercial banks will no longer have to publish their monthly accounts on their websites, though they will still have to submit them to the central bank and then can disclose them to counterparties, the regulator said. * * * It's unclear how Putin's orders will take place in practice, as clearing houses Clearstream and Euroclear have stopped accepting the ruble as settlement currency and have excluded all securities issued by Russian entities from all Triparty transactions, barring a traditional channel used to make payments to bondholders. Furthermore, while some of Russia’s foreign sovereign bonds allow payments in rubles, the new measure will pose a big headache for holders of credit-default swaps. That’s because, given the capital controls in Russia and the sanctions, the payment in rubles “may render these bonds out of scope for CDS as ‘obligations’ and ‘deliverable obligations’,” JPMorgan strategists led by Trang Nguyen wrote on Friday. In total, CDS cover a gross $41 billion of Russian debt, according to the DTCC. In any case, an event of default even according to the loosest possible terms is now just at most ten days away - Russia has $117 million worth of coupons on dollar bonds coming due on March 16 that don’t have the option to be paid in rubles, the JPM strategists said. Elsewhere, companies with upcoming maturities of dollar-denominated notes include state oil producer Rosneft PJSC, whose $2 billion bond matures on Sunday, and state-controlled energy giant Gazprom PJSC, which has a $1.3 billion note due on Monday. The latter was already in the process of settling that payment, Bloomberg reported earlier. |
| Investment / US Bank Predicts Gold to lose its universal “store of value " status to Bitcoin by naijapower(m): 5:59am On Jan 06, 2022 |
Gold may soon lose its status as the universal “store of value” to Bitcoin, US bank claims Wall Street bank predicts end of gold era Bitcoin may overtake gold’s market share in 2022, a Goldman Sachs analyst has said in a research note to clients, as cryptocurrencies and digital assets surge in price and attract increasingly more investor interest. According to a list of 2022 predictions from the bank’s analyst Zach Pandl, Bitcoin will “most likely” acquire a bigger piece of the pie in the year to come than its current 20%, which was calculated by comparing the cryptocurrency’s $700 billion market capitalization to the roughly $2.6 trillion worth of gold in global investments. If Bitcoin’s price surpasses $100,000 per coin, it would secure a 50% share of the market, the note stated. “Bitcoin may have applications beyond simply a store of value – and digital asset markets are much bigger than Bitcoin – but we think that comparing its market capitalization to gold can help put parameters on plausible outcomes for Bitcoin returns,” Pandl wrote. The term “store of value” refers to assets that are capable of retaining their worth for a long time without depreciating, like precious metals or certain currencies. According to Coindesk data, Bitcoin was trading around $46,456 at approximately 2pm GMT on Wednesday. The globe’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization had a rough year in 2021, having plunged in price from around $60,000 in April down to near $30,000 in July, before reaching an all-time high of some $69,000 in November. It’s struggled to surpass the $50,000 benchmark in the past few weeks after dropping sharply in December. Still, crypto-enthusiasts and market analysts are optimistic about the coin’s future, with many voicing predictions of Bitcoin hitting the long-awaited six-digit price sometime in 2022. www.rt.com/business/545223-goldman-sachs-bitcoin-gold/ <a href="www.rt.com/business/545223-goldman-sachs-bitcoin-gold/">Wall Street bank predicts end of gold era — RT Business News</a> If Goldman is pimping btc and slamming gold it can mean only one thing. Goldman is trying to buy gold and wants a cheaper price while selling btc and wants a higher price
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| Politics / Foreign Drones Tip The Balance In Ethiopia’s Civil War by naijapower(m): 9:22pm On Dec 21, 2021 |
Nigeria military need drone as it will reduce the high death rate of military personnelWritten by Declan Walsh After Ethiopia’s embattled prime minister pulled off a stunning military victory earlier this month, reversing a rebel march on the capital that threatened to overthrow him, he credited the bravery of his troops. “Ethiopia is proud of your unbelievable heroism,” the jubilant leader, Abiy Ahmed, told his troops on the battlefront at Kombolcha, on Dec. 6. “You were our confidence when we said Ethiopia would never lose.” In reality, the reason for the reversal in Abiy’s fortunes was hovering in the skies above: a fleet of combat drones, recently acquired from allies in the Persian Gulf region and elsewhere who are determined to keep him in power. Over the past four months, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Iran have quietly supplied Abiy with some of the latest armed drones, even as the United States and African governments were urging a cease-fire and peace talks, according to two Western diplomats who have been briefed on the crisis and spoke on condition of anonymity. The motives of Abiy’s suppliers varied: to make money; to gain an edge in a strategic region; and to back a winner in the spiraling conflict that has engulfed Africa’s second most populous nation. But the impact of the drones was striking — pummeling Tigrayan rebels and their supply convoys as they pushed down a major highway toward the capital, Addis Ababa. The rebels have since retreated roughly 270 miles by road to the north, erasing months of battlefield gains. On Sunday, the Tigray leader, Debretsion Gebremichael, told the United Nations he had ordered an immediate withdrawal of all forces to the borders of Tigray, citing, among other factors, “the drones provided by foreign powers.” In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Debretsion called for a cease-fire followed by peace talks. “We trust that our bold act of withdrawal will be a decisive opening for peace,” he wrote. On Monday, his spokesperson said that a wave of Ethiopian airstrikes inside Tigray had killed 18 civilians and wounded 11. An Ethiopian government spokesperson did not respond to questions about the use of drones. The demonstration of drone power confirmed that Ethiopia’s year-old conflict, largely a regional affair until now, has been internationalized. And it adds the country to a growing list of conventional conflicts, like those in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, where combat drones have become a significant factor in the fight, or even the dominant one. “Increasingly, unmanned systems are becoming a game changer,” said Peter W. Singer, an expert on drone warfare at New America, a research group in Washington. “It’s not just about the raw capability of the drones themselves — it’s the multiplying effect they have on nearly every other human and system on the battlefield.” For Abiy, the drones arrived just in time. He launched a military campaign in Tigray in November 2020, a year after he won the Nobel Peace