The Russian government plans to invite Singaporean investors to buy up stakes in state-owned firms, as part of the Kremlin's privatization drive.  Potash producer Silvinit may seek a foreign company to help it develop its largest field, according to Bloomberg.  Reuters has a feature on how the Lada is being displaced as Cubans' car of choice, with the Chinese Geely CK appearing on the roads.  Lada-enthusiasts says however that the automobile will retain its 'cult status'.  Russia's biggest mobile phone operator MTS has secured two loans worth $1.96 billion from Sberbank to be used to finance investments, including a potential purchase of a 51% stake in Comstar.  Mobile phones sales fell nearly 32% in the third quarter.  Where does Telenor go from here?: Reuters predicts different outcomes of its next appeal hearing.  French prosecutors have ...

EMC, EMC Corporation

PWRM, Power 3 Medical Products Inc, PWRM.OB

HRAL, HearAtLast Holdings Inc, HRAL.PK

 

PennyOmega.com Watch List!

PennyOmega.com Watch List ! for Friday September 4, 2009

Our Picks at PennyOmega.com for Friday September 4, 2009 are:

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EMC, EMC Corporation

EMC is the world’s leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information.

**Recently, EMC has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Kazeon Systems, Inc. (a leading eDiscovery software provider for corporations, legal service providers, government entities and law firms). EMC will be able to offer end-to-end,

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A number of readers have asked me where I was travelling at the moment. The first week of my European rendezvous was spent in fairly-tale Slovenia (click here for a short description), from where I travelled to Veysonnaz, a small, idyllic mountain village, in the canton of Valais - the sunniest region of Switzerland.

Veysonnaz, with only 470 inhabitants, is 1 hour 45 minutes from Geneva and 15 minutes from Sion, the capital of the canton Valais and the oldest town in Switzerland. Located at the crossroads of several valleys, the village is blessed with exceptional panoramic views of the Swiss Alps and Rhône Valley. Veysonnaz, situated at an altitude of 1 400 m, is one of the four links (together with Verbier, Nendaz and Thyon 2000) of the Four Valleys ski area, the largest in Switzerland with 400 km of slopes.

The key words relating to this

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by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /“For Austria, the actual crisis is yet to come. The decline of the eastern European economy will hit Austria in 2009".br /Peter Eigner, Professor of economic history at the University of Vienna”br /br /br /The yield difference, or spread, between 10-year Austrian securities and benchmark German bunds has been rising substantially of late, and hit 137 points on Feb. 18, the widest yet recorded (see chart below). At the same time Austria now has a higher default risk than those Mediterranean "laggards" Italy, Portugal and Spain, at least according to credit-default swap prices as quoted by CMA Datavision. Austrian swaps were trading at 253.3 basis points on March 3, compared with 17.5 points 12 months ago. That means it costs 253,300 euros a year to protect 10 million euros from default for five years. br /br /br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SbFfRtpHzcI/AAAAAAAAM9E/eiB4kvwG70A/s1600-h/austria+bund.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310130193561013698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px ...

Gold Setting Records in Non-dollar Currencies Money Morning

Gold’s performance in 2008 could look like a real yawner.

After all, it only managed to eke out a 5.7% gain.  Not the kind you’d normally brag about over cocktails.

As we rang in the 2009 New Year, gold at $850 an ounce (in U.S. dollars) was roughly 15% below its all-time record high, set in March 2008.

But everything in life is perspective.  In a year when oil lost 59%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 38%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 30%, things could certainly be worse for gold bullion investors.  Much worse, in fact.  Just

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The government is printing money so fast that even cash isn’t a safe bet any more, says Daniel Zurbrügg. And even though gold has slumped during this crisis, its long-term outlook remains attractive. Once institutional investors stop dumping gold holdings and the US dollar rally stalls, Daniel says gold will zoom back up to $1,000 an ounce and beyond.

This from Sovereign Society:

In the past few months, millions of investors have taken trillions in equity out of the markets, stashing it either on the sidelines or in negative-yielding US treasury notes.

And honestly can you blame them?

Real estate and equity prices have crashed and it’s almost impossible to know when they’re going to recover. Fixed-income investments are growing riskier by the day due to the global credit crisis and the projected spike in bankruptcy rates.

But here’s the reality: The U.S. government is printing money so fast, that cash is not

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William Patalon III says the US economy is heading into recession, and there is little the Fed or Treasury can do to stop it.

But that doesn't mean contrarian investors can't make a profit. History is littered with examples of investors that made a fortune during the darkest days for the economy.

William has a four-point plan to beat the bear this time round: 1) Load up on high dividend stocks; 2) Buy gold; 3) Stick to 'global titan' companies; and 4) Stay relaxed...

Three unlikely catalysts have been driving the U.S. economy off a cliff. This FREE report tells you how long the U.S. economy will suffer before it recovers… That sound you hear… it’s millions of Americans cracking their nest eggs. Inflation is at a 27-year high while personal incomes are down 1.6% from last month. And the results are twofold: We have less money to spend. And we’re spending more for less. Worse, that’s just one reason why one Wall Street analyst believes we’re "facing the prospect of a depression and the end of the American Dream." This exclusive report reveals the two other economy-crashing catalysts and how they will drive the U.S. into recession. More importantly, it also gives four ways any investor can protect their money - even profit - before and during the fallout. It’s a must-read for anyone who owns property, stocks or is just plain ...

Merrill Lynch looking to revise MGM deal terms [Yahoo Finance]Merrill Lynch is examining its contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's United Artists as the bank looks to revise the deal

Switzerland asked U.S. not to push UBS for Swiss client data [Bloomberg]Switzerland asked the U.S. not to pressue UBS AG for client data located in the Alpine country

A new Goldman Sachs Head quarters sneaks into the lower Manhattan skyline [NY Times]Famously averse to publicity, Goldman has said almost nothing about the $2.4 billion headquarters