Reports have emerged following yesterday's meeting between 'comfortable' duo Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko.  Bloomberg says Putin's announcement that Ukraine would not be penalized for consuming less gas than was contracted was warmly received by Tymoshenko, who pledged that payments would be made on time.  'It would be very good to meet the New Year without calamities,' Putin said, guaranteeing stable supplies (click here for some transit figures).  This exchange was overshadowed by Medvedev's advisor in Moscow, who reportedly complained about 'political blackmail' in light of Tymoshenko's decision to increase transit fees earlier this week. The Guardian points out that TNK-BP's new chief executive, the choice of its oligarch board, is 'inexperienced', but BP insists that it was not 'steamrollered' into accepting him.  Russia's stepped-up pledge for emissions reductions is drawing positive reports.  ...

VIASPACE Inc., a clean energy company growing Giant King(TM) Grass as a low-carbon, renewable energy crop, announced that it has leased an additional 136 acres in Guangdong Province, China. The new acreage has already been planted with Giant King Grass.

With 250 acres now under cultivation, VIASPACE is in negotiations to acquire more land. The current acreage is expected to support immediate needs for prototypes, demonstrations to potential customers and joint venture partners, and initial demand for products, such as energy pellets. Over the next several quarters, the acreage will also serve as a nursery and source of seedlings for planting on additional land.

Due to the fast-growing nature of Giant King Grass and the company’s plans to propagate seedlings that could result in geometric increases in plantings, VIASPACE believes it can support the development of up to 25,000 planted acres. Included in

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Russia's EU ambassador says his country aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 25% through to 2020. Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko, has written an open letter to Dmitry Medvedev, asking him to change the terms of agreement on gas supplies.  The move 'appeared designed to embarrass his political rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko', says Reuters, alhough things will likely be tense enough ahead of Tymoshenko's meeting with Vladimir Putin today, as she has already announced that the transit price of Russian natural gas through Ukrainian territory will be doubled as of January next year.  Tymoshenko says the meeting's agenda does not include gas issues.  RusAl is pulling out of the construction side of the Boguchanskaya hydroelectric plant, its joint project with RusHydro, although says it will not withdraw funding. The venture has already been the focus of disputes ...

I have always been a keen follower of trends in the art world as these often provide clues regarding the economic cycle. A recent interview of Edward Dolman, chief executive of Christie’s International auction house, by Richard Milne of the Financial Times is therefore of particular interest.

Part 1: On art world recovery Dolman talks about how quickly he sees the art world recovering from the current downturn.

Click here or on the image below the view Part 1 of the interview.

Part 2: On shift eastwards Power in the art world has shifted eastwards in the current crisis. Dolman explains how large this move has been.

Click here to view Part 2 of the interview.

Part 3: On economic recovery Dolman discusses his expectation for the shape of economic

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I have always been a keen follower of trends in the art world as these often provide clues regarding the economic cycle. A recent interview of Edward Dolman, chief executive of Christie’s International auction house, by Richard Milne of the Financial Times is therefore of particular interest.

Part 1: On art world recovery Dolman talks about how quickly he sees the art world recovering from the current downturn.

Click here or on the image below the view Part 1 of the interview.

Part 2: On shift eastwards Power in the art world has shifted eastwards in the current crisis. Dolman explains how large this move has been.

Click here to view Part 2 of the interview.

Part 3: On economic recovery Dolman discusses his expectation for the shape of economic

...

JPMorgan Chase & Company (JPM) is in discussions to take full control of its U.K. joint-venture partner, Cazenove Group, for about £1 billion ($1.7 billion).   JPMorgan entered into a partnership with Cazenove five years ago. At that time, JPMorgan paid about £100 million for a 50% ownership in Cazenove.   Now, JPMorgan intends to buy the remaining 50% of the investment-banking partnership for 500−525 pence per share.   Chief Executive Naguib Kheraj, the former finance chief of Barclays PLC (BCS) is running JPMorgan Cazenove since last year. Cazenove first became one of London's leading stockbrokers in the mid-1930s.   Deciding on the full acquisition of Cazenove has been crucial for Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan. Dimon organized a similar purchase of the bank’s remaining stake in Highbridge Capital Management this year.   In the last few years, JPMorgan has been able to maintain its top ...

VIASPACE Inc., a clean energy company providing products and technology for renewable and alternative energy, this morning reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009.

Revenues totaled $1.23 million, including $1.06 million from the late-2008 strategic acquisition of Inter-Pacific Arts, Inc. (IPA), and $171,000 primarily from Ionfinity’s military contracts for monitoring and detection systems. Gross profit for the quarter was reported at $473,000, including $455,000 related to IPA. Comparatively, third-quarter 2008 revenues were $99,000 and gross profit was $23,000.

Operating expenses for the quarter declined to $1.05 million from $2.82 million as a result of lower research and development expense and lower selling, general and administrative expense. Stock-based compensation and stock-option expense for the quarter totaled $458,000, compared to $1.32 million in third-quarter 2008.

Operating loss for the quarter narrowed to $574,000 from operating losses of $2.8 million in third-quarter

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VIASPACE Inc., a clean energy company growing Giant King(TM) Grass as a renewable, low carbon, energy crop, announced this morning that its Chief Executive, Dr. Carl Kukkonen, will be presenting the company’s Giant King Grass at the Next-Generation Biofuels Feedstocks USA Conference to be held November 16-17, 2009, at Le Meridien Hotel in San Francisco.

Contrived to identify renewable energy feedstocks with the most potential, the conference will be attended by leading experts, business executives, investors and others to discuss the challenges and opportunities in next-generation biofuels feedstocks. The conference will also compare how existing and next-generation feedstocks impact the environment. Prices, market trends and yield potential will also be considered in the comparisons.

VIASPACE Chief Executive Dr. Carl Kukkonen commented, “Whether biomass is used to generate electricity or as feedstock for producing green gasoline, price, supply reliability, technical performance and environmental effects

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 12, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Macy’s Inc. (M), Nissan (NSANY), Priceline.com (PCLN), General Electric Co. (GE) and United Technologies Corp. (UTX).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Macy’s Raises Earnings Guidance

Macy’s Inc. (M) recently reported third-quarter 2009 results. The company posted a loss of 3 cents a share that outshined the Zacks Consensus Estimate loss of 9 cents, and improved substantially from a loss of 8 cents delivered in the prior-year quarter.

Effective

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Nissan to Build World’s Cheapest Car Carlos Ghosn, the Chief Executive of the alliance Renault and Nissan (NSANY), has revealed that the company will roll out a small car with its Indian partner, Bajaj Auto, that will be cheaper than any other car in India -- and in the world. The car, which is scheduled for launch in India in 2012, would beat India’s largest automaker Tata Motors’ Nano both in terms of pricing and fuel-efficiency, and become the world's cheapest car. Presently, Tata Nano is the world's cheapest car. The car has a starting price of about Rs100,000 ($2,150). When Renault and Bajaj started discussing on their "ultra low-cost" car 2 years ago, it has been revealed that the car would have been priced between $2,500 and $3,000. However, at the World Economic Forum meeting in New Delhi, India, Mr.Ghosn announced that the ultra low-cost ...