Prize, in coordination with the leader of neighboring Eritrea. But his forces suffered a humiliating defeat last summer when Tigrayan rebels forced them from Tigray, then started to push south. By late November, the Tigrayans were approaching the city of Debre Birhan, about 85 miles north of Addis Ababa. But they could go no further. Swarms of drones appeared overhead, striking soldiers and supply convoys, Gen. Tsadkan Gebretensae, a leading Tigrayan commander, said in an interview with The New York Times. “At one time, there were 10 drones in the sky,” he said. “You can imagine the effect. We were an easy target.” Abiy built his drone arsenal by tapping the sympathy of foreign autocrats and a booming segment of the global arms trade. Even as he talked about negotiations, Abiy was turning to other countries to bolster his military. Nearly every day, cargo flights arrived from a military base in the United Arab Emirates, one of Abiy’s closest allies. The Emiratis had trained Abiy’s Republican Guard and provided crucial military support at the start of the war, running drone strikes that took out Tigrayan artillery and weapons depots, a Western official and a former Ethiopian official said. The Emirati strikes stopped in January after President Joe Biden came to power, under pressure from Washington. But they have resumed in recent months, largely in the form of the latest Chinese-made drones, the officials said. The Emirati drone strikes, under the direction of national security adviser Tahnoun bin Zayed al-Nahyan, appear to be a snub to American diplomatic efforts to end the war. American officials say they are trying to draw the UAE into peace efforts as an ally, but that cooperation is limited. In a recent meeting with the U.S. regional envoy, Jeffrey Feltman, al-Nahyan denied that his country was shipping weapons to Ethiopia, an American official with knowledge of the meeting said. By contrast, Abiy’s dealings with Turkey have been relatively open. He signed a military pact in August with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Bayraktar TB2 drone played a decisive role in Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is manufactured by a company run by Erdogan’s son-in-law. Turkish drones are attractive to many African countries seeking battle-tested, relatively cheap hardware with few strings attached. “Even in Africa, everywhere I go, they want UAVs,” Erdogan boasted in October after a tour of Nigeria, Togo and Angola. (Drones are also known as unmanned aerial vehicles). After Bayraktar drones appeared in Ethiopia recently, Turkish officials insisted the drone sale was a purely commercial activity — defense and aviation exports to Ethiopia rose to $95 million this year, up from $235,000 in 2020, the Turkish Exporters Assembly reported. But in recent days, Turkish officials have privately claimed to have frozen exports to Ethiopia, apparently in response to international pressure over a war that has become a byword for atrocities and starvation. At least 400,000 people are living in famine-like conditions, according to the U.N. In response to reports of civilians killed, detained or expelled, the United Nations Human Rights Council agreed on Friday to set up a commission to investigate abuses and identify perpetrators — the latest of many international initiatives that, until now, have failed to stop the suffering. Abiy, meanwhile, is focused on his military campaign and its foreign sponsors. On Friday he landed in Istanbul for the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit — a two-day gathering of leaders from 39 African countries that, analysts say, is also a forum for Turkish arms sales. His embrace of Iranian drones, although much less powerful than the Chinese or Turkish-made models, has further strained his relations with Washington. Since August, a number of cargo flights have arrived in Ethiopia operated by Iranian airlines that the U.S. has accused of being fronts for the Quds Force, the expeditionary wing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Flight-tracking blogs have made note of the shipments as well. American officials in Addis Ababa have made private representations to Abiy about the Iranian flights, urging him to cut them off, a U.S. official said. Abiy’s drone army remains modest: By several estimates, he has no more than a few dozen combat drones at his disposal, and they can be expensive to run, repair and supply with weapons. But they remain a potent threat to the Tigrayan forces, which themselves have no access to drones. Singer, the drone expert, said the experimentation with drone warfare in Ethiopia and Libya has parallels with the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, when outside powers used the fight to test new military technologies and to gauge international reaction to determine what they could get away with. “It’s a combination of war and battle lab,” he said. But, he added, technology is no guarantee of victory. “The U.S. had drones in Afghanistan, yet the Taliban managed to hold out for 20 years,” he said. “Human will is what determines the outcome of war.” 2 Likes
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| Foreign Affairs / Putin Sets Out Military Threats Facing Russia by naijapower(m): 8:48pm On Dec 21, 2021 |
Amid worsening relations with the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin has set out what he sees as the country’s main defense priorities in a speech to top military chiefs in Moscow, in which he displayed frustration with NATO. As part of an expanded meeting at the Ministry of Defense on Tuesday, Putin said that the attitude of the US and its military bloc towards Russia is driven by “an illiterate, incorrect analysis” of the status quo. According to him, the West believes it can take an “aggressive line” towards Moscow because of its perceptions of having won the Cold War. He added that Russia has “every right” to take steps to defend itself, and pointed to a number of new arms systems being trialed to modernize its arsenals. NATO expansion In the address, Putin stressed that Russia needs “long-term, legally binding guarantees” from Washington prohibiting NATO’s potential encroachment on his country’s borders. Last week, Moscow prepared two documents, one for the military bloc, and one for US officials, asking for a wide range of assurances it said were aimed at strengthening the security of all parties involved. The proposals focus on the movement of military personnel and hardware, and include a requirement that Ukraine’s long-held aspirations will not be realized. The proposals came after talks between the Russian leader and his US counterpart Joe Biden earlier this month, via video link. Putin said his country was “seriously interested” in getting “reliable and firm legal guarantees” that would rule out NATO pushing further into Eastern Europe, as well as the deployment of “offensive strike weapons systems” nearby. