₦airaland Forum

[b]https://russian.rt.com/world/article/1281221-albaniya-baza-nato-aviaciya-rossiya

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— For what purpose did the North Atlantic Alliance open an air base near Tirana? Does this facility threaten Russia's security?

Reserve Lieutenant Colonel, military political scientist Oleg Shalandin:
— I doubt that the airbase in Albania has anything to do with Russia. Still, the Balkans aren't too far away, and therefore, we can say that the alliance is harboring anti-Serbian plans. And Belgrade needs to worry now if it does not want to make concessions to the West on the Kosovo crisis and the issue of relations with Moscow.

The alliance countries do not like the fact that Serbia maintains warm relations with Russia and does not impose sanctions against it. This course is supported by the overwhelming majority of Serbs, but the country's leadership is under enormous pressure from the West.
Perhaps that is why the Prime Minister of Albania spoke about certain “neo-imperialist ambitions” of Russia. They probably meant the degree of Moscow's influence on Belgrade. From this we can conclude that very difficult tests await Serbia’s restrained policy.

— NATO does not hide that, in recent years, air bases in Eastern Europe have been significantly updated. This is not just about the Balkans. The modernization affected facilities in Romania, Poland and the Baltic states. What is the reason for this policy? Can Russia counteract it?

Oleg Shalandin:
— NATO does not begin hostilities without achieving air superiority. For this reason, the alliance pays so much attention to the modernization of air bases. Let me remind you that Yugoslavia was destroyed precisely as a result of the air operation.
However, a quarter of a century has passed since then. The practice of special operations convincingly proves that air defense systems are capable of causing significant damage to aircraft. In terms of providing air defense, Russia has gained invaluable experience, which is reflected in the improvement of locators, air defense systems and ammunition. Therefore, the development of our air defense and means of destroying airfield infrastructure is the most adequate response to the expansion of the alliance’s aviation presence near Russia’s borders.

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[b]The U.S. capital market is not functioning properly in line with the needs of the real economy

The volume of primary and secondary offerings is at a minimum for the past 25 years in absolute terms and the lowest in contemporary history (at least over 40 years) when measured relative to the stock market's capitalization.

The volume of IPOs in the U.S. was merely $20.1 billion in 2023 versus a catastrophic 2022 with $8.5 billion and a historical peak in 2021 of $154 billion. Between 2010-2019, the average annual placement volume was $47 billion according to Dealogic.

2023 is comparable to 2003 in terms of IPOs, but conditions were very different then – there was 3.5 times less money (M2 is about $21 trillion now versus $6 trillion 20 years ago) and the capitalization was 4.5 times lower (averaging $43.1 trillion in 2023 versus $9.7 trillion in 2003).

For the total volume of placements (IPO, SPO, prefs) in 2023, $136 billion was placed, equivalent to 2003 levels versus $100 billion in 2022, an average of $415 billion in 2020-2021, and $238 billion on average in 2010-2019.

If evaluating the entire volume of placements against the stock market's capitalization, from 2000 to 2015, the average was 1.7%. The peak of placements in 2020-2021, amidst the wave of accessible and cheap money, occurred at a modest ratio of 1.1% due to an overvalued market.

In 2022, the ratio plummeted to 0.23%, slightly better in 2023 – 0.32%.

In January-February 2024, the total volume of all stock placements amounted to $29 billion, twice as much as in 2023 but three times lower than in 2021 in absolute terms.

However, since the start of 2024, the stock market has been inflated, so the ratio is only 0.28%, i.e., 6 times lower than in 2000-2014 and 3.5 times lower than in 2015-2021.

What does all this imply?

There's no free money in the system, as confirmed by money market indicators.
The capital market is not functioning – businesses are critically limited in their ability to raise resources from the stock market (slightly better on the debt market)
Capitalization is inflated by 4-6 times relative to real cash flows.
Risk appetite is highly segmented into the AI bubble and cryptocurrency trash coins, with the broader market squeezed by a liquidity deficit.
The end of this madness is somewhere near...

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DystopianMuse:
Ukraine sinks another Russia's warship 'Sergie Kotov'. The corvette was attacked by Ukrainian drones congratulations to Russia for adding to her fleets of submarines. writernig how far?! You have not posted this. Vi3ly how far!? This is more than Abraham tanks

can this change the tide on the front line?

[b]Lord Of War, [3/5/24, 12:13 PM]
[Posted by Not a Serb]
[🎥 💥 Destruction of two launchers of the American HIMARS multiple rocket launcher system used by the AFU in the direction of Kherson

@ukraine_watch]
💥 Destruction of two launchers of the American HIMARS multiple rocket launcher system used by the AFU in the direction of Kherson

@ukraine_watch

Lord Of War, [3/5/24, 12:51 PM]
[Posted by Not a Serb]
[🎥 ⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦☠️ Russian Sergey Kotov sunk - new BSF Defeat⚡️

⚓️ A new loss for the Black Sea Fleet - at night on the roadstead of #Feodosiya, the Project 22160 patrol ship "Sergey Kotov" was attacked by unmanned enemy boats.

🔹 The Sergey Kotov was taken out the fourth time. The ship fought off enemy drones three times last year, destroying them on approach with fire from standard weapons.

🔹 The crew tried to repel the attack this time too, but to no avail. According to some reports, the crew abandoned the sunken ship. Losses are being clarified.

🎬 Video of the incident from Bandera sources reporting a successful GUR operation by Special Unit 13 in cooperation with the Navy and the Ministry of Defence, carried out by unmanned Magura V5 drone boats near the #Kerch Strait.

⚠️ The Russian continues to allow enemy recon in the Black Sea. The consequences thi...]
⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦☠️ Russian Sergey Kotov sunk - new BSF Defeat⚡️

⚓️ A new loss for the Black Sea Fleet - at night on the roadstead of #Feodosiya, the Project 22160 patrol ship "Sergey Kotov" was attacked by unmanned enemy boats.

🔹 The Sergey Kotov was taken out the fourth time. The ship fought off enemy drones three times last year, destroying them on approach with fire from standard weapons.

🔹 The crew tried to repel the attack this time too, but to no avail. According to some reports, the crew abandoned the sunken ship. Losses are being clarified.

🎬 Video of the incident from Bandera sources reporting a successful GUR operation by Special Unit 13 in cooperation with the Navy and the Ministry of Defence, carried out by unmanned Magura V5 drone boats near the #Kerch Strait.

⚠️ The Russian continues to allow enemy recon in the Black Sea. The consequences thi...[/b]

🇪🇺🇺🇸🏴‍☠⚔🇵🇸 Deputy Prime Ministers of Belgium and Spain: Europe must use all its tools to pressure “Israel” to achieve a ceasefire.

Europe's position over the conflict in the Middle East is eroding its credibility globally.