Of all the coverage coming out of the recent judgment on the Bank of New York Mellon money laundering case, Fortune's coverage appears to be the most thorough so far, not to mention that it immediately won me over with its headline: "Russia settles suit against U.S. bank for a pittance".

So that we're all on the same page here, the $14 million settlement sum is exactly 0.0622 percent of the $22.5 billion Russia was seeking. NOT 6.22%, but slightly more than six hundredths of 1%.

Having said that, two passages from the Fortune article strike me. The first, on the amount itself:

Though federal prosecutors investigated the bank for complicity, they chose not to prosecute. Instead, in November 2005 the bank accepted "responsibility" for having failed

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I have long argued that there exists a component of Russia's failure to reform, deepen democracy, and respect rule of law as a normative member of the international community that is solely the responsibility of Western complicity - our banks, our energy firms, our investors, and our businesses which have been more than willing to prop up authoritarian governments, regardless of their human rights records.  This new lawsuit, launched by William Browder and Hermitage Capital, alleging corruption at the highest levels of the Russian government to defraud the country's biggest investor, may bring some changes to the traditional equation of risk and politics in Russia.From the New York Times:

The filing is a new twist on Mr. Browder's case, which began almost four years ago. His lawyers say the wire transfers will show a fraud larger than previously disclosed --

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• Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) is reportedly engaged in later-stage discussions regarding the possible sale of its prescription drug unit, which could bring in as much as $3 billion. Possible bidders include private equity firm Cerberus Capital management and Warner Chilcott (NASDAQ: WCRX)

• Boeing (NYSE:BA) reported estimate-beating second quarter earnings of $1.41 a share, ahead of estimates by 20 cents, on inline revenues that rose 1.1% to $17.15 billion. The firm said it sees 2009 earnings of $4.70 to $5.00 per share, well ahead of Street estimates of $4.52

• US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) reported second quarter earnings of 12 cents a share, two pennies above estimates, as revenues gained 7.1% to $4.2 billion

• Altria (NYSE:MO) reported second quarter earnings of 50 cents a share, beating estimates by 3 cents, on revenues of $6.7 billion, which topped estimates

• Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) reported better-than-expected second quarter earnings of $1.12, a dime ahead of

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U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday as a recent spate of improving economic data beckoned investors back into equity markets for a second day.

Goldman Sachs added Microsoft Corp to its Americas ‘conviction buy’ list on improving revenue prospects, overshadowing a disappointing outlook from BlackBerry smartphone maker Research In Motion Ltd .

Shares of the software maker and Dow component rose 2.2 percent to $24.02 in premarket trading.

The Dow and S&P 500 snapped a three-day losing streak on Thursday as data on the job market and regional manufacturing revived hopes that the recession-hit economy is stabilizing.

“Sentiment is improving and a lot of people are taking the bet that the recession is over,” said Anthony Conroy, head trade for BNY ConvergEx, an affiliate of the Bank of New York, in New York.

Conroy added that the quarterly expiration and settlement of June equity options and futures, a convergence

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As Safe As Gold Eric Sprott & Sasha Solunac

What are phrases that connote safety? Two that come to mind are: “Like money in the bank” or “As safe as houses”. Given events of the past year, these two phrases no longer seem to hit the mark, do they? These days, the one word that signifies safety is “gold”, being far safer than both cash and houses. It therefore stands to reason that a more accurate phraseology would be “Like gold in the safe!” or “As safe as gold!” Yes, the barbarous relic is back… and with a vengeance.

As our readers may have already surmised, we like gold around here, and evidence suggests the world is beginning to like it more and more

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Yen continues to kick!  Jim Rogers disses sterling…  China’s 4th QTR GDP…  Singapore announces stimulus… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

A nasty day in the currencies yesterday, except Japan of course. The Dow jumped 290 points yesterday, maybe an Obama bounce? You all know that I subscribe to an Obama bounce for stocks and the dollar in the first part of this year… But given what I know about, and what you now know about, after I drew it all out yesterday, the additions to the deficit that Obama will make, the focus on the fundamentals should return by late spring, early summer… That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

Well… As I

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Another currency rally….  SNB cuts another 50 BPS!  Budget Deficit continues to widen!  Treasury yields go south for the winter! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!Good day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to you! It’s been quite the rally this week in the currencies led by the euro, which is like old times, eh? The Big Dog on the porch finally gets to stretch its legs and chase the dollar down the street! It’s been a long time since we’ve seen this go on for more than a day. Yes, we’ve seen one day spikes, and even two day rallies turn into false dawns, but this one has lasted about a week now. Ever since last Friday’s awful Jobs Jamboree, the tide has turned, and the Trading Theme that has held the currencies in a full nelson since the end of July, could very well be on the way out the door.

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President Bush revealed plans to use a portion of the Congress approved $700 billion bailout plan to invest into the banking system through capital infusions. Nine of the nation’s largest banks have already agreed to take the capital and in return will give preferred shares to taxpayers and limit executive pay. It is widely expected that half of the requested $250 billion will go to those nine banks. In exchange, the government will receive an annual dividend of between 5-9%.

Those banks will be:

• Goldman Sachs (GS) • Morgan Stanley (MS) • JPMorgan Chase (JPM) • Citigroup (C) • Wells Fargo (WFC) • Merrill Lynch (MER) • Bank of New York (BK) • State Street (STT) • Bank of America (BAC)

President Bush commented, “This is an essential short-term measure to assure the viability of American’s banking system. These measures are not intended to take over the free market, but to preserve it.” After Bush’s announcement, Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman

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U.S. stocks yesterday (Monday) staged their biggest rally since the Great Depression – with the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring an all-time record 936 points – on a Federal Reserve-led push to flood the ailing global financial system with dollars and on a U.S. government plan to buy stakes in banks.

U.S. stocks yesterday (Monday) staged their biggest rally since the Great Depression – with the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring an all-time record 936 points – on a Federal Reserve-led push to flood the ailing global financial system with dollars and on a U.S. government plan to buy stakes in banks. The rally was sparked by commitments from the major financial nations to cooperate in getting the credit markets functioning again, and by news that U.S. officials were putting the finishing touches on Washington’s version of a rescue plan under which the U.S. Treasury Department will invest an estimated $125 billion in nine major U.S. banks, and another $125 billion in smaller financial institutions, Bloomberg News reported early this morning (Tuesday). The White House announced that U.S. President George W. Bush would meet at 7:30 a.m. EDT today with members ...