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sounded the alarm earlier in December, expressing concern over a significant number of the bloc’s weapons, including American and British hardware, being moved closer to Russia. The top diplomat warned that this could lead to an all-out provocation. Broken promises However, Putin went on to say that even if the US were to offer such assurances, ruling out further NATO expansion, it would be hard to trust that American officials would stick by them, given what he described as a track-record of pulling out of international treaties once they become “uninterested” in honoring them. As evidence, Putin pointed to the Open Skies Treaty, which Washington unilaterally withdrew from last year, accusing Russia of breaking its terms. The agreement was first mooted by the US and the Soviet Union in the 1950s as a way of boosting transparency around troop movements and the deployment of nuclear weapons. He also referenced America’s decision to leave the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002, a Brezhnev-Nixon accord inked in 1972, designed to limit the scale of prospective missile defense systems. Earlier this month, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova spoke out to condemn what she characterized as Washington’s broken pledges, arguing that “since the end of the Cold War, Russia has been repeatedly assured that NATO’s jurisdiction and military forces will not move an inch eastwards.” According to her, “all these promises have been forgotten and not fulfilled. The result is the current sad state of European security.” Putin has previously insisted that Western leaders gave the last Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev guarantees that the US-led military bloc would not seek to fill the space left after the collapse of the USSR. In 2017, a tranche of documents was declassified, and was subsequently widely interpreted as showing that American, British, and German officials offered verbal assurances to the Kremlin in the 1990s that the organization would not expand into Eastern European nations, before then admitting countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Military threats Putin also warned about the prospect of the US-led military bloc’s hardware appearing on Ukrainian territory, arguing that if Western missile systems are deployed there, “their flight time to Moscow will be reduced to 7-10 minutes, and if hypersonic weapons are deployed – to just five.” The Russian president’s remarks come amid heightened concern over American weapons systems being handed over to Kiev. At the end of November, Lavrov said claims that Ukrainian troops had deployed American-made Javelin rocket launchers were a concerning development and could lead to provocations on the ground. His remarks came just hours after the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service revealed that the Javelin had been tested and was being handed to soldiers in the war-torn Donbass region. Hypersonic missiles Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu also took the floor on Tuesday, following Putin’s speech, to reveal that Russia’s new high-tech hypersonic missile – capable of flying through the air at around nine times the speed of sound – has finished testing and will begin shipping to the military in 2022. He also said Moscow will be investing $3.5 billion into upgrading the arsenal in the coming years. “By 2026, the number of carriers of high-precision, long-range weapons will grow by 30%, and the supply of cruise missiles of various types will double,” the minister explained. In November, Putin stressed the importance of developing and implementing technologies “necessary to create new hypersonic weapons systems, high-powered lasers and robotic systems that will be able to effectively counter potential military threats, which means they will further strengthen the security of our country.” Chemical weapons in Ukraine Shoigu went on to allege that US private military companies are preparing a chemical weapons “provocation” in eastern Ukraine. He claimed that containers with “unidentified chemical components” have been delivered to the cities of Avdeevka and Krasny Liman in the Donbass. However, the minister provided no further details or evidence of the chemical attacks that had purportedly been planned. Tensions have been escalating in the east of Ukraine for several months, with a number of Western officials and news outlets reporting that Russian troops were amassing near the demarcation line. This, they claimed, was evidence that Moscow had planned to launch a full-blown military invasion of its neighbor. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied the allegations, insisting they are groundless and a sign of growing “hysteria.” Instead, Moscow has accused the West of encouraging Kiev’s officials to provoke Russia and seek a military solution to the situation in the Donbass. Lavrov warned at the end of November that “if the West cannot hold back Ukraine – and actually encourages it – of course we will take all necessary steps to ensure our security.” The Russian side insists that Kiev has so-far refused to hold talks with the leaders of the two self-proclaimed Republics in Donetsk and Lugansk, as mandated by the so-called Minsk Agreements. By Layla Guest and Gabriel Gavin [url] https://www.rt.com/russia/543899-putin-outlines-military-threats-facing/ [/url] |
| Investment / Musk Sells Tesla Shares for $1,000, Buys Them Right Back For $6.24 by naijapower(m): 4:09pm On Dec 10, 2021 |
Knowledge is profitable to direct. Musk made cool legal money without stress. Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to offload his company’s shares, selling another bulk worth $963.2 million, according to Thursday regulatory filings. However, the billionaire bought back Tesla shares for pennies on the dollar. In his latest exercise of options,the tech billionaire sold 934,091 Tesla shares for more than $1,000 per share. However, he also purchased another 2.2 million Tesla shares for $6.24 apiece, according to the filings. Musk doesn’t receive a salary or cash bonuses from his company, so he can only pay his taxes by selling stocks. He is also allowed by the company board of directors to purchase Tesla shares at significantly lower prices. Last month, Musk, who’s facing a looming tax bill of more than $15 billion, asked his Twitter followers if he should sell stock and pay taxes on unrealized capital gains. His followers voted ‘yes’ and as a result, he has sold more than 10 million shares worth over $11 billion. thinking of quitting my jobs & becoming an influencer full-time wdyt — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2021 In September, Musk said at the Code Conference in Beverly Hills, California that his marginal tax rate will be more than 50% when his stock options expire at Tesla, and that he was already planning to sell soon. “I have a bunch of options that are expiring early next year, so ... a huge block of options will sell in Q4 – because I have to or they’ll expire,” he said. At his current pace of exercising, there are about three weeks left before Musk will be done with those options.Tesla shares slid 1% on news of the sale, trading at around $1,002 per share in pre-market on Friday, after dropping 6% in the previous session. The fall also followed a tweet in which Musk said he was thinking of quitting his jobs to become an influencer. [url] https://www.rt.com/business/542799-musk-offloads-tesla-stock/ [/url] 1 Share
