Oil prices have reached a six-month high, surging to $65 a barrel.  The Russian Natural Resources and Environment Ministry has drawn up a proposal to create a reserve of lucrative oil fields.  An analysis conducted by the US Geological Survey says that nearly one-third of the world's undiscovered gas is north of the Arctic Circle, mainly lying in Russian territory, meaning the country's control of gas may be 'accentuated and extended'.  Central Europe's largest oil company OMV wants to open a delayed pipeline between Bratislava and Vienna as early as next year, which would give it direct access to Russian oil for the first time.  Italy has said it would support Moscow's proposal to have the European Union subsidize some of the gas bills that Ukraine is struggling to pay.  OPEC will leave its quotas for daily ...

It’s a curious symptom of the consensus trance zombifying the American public and its auditors in the media that something like a “recovery” is now deemed to be underway. And, as events compel me to repeat in this space, it begs the question: recovery to what?

To Wall Street booking stupendous profits by laundering “risk” out of bad loans with new issues of tranche-o-matic securitized paper? This I doubt, since there isn’t a pension fund left from San Jose to Bratislava that would touch this stuff with a stick, even if it could be turned out in collector’s editions of boxed sets.

Does it mean that American “consumers” (so-called) are awaited momentarily in the flat-screen TV sales parlors with their credit cards fanned-out like poker hands, ready for “action?” Not too likely with massive non-performance out in cardholder-land, and half the nation’s electronics inventory wending its way onto Craig’s List. Are

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Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is getting a lot of interesting press coverage this week - and like his public persona, there are those who hold him in awe, and those who blame him entirely for what's happened (if you haven't yet read what the Russians say about him, hold onto to your keyboards...). Here are some more interesting snippets of how his personality is being portrayed. "Why Americans swoon for the former Soviet Republic of Georgia," by Ilan Greenberg, Slate.com I got to know Georgia—and Saakashvili—when I profiled him for the New York Times Magazine. For almost two months I shadowed Misha. In Slovakia for a regional summit, walking next to Saakashvili along Bratislava's cordoned streets, the Georgian head of state hooked his arm on my elbow and offered to trade gossip about his senior staff. In Tbilisi, Saakashvili gave me ...

This article is quite different from my normal stories as it deals with a country rather than with a specific financial market or asset class. But please allow me the freedom to share this information with you as Slovenia is such a delightful country and also presents some unique investment opportunities for the international entrepreneur. Enjoy the read.