Following the publishing of President Dmitry Medvedev's extended liberal thought piece, which at least one commentator said may as well have been penned by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Kremlin convened a conference yesterday in Yaroslavl entitled "The Modern State and Global Security."According to the Reuters report, attendees from the state-approved opposition (Zhirinovsky can come, but Nemtsov can forget about it) spent the time discussing the social compassion of Joseph Stalin, berating American democracy, while a visiting Chinese scholar denounced the evils of separatism (hard to know if this was a shot at Russia's conduct in Georgia).  Even with the Prime Minister of Spain in attendence, the sideshows attracted the most attention.  The salient message to take home ...

 

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Wednesday September 9, 2009

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IntercontinentalExchange, Inc.(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global regulated futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, announced today the introduction of 43 new OTC cleared energy contracts for North American electricity, natural gas, natural gas liquids and oil. ICE plans to make these OTC swaps and options available for

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The following appeared in the August edition of Business Diary Botswana. Right now I find myself fascinated by the role that securitization and a mature credit derivatives market will ultimately play in frontier economies; as J.P. Morgan once penned, “credit derivatives allow even the most illiquid credit exposures to be transferred to the most efficient holders of that risk.” Despite its perils (notably the lack of respect issuers had for the potential correlation on mortgage defaults), it is my belief that the underlying concept supporting derivatives is a sound one if handled correctly. As wealth continues to flow to developing markets in the coming decades, so too will the management of risk continue to mature.

Back in late March, not long after the S&P registered its ominous 666 low, an understandably seething writer in The New York Times charged that above all, the “key promise” of

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TODAY: Violence explodes in Ingushetia; Interior Minister fired. Wall rumored to be built between Georgia and Abkhazia; Georgia to leave CIS.  Russian diplomats expelled.  Dozens missing in hydropower plant disaster.  Ship found.President Medvedev has dismissed Ingush Interior Minister Ruslan Meiriyev after a suicide bombing in Nazran which killed 20 people and injured 138.  Tatyana Lokshina from Human Rights Watch has described the attack as 'a big blow to the Kremlin', which is wrestling with insurgency in all corners of the region.  Ingushetian President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has said that it is in the interests of 'the United States, Britain, and Israel' to destabilize the Caucasus, and 'to prevent Russia from reviving the former Soviet might'.  A ...

TODAY: Putin promises to fortify Abkhazia with new base; Ukraine still smarting from Medvedev blow.  EU urges Russian leadership to work on safety of human rights advocates.  Lawyers in Russia beware - it is not just their clients who face prison terms.On a one-day visit to Abkhazia, Vladimir Putin assured the breakaway state that Russia would provide, 'systemic economic, political and, if needed, military support', worth between $350 million and $500 million (reports vary on the exact sum) over the next two years.  A significant amount will be allotted to 'the development of our military base and strengthening of Abkhazia's state border next year', the Prime Minister told reporters.  A new naval base which will ...

Given all the news this week of Russia and Italy's South Stream deal with Turkey in exchange for a nuclear power plant, I thought I would repost an article written by Robert Amsterdam last fall in Energy Risk on Turkey's political pipelines.

FROM OCT. 2008, ENERGY RISK:

Turkey's political pipelines

Turkey's strategic position at the crossroads of East and West has put it at the centre of a geopolitical tug of war, with energy supply a key driver. Robert Amsterdam examines the energy policies being brought to bear in the region

Turkey's role in global affairs is defined by its geostrategic importance as the bridge between Europe and the Near East. Following Russia's invasion and occupation of Georgia in August, which caused considerable energy supply jitters, Turkey was once again thrust into the spotlight as the European

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TODAY: New NATO chief asserts Russia needs to acknowledge sovereignty; nuclear chief fired; Uzbekistan wary of Kremlin's Kyrgyzstan plans.  Moscow-appointed judge in Yukos case to step down. Anniversary of Solzhenitsyn's death. The new head of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has said that the alliance will attempt to pursue a 'strategic partnership' with Russia, whilst 'insisting on Russian compliance with her international obligations including respect of the sovereignty and integrity of her neighbors'.  The Commander of the strategic nuclear missile forces, Nikolai Solovtsov, has been fired after the repeated failures of the Baluva missile.  He will be replaced by General Andrei Shvaichenko.  Russia has renewed its backing for UN sanctions against North Korea, initiated to deter it ...

Gold added about five bucks to its price from the time that trading began in the Far East Thursday…and the London a.m. gold fix. Then from there, it gave back seven dollars going into the p.m. gold fix…and after that, it gained over eight dollars until half past lunchtime in New York. Then a really serious seller showed up taking nine bucks off the price between then and the close of electronic trading in New York. It was pretty choppy trading all around…and it was obvious that every rally ran into serious resistance. The same could be said for silver. But according to the usual New York gold commentator [who is not Dennis Gartman, by the way], volume in gold was heavy…estimated at 140,658 contracts…”which involved a 21.6% surge in the last half-hour. The presence of such determined buyers and sellers during the floor session is unusual.”

Wednesday’s open interest in

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CNOOC Ltd. (NYSE ADR: CEO) …

The ruble has made its biggest leap in a decade, jumping 2.4% against the dollar, with Urals crude advancing to more than $65 a barrel.  GM has three final offers for the Opel sale, which included a modified proposal from Magna which would reduce the size of Sberbank's stake. Home improvement retailer Kingfisher is planning to expand in Russia with a new format store in Moscow, hoping the country has the market potential to be the 'next Poland' where sales have been buoyant.  Premier League side Tom Tomsk, which owes almost $6.4 million in arrears, will not be forced into bankruptcy says the Sports, Tourism and Youth Politics Minister.  Lawyers for billionaire Roman Abramovich have asked a judge to throw out a $3.5 billion lawsuit that former business partner Boris Berezovsky has filed against him.  Oleg Deripaska ...