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| Business / Apple’s Market Value About To Top World’s 5th Largest Economy Germany by naijapower(m): 11:47am On Dec 09, 2021 |
Company becoming richer than nation, because of the product they produced and sell. This shows, that there is hope for Nigeria, when Nigerians start creating product that attract global market Apple is on the verge of becoming the world’s first company to achieve a market value of $3 trillion. This would make the tech giant bigger than the German equity market or the entire UK economy. The milestone is coming just a year after the US tech giant breached the $2 trillion mark, after reaching a market cap of $1 trillion in 2018. The company’s stock closed at $175.08 per share on Wednesday. Apple needs to reach $182.85 per share to hit the much-anticipated milestone. Apple stock has soared nearly 30% in 2021 on top of an enormous growth of 80% last year. The company’s rivals, such as Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Tesla, have all gained between 10% and 70%. “It’s a phenomenal achievement and highlights the incredible dominance of US tech firms,” Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, told Bloomberg. “And there’s so much still to come from Apple, which makes you wonder what milestone they’ll pass next and how big they can become,” the analyst added. The California-based corporation briefly lost its title as the world’s most valuable private company to Microsoft earlier this year. The drop followed CEO Tim Cook’s comments on the pandemic-related supply chain burden and the current struggle to cope with global shortages of microchips and components to produce smartphones, laptops, and tablets. https://www.rt.com/business/542644-apple-tops-uk-economy/
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| Business / Power Sector Privatisation Records Major Loan Default,UBA Takes Over Abuja Disco by naijapower(m): 10:56am On Dec 09, 2021 |
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| Travel / Re: LASTMA Was Pursuing The Trailer That Killed 15 Schoolchildren In Lagos by naijapower(m): 5:55pm On Dec 07, 2021 |
RIP to the dead. |
| Forum Games / Re: IQ Test: Can You Answer It? by naijapower(m): 10:24am On Dec 06, 2021 |
Zuze. common vowel sound logic |
| Foreign Affairs / Biden Wants The World To Go Green, While Pushing For Cheap Gasoline At Home by naijapower(m): 5:24pm On Dec 05, 2021 |
By DAVID R BAKER, DAVID WETHE AND ARI NATTER on 11/26/2021 WASHINGTON (Bloomberg) --President Joe Biden wants Americans to dramatically scale back their use of gasoline. And he wants that fuel to be as cheap as he can get it. If you sense a contradiction there, you’re hardly alone. In the past several weeks, Biden has urged the world to move faster against climate change and phase out the fossil fuels causing it. But on Tuesday he confirmed the U.S. is opening the spigots on its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, releasing 50 million barrels to bring down gasoline prices, working in concert with China, India, Japan, South Korea and the U.K. That comes less than a week after a long-delayed sale of oil-exploration leases in the Gulf of Mexico which enraged environmentalists. He even asked OPEC to ramp up oil production at a faster pace (the cartel rebuffed him). The policy whiplash reveals tension between Biden’s long-term climate goals and short-term political realities. He’s determined to transition the U.S. to cleaner sources of energy and rein in carbon emissions. But his administration is also mindful of the energy crisis roiling Europe in recent months. The president can ill afford to let energy prices rise so high that voters turn against him. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers made the danger explicit last week when he said inflation threatened to usher in a return to power for former President Donald Trump, who called global warming a hoax. “That’s a challenging tightrope to walk,” said Dan Pickering, founder and chief investment officer at Houston-based Pickering Energy Partners. With no major breakthrough at the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, and no cohesive strategy for lowering gasoline prices, Pickering added, “you look not great at either, which seems like the worst place in the world for a politician to be.” If the future of Biden's administration is on the line, so is the climate. Steps to promote oil production will likely mean additional emissions for years to come, making the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius even harder to achieve. “A lot of what's taking place will have long-term harmful effects, especially when we're talking about drilling permits, leases, pipelines — these things aren't just going to go away,” said Mitch Jones, policy director at campaign group Food & Water Watch. “There's no clear, coherent, overarching message here, unless you want to say they're still promoting the use of fossil fuels, because that's what they're doing.” An administration official pointed to moves such as Biden's swift action to rejoin the Paris climate accord and other executive actions as examples of leadership the president has taken while tackling global warming. The president recognizes the need to build a new, clean energy economy while keeping costs low for American families in the short-term, the official said. U.S. presidents from both parties have long viewed high energy prices — particularly for gasoline — as a threat, and with good reason. Besides the grocery store, the gas pump can be the most visible inflation indicator for consumers, and a sharp price spike can leave people searching for someone to blame beyond a faceless oil company. “It’s the most transparent price in America,” said Daniel Simmons, who was an Energy Department official under Trump. “People see it every day, it is a reflection of the economy as a whole and it really scares people to see prices this high.” The Biden administration has said its push for more oil isn’t inconsistent with its efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by the decade’s end. “You can’t just shut down everybody’s economy across the planet and say, ‘Okay, we’re not going to use’” fossil fuels, John Kerry, U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, said earlier this month when asked about the administration’s request for OPEC to unleash more oil. The president still wants the Senate to pass his Build Back Better package of social and climate spending programs, and a consumer revolt over inflation would only make that harder. “I don’t see a conflict between having long-term policies on climate change and having a short-term policy that would protect the economic well-being of Americans in need,” said Amy Myers Jaffe, managing director of the Climate Policy Lab at Tufts University. That’s particularly true, she said, at a time when the lingering Covid-19 pandemic has made many people fearful of using public transit or planes, pushing them back into their cars. The U.S. and other major oil-consuming nations have grown increasingly anxious during the past year about resurgent prices. That led to the White House’s outreach to OPEC, and discussions between the U.S. and other countries. Biden’s team has mulled various options in recent weeks for lowering gasoline prices. Aside from releasing inventories, other measures debated in the White House include the halting of oil exports and limiting the use of biofuels. Energy prices are a problem for Biden in a way that they weren’t for his predecessor. Like Biden, Trump complained about the price of gasoline and called on OPEC to do something about it. But he also pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, opened more public lands to oil and gas drilling and championed the concept of American “energy dominance” based on fossil fuels. Biden, in stark contrast, campaigned on his commitment to address climate change. He wants to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by the end of the decade and achieve net zero emissions by 2050, a goal that can’t be reached without slashing fossil fuel use. The infrastructure bill he signed into law this month devotes billions of dollars to ramping up renewable power and electric cars. Those investments should lessen U.S. demand for oil and gas, but not for many years. In the meantime, Biden has failed to implement other key changes he sought. He signed an executive order during his first week in office pausing new oil and gas lease sales on federal lands, only to see a federal judge order a resumption. The first, for leases in the Gulf of Mexico, went forward last week, with environmentalists branding it a betrayal that came on the heels of the COP 26 climate summit. To some, Biden’s moves on energy and climate seem haphazard. Charif Souki, chairman of Tellurian Inc., which is trying to develop a natural gas export project, said he doesn't know what Biden's energy policy is right now. [url] https://www.worldoil.com/news/2021/11/25/biden-wants-the-world-to-go-green-while-pushing-for-cheap-gasoline-at-home [/url] |
| Politics / Google’s Pichai,twitter’s Agrawal:why Indian-born Leaders Dominate American Tech by naijapower(m): 12:45pm On Dec 05, 2021 |
Lesson for Nigerians and the importance of developing quality value. When Satya Nadella took over as CEO of Microsoft in February 2014, he inherited a toxic culture in a company considered a tech dinosaur. Bill Gates, its founder, had been known for berating employees, and Steve Ballmer, who succeeded Gates, continued the hardball business tactics that partners loathed. Microsoft had lost the battle for smartphones, and the technology platform its technologies were built for, the desktop, was giving way to the cloud. As I explained in my book From Incremental to Exponential, Nadella chose to focus first on changing Microsoft’s culture. Indian by birth, and with Buddhist beliefs, he was determined to transform the company into one that embraced what he called “learn-it-all” curiosity, in contrast to its then “know-it-all” worldview. And he made clear that the old, aggressive behaviors were no longer welcome. Refusing to tolerate anger or yelling in executive meetings, never raising his own voice or showing overt anger toward employees or executives, never writing angry emails, he constantly worked to create a more comfortable environment. As a result of the cultural shift and the strategy changes it enabled, Microsoft’s market capitalization increased from roughly $300 billion at Nadella’s ascension to $2.5 trillion today, making it one of the two most valuable companies in the world. Sundar Pichai, too, inherited a company with cultural problems. Google was known for having a permissive workplace culture, where sexual relationships between top executives and employees generated internal tensions. In his gentle, humble Indian manner, Pichai navigated the company into calmer waters. He attained extraordinary success—as did Indian tech CEOs such as Shantanu Narayen of Adobe and Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks. Beyond the tech sector, other Indian-born CEOs too have left their mark, including Indra Nooyi at PepsiCo and Ajay Banga at Mastercard. But how do Indians come to be even considered for such senior positions? What accounts for their success as tech-company founders? I came to the U.S. in 1980 and observed the evolution of the Valley's leadership firsthand while founding two technology companies and taking one of them public. Later, at Duke University, I researched what had given Indians like me such an advantage. According to research by University of California at Berkeley professor AnnaLee Saxenian, as of 1999 immigrants accounted for one-third of the scientific and engineering workforce in Silicon Valley, and Indian CEOs were running 7% of its high-technology firms. In 2006, my research team collaborated with Saxenian to update her work and found that the percentage of immigrant-founded startups had increased to 52.4%, with Indian-born executives having founded 15.5% of Silicon Valley tech firms—though they constituted only 6% of the Valley’s working population. We found that 96% of the immigrant entrepreneurs involved in engineering and technology had completed a bachelor's degree, and 74% held master's or Ph.D. degrees. Within that group, Indian founders had been educated in a diverse set of universities; the famed Indian Institutes of Technology, for example, accounted for only 15% of the company founders. Culture, as much as education, is key There is no doubt that education gave the Indians an advantage. But this does not explain why the boards of companies such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, and Twitter would choose foreign-born technologists over equally qualified Americans. The answer may lie in cultural values, upbringing, and struggles. In a land of more than a billion people, most of whom are hampered by rampant corruption, weak infrastructure, and limited opportunities, it takes a lot to simply survive, let alone to get ahead. Indians learn to be resilient, battle endless obstacles, and make the most of what they have. In India, you learn to work around the problems that an unjust state and society create for you. Entrepreneurship, along with the creativity and resourcefulness required to deal with all the obstacles, is part of life. In the absence of a social safety net, family values and support are everything, and the family takes on a very important role, family members providing all kinds of aid and guidance to those in need. Indians have many ethnic, racial, gender, and caste biases—as do people all over the world. Yet in order to succeed, they learn to overlook or adapt these biases when necessary. There are six major religions in India, and the Indian constitution recognizes 22 regional languages. Every region in the country has its own customs and character, and people accept differences in attitudes and beliefs, especially in the context of business. Then there is the humility that comes from moving to new lands. Talk to almost any immigrant, regardless of origin, and he or she will share stories about leaving social status behind in their home country and working their way up from the bottom of the ladder in the adopted land. It's a humbling process; you learn many valuable lessons when starting from scratch and working your way to success. These are all traits that any board would recognize—and value—especially when the alternatives are arrogant company founders who believe they are entitled to their jobs. And it’s these traits that enable a CEO to transform company culture. This is what I believe has given the Indian CEOs the advantage. This may be why Twitter’s board unanimously approved the recommendation of Jack Dorsey to appoint Indian-born Parag Agrawal as his replacement. And it is such a cultural transformation that Twitter may need above all else. Twitter has received a barrage of justified criticism over a toxic work culture and insensitivity to abuses on its platform. Plus, Jack Dorsey was a part-time CEO, also running payments company Square and championing blockchains and cryptocurrencies. Dorsey’s predecessor, Dick Costolo, is someone I personally tangled with when I noted that there was a problem with the company’s chauvinistic culture and all-male board. As many tech CEOs do, his response was to publicly attack me, rather than listen to criticism. It’s a response that none of the Indian CEOs that I know would make—and that is why they are being chosen to run America’s leading technology companies. [url] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/microsoft-nadella-google-pichai-now-180100561.html [/url] 3 Likes 1 Share
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| Business / How GTB Can Use Innoson To Raise The Money To Pay Innoson The N33b Debt by naijapower(m): 4:48pm On Dec 03, 2021 |
For the Record , I am a Strong fan of Innoson, I do not have any account with GTB, nor work for GTB. Benefit of the Payment Option. 1: Increase GTB customers 2: Cost GTB Zero Naira 3: GTB will make profit 4:GTB will pay off the whole debt. The Payment Option 1: GTB should issue Innoson an eShopping Voucher with N33b spending limit. 2: GTB should create an eShopping Mall. 3: GTB Should invite the general public to open a store for a fee of N5000 and a GTB account. 4: GTB should limit the spend amount of the Innoson eShopping Voucher to N50,000 per store. that is Innoson will have to spend the money at many stores on the eShopping mall. Note: If GTB marketers do their home work, GTB will make lots of money. |
| Business / Re: It Is Very Important You Get Your Bank Statement Monthly . by naijapower(m): 5:06pm On Dec 02, 2021 |
Baawaa: It is necessary because, it enable one to have a clear picture of all transaction for the given period. |
| Business / CBN Wants Financial Institutions To Develop Products Based On Enaira by naijapower(m): 4:39pm On Dec 02, 2021 |
The Central Bank of Nigeria has said it wants players in the country’s payment industry to develop and help introduce products based on its central bank digital currency, the e-naira. https://news.bitcoin.com/nigerian-central-bank-wants-financial-institutions-to-develop-products-based-on-its-cbdc/
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| Foreign Affairs / Leaked Doc Reveals Which Messengers Send The Most Data To FBI by naijapower(m): 3:19am On Dec 02, 2021 |
An internal FBI report reveals how WhatsApp and iMessage happily hand over users' data to the Feds, sometimes providing the source and destination of messages every 15 minutes.[url] https://www.rt.com/op-ed/541894-leaked-document-big-tech-privacy/ [/url] 1 Like
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| Crime / Cryptocurrency Miners Using Hacked Cloud Accounts, Google Warns by naijapower(m): 12:46pm On Nov 30, 2021 |
Cyberhackers are using compromised cloud accounts to mine cryptocurrency, Google has warned. Details of the mining hack are contained in a report by Google’s cybersecurity action team, which spots hacking threats against its cloud service – a collection of remote computing services which can include storage of customers’ data and files off-site – and gives advice on how to tackle them.[url] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/25/cryptocurrency-miner-hacked-google-cloud-account-cybersecurity-action-team-threat-horizon-report [/url] 6 Likes 3 Shares
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| Business / It Is Very Important You Get Your Bank Statement Monthly . by naijapower(m): 4:23pm On Nov 28, 2021 |
As a bank account holder, there is the need to get your bank statement print out on monthly basis to enable you verify all transactions carried out by you for the previous month. As it will help you. I became conscious of the need to have have my bank statement printout, when i did a transaction recently, the first transaction failed, so i had to repeat the process, which was successful. later i got a debit alert ,on checking i discover i had been debited twice for same transaction. after waiting two day, the amount was not reverse, so i approach the bank to make a complain,and waited for days before the money was returned. After that incident ,i became conscious of every transactions and i discover that, in most of my transaction, i have been debited for nearly every failed transaction. I came to the conclusion that most bank customers will also be suffering same thing without knowing. It you will cost little to ask for bank statement printout for a past month to enable one verify all past transaction and address all wrong deduction. |
| TV/Movies / Tom And Jerry's Real Names by naijapower(m): 1:34am On Nov 24, 2021 |
For the past 81 years, people have enjoyed the mischievous antics of the beloved cat and mouse we all know as Tom and Jerry. But it has recently come to light that there's much more to their seemingly simple names than we thought. The devious duo are, in fact, none other than Thomas Jasper 'Tom' Cat, Sr and Gerald Jinx 'Jerry' Mouse. Gerald Jinx "Jerry" Mouse[1] is a fictional character and one of the two titular main protagonists (the other being Tom Cat) in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of Tom and Jerry theatrical animated short films. Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Jerry is a brown mute anthropomorphic house mouse, who first appeared as a mouse named Jinx in the 1940 MGM animated short Puss Gets the Boot.[2] Hanna gave the mouse's original name as "Jinx",[3] while Barbera claimed the mouse went unnamed in his first appearance [url] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Mouse [/url] Thomas Jasper "Tom" Cat, Sr.[1] is a fictional character and one of the two titular main protagonists (the other being Jerry Mouse) in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of Tom and Jerry theatrical animated short films. Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, he is a grey and white anthropomorphic domestic short haired mute tuxedo cat who first appeared in the 1940 MGM animated short Puss Gets the Boot.[2] The cat was known as "Jasper" during his debut in the short;[3] however, beginning with his next appearance in The Midnight Snack he was known as "Tom" or "Thomas". [url] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Cat [/url] If you can't find job, employ yourself like Gerald Jinx "Jerry" AKA "the Mouse".
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| Politics / Re: FG Will Replace Fuel Subsidy With ₦5,000 Transport Grant For 40m Nigerians by naijapower(m): 1:36pm On Nov 23, 2021 |
Its a shame that Nigeria government is talking about subsidy removal, whereas the united state, Europe , China are subsiding relevant sector of their economy. Subsidy is not the cause of Nigeria financial challenges, but government approach to economy growth. If you can't find job, employ yourself. 2 Likes |
| Politics / Re: Gunmen Burn Arondizuogu Police Station In Imo, Kill Police Officer by naijapower(m): 1:02pm On Nov 23, 2021 |
Police station is the symbol of law, which attract investment. Police and policemen and women lives matter. 2 Likes |
| Politics / Re: Kanu: What Those Familiar With Buhar Told Us After Igbo Elders’ Meeting – Ezeife by naijapower(m): 12:56pm On Nov 23, 2021 |
Talking is a very important key to peace. If you can't find job, employ yourself. |
| Politics / Re: EndSARS Report: "You Celebrated Prematurely" - Lai Mohammed Mocks CNN by naijapower(m): 12:47pm On Nov 23, 2021 |
Lia Mohammed to the World. If you can't find job, employ yourself. |
| Car Talk / Re: Huge Block Of Ice Smashes Through Windshield In Northern China ( Video) by naijapower(m): 12:43pm On Nov 23, 2021 |
God save him, Let him go an appreciate God. Thank God for Mercy. If you can't find job, employ yourself. 2 Likes |
| Politics / Re: Lagos #EndSARS Report Is Fake, Tales By Moonlight -Lai Mohammed by naijapower(m): 12:38pm On Nov 23, 2021 |
Even if the report was fake, as long as Lie Mohamed said the report is fake. People will see the report as genuine. Lot of people believe lie can never speak the truth. If you can't find job, employ yourself. |
| Business / Re: Innoson And GTB Out Of Court Settlement Suggestion by naijapower(m): 4:52pm On Nov 19, 2021 |
1: The Minister of Trade should invite both parties to sit together and come out with a solution that will profit both parties. According to Innoson chairman, GTB is owning N32 billion cumulatively to Innoson. That is a huge money. But GTB is equal to the task. Can there be a Out of Court Settlement, that will benefit both Innoson and GTB? Yes. GTB can settle with Innoson without paying a kobo, while Innoson can make billions from the settlement without collecting a kobo from GTB. I want Innoson and GTB to resolve their issue peacefully.[i][/i] There are lots of solutions that will profit both Innoson and GTB in their Settlement. Note: Innoson need publicity and funds to grow. while GTB need more customers loyalty services. 2: At low cost GTB can create publicity among its customers for Innoson product and earn commission per sales while boosting Innoson sales. |
| Business / Innoson And GTB Out Of Court Settlement Suggestion by naijapower(m): 4:47pm On Nov 19, 2021 |
Both GTB and Innoson are employers of labour. Both pay all relevant tax. The relationship that started between the two organisation, started based on trust, but along the line trust gave way to distrust. How can we, as Nigerians contribute to settle the the court case for the good of both organisations and Nigerians. I read judgement has been given, We are aware that there is a process called Out of Court Settlement. Peace between Innoson and GTB will only benefit Nigerians. Lets hear your suggestion for peaceful resolution between Innoson and GTB. A peaceful resolution will favour the Nigeria Job market and economy. |
| Phones / 10 Best Ways On How To Make Money From Your Phone by naijapower(m): 11:32am On Nov 16, 2021 |
Culled from [url]https://www.afterschoolafrica.com/49109/how-to-make-money-from-your-phone/ [/url] You can keep your normal job and use these online jobs as a way of earning extra cash in your pocket to pay your bills. ... 10 best ways on how to make money from your phone Answering survey questions. As a Freelancer. Field agent. Online customer service. Virtual assistant. Digital marketing. Playing games. Watching videos etc. Operation No More Unemployed |
| Phones / Sell Your Phone For Cash: Tips To Maximize Your Profit.cnet by naijapower(m): 11:17am On Nov 16, 2021 |
Aug. 17, 2020 2:00 a.m. PT Sarah Tew/CNET When it's time to sell or trade in your old phone, you don't want to leave money on the table. These tips could help you get more cash from your carrier or other seller when you're ready to make a deal. So you want to sell your old Android phone or iPhone now or perhaps in the future? Maybe you're eyeing a new device, like the iPhone SE, Galaxy Note 20, Note 20 Ultra or OnePlus 8 and want to recoup some of the costs. Or perhaps you have older phones lying around that you don't really use and haven't repurposed. Or you could be simplifying by moving from a pricier model, like the Galaxy S20 Plus or iPhone 11, to a cheaper phone and you just want a little more cash in your pocket. Whatever the reason, it's important to know how to get the most money for your device and what your options for selling or trading in your phone to a carrier or using a peer-to-peer marketplace like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. While you can't control the rate of phone depreciation, selling a device in good condition could mean a difference of hundreds of dollars. The key is to think about these things now, not days before you're ready to move on. Here's what you need to look out for. Whatever you do, don't skip the case Yes, it's ugly. Yes, you need one: You probably already use a case to keep your phone's delicate glass screen and back from breaking. We know, we know, it ruins the appeal of a particularly slick gradient color or design, but if you want to keep your phone free of dents and cracks for when you sell it, a case is the way to go. Smart tip: Buy the case before you start using your phone. Phones can and do drop and shatter within minutes of coming out of the box. What to look for: Complete coverage all around the edges and some sort of rise -- even a small one -- between the screen and the lip of the case. Buy a screen protector. Now. Why you need it: Screen protectors are sacrificial screens that you layer on top of the phone's original display. Buy a glass one, not plastic. There are oodles of them in your carrier store and online. A good one can cost you, but a $30 screen protector is worth it in the long run if it helps you nab hundreds of dollars more for your phone when it comes time to sell it or trade it in. Keep a spare: Screen protectors can break when you drop the phone -- that's what they're for. It's not a bad idea to keep a spare on hand in case yours breaks, so you won't have a gap in protection if you do need to switch it out. If you don't need it and you sell your phone on the open market, you can bundle in the screen protector as part of the price. Keep the box and all the parts Yes, really: Carriers will prefer to have your original charger, but may not care about the box when you trade in a phone. But if you sell the phone through Craigslist or Swappa, for example, your buyer might care. Reboxing the phone in its original condition -- or as close as you can get to it -- will make your device more appealing, which translates into more bucks. What about the case? You can sell that, too. Read more: The best ways to sell or trade in your old iPhone for 2020 How much can you get when you sell an old phone? The amount of cash or credit you can get for a phone varies widely by the model, age and condition. Trade-ins usually top out at around $300 or $400 for a top-of-the-line device, but a brand-new iPhone 11 (in preparation for the upcoming iPhone 12, perhaps?) could go for considerably more. That's between you and your buyer. Thoroughly clean your phone before you sell it Cleanliness means money: This one's important, whether you sell your phone to a stranger, through a third-party reseller like Decluttr or back to the carrier or manufacturer. You'll get more for a phone that looks and works like new than you will for a crusty handset that's merely limping along. Since you won't get paid until the buyer inspects your device, you may not wind up with your asking price if the used phone doesn't match up to expectations. Cleaning your phone the right way before sending it in is well worth the effort. What about the parts? Wipe down the box and case with a lightly damp cloth or paper towel, too. Nobody's buying your grime. Repairing a cracked screen could be worth it Work the math: You might wind up with more in your pocket if you repair a broken phone (e.g., through U Break I Fix or Apple stores) before trying to sell it to a third-party reseller or trading it in. Why even bother? Broken phones still retain some value because they can be refurbished or stripped for parts in order to recycle or repair other phones for resale. How to tell: Go on a third-party reseller site or your carrier's trade-in site to see how much they estimate the value to be for your screen-cracked or water-damaged phone compared to the value of a phone with no damage. Then compare that to the cost of a repair. If there's enough of a difference (especially if your phone is fairly new or in high demand), it might be worth the hassle. 6 things that fetch the most cash You get more money if the phone is: In good condition "New," about one to two years old A premium device (rather than budget) Popular: iPhones and Samsung phones are in high demand In a popular color (black or silver might net more than gold) Sold directly to a buyer, like through Craigslist You won't be able to trade in phones that are still being financed through your carrier. Factory reset to protect your privacy In all cases, you'll need to back up your phone and return it to factory settings before handing it off. This will help protect your identity and make sure you keep all the photos and other data you need to switch over to a new device. Decide: Cash, credit or trade-in Before you start researching which vendor gives you the best deal, you can narrow down your options. Can you wait for a gift card or payment to arrive in a few weeks or do you need cash now? Best Buy and Apple will give you gift cards to use at their retail stores. Carriers will deduct the trade-in value from your next phone. Trading in the phone with your current carrier or with the vendor won't work if you're switching to an unlocked device like the OnePlus 8. If it's cash on the spot you need, your options are limited to direct sales, to GameStop or to EcoATM, which has physical kiosks at malls across America. It used to be that EcoATM would give you at least a buck for your trouble. That doesn't appear to be the case anymore, though it still accepts popular phones, albeit for significantly less than many online offers. For security and antifraud reasons, EcoATM does require a driver's license and a thumbprint scan before spitting out cash. And since you do have to drive to a mall, I recommend doing this only after you research other options online. Then you'll be able to decide on the spot if EcoATM gives you more or less than another retailer. If you opt for an online vendor, you'll have to wait a few weeks to get paid. After you box up the goods and ship them, employees will match the device to its actual condition, to keep any fibbers honest. Only then will they make good on their offer. Shop around. Really. You'll almost always get more money selling a phone directly to a buyer through Craigslist or eBay, but it takes more time and there's higher risk of buyers changing their mind. It also helps if you have the original packaging and all included cables and cords. Good news: It takes less time than you think to hit up a few websites for trade-ins and credits. You'll get less for a handset with water damage, and more if it's a flawless phone right out of the box (this is one reason why screen protectors and cases are so important). Prices change depending on the phone, carrier and condition. Not every service takes every phone. Never throw old phones away: Recycle or donate your old phone Don't want to go through the hassle of selling? Get rid of your old phones by all means, but never in the trash can -- you don't want to be responsible for toxic chemicals leaching into the land. Most resellers will take old electronics off your hands, archaic chargers and all. There are many ways to pass on unwanted cell phones after they've served their purpose, but here are a few resources to get you started. Online sales and trade-ins BuybackBoss Decluttr GadgetGone Facebook Marketplace USell To Sell Your Phone fast. 1 Like |
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