Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (EXXI) Gulf Coast, Inc. (the “Company”) today September 4, 2009 announced it has commenced an exchange offer and consent solicitation in respect of its 10% Senior Notes due 2013 (the “Senior Notes”).

The Company has commenced an offer to exchange up to $360 million principal amount outstanding Senior Notes properly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted by the Company for its newly issued 16% Second Lien Junior Secured Notes due 2014 (the “Second Lien Notes”), subject to proration and reduction to $311 million principal amount of Senior Notes, depending on the aggregate principal amount of Second Lien Notes sold in a concurrent private placement.

About Energy XXI

Energy XXI is a Houston-based independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, development, exploration and production of oil and natural gas reserves in the U.S. Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. The Company an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the

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Siemens AG (SI) reported third-quarter revenues of €18.3 billion, down 4% from the year-ago quarter, and earnings of $1.44 per ADR, lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Order backlog had a stabilizing effect on revenue while new order intake was down 28% and the book-to-bill ratio fell below 1 to 0.94.   On a geographic basis, revenue grew 5% in Asia, Australia on the back of double-digit growth in China. In Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa and Middle East, revenue declined 9%, including sharply lower revenues in Germany. Order intake was influenced most strongly by Industry segment, which saw demand fall sharply in the Mobility division.   Total Sectors profit declined 21% year over year while income from continuing operations fell 17% year over year. The estimated under funding of Siemens’ principal pension plans as of Jun 30, 2009, was €5 billion, double the amount as on ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 22, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights VimpelCom (VIP) as the Bull of the Day and Regis Corp. (RGS ) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Merck (MRK), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Wyeth (WYE).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

VimpelCom (VIP) is the second largest cellular carrier in Russia with over 25% market share and continued expansion in regions of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), operating GSMbased wireless services.

We are encouraged with VimpelCom's successful sales growth trend and the company's ability to retain subscribers on a recurring basis, even as overall economic factors remain weak.

Additionally, the ongoing expansion initiatives into emerging Asian

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Reuters points out some members of the CIS are having some disagreements with the Kremlin.

This year's Presidential Cup horse race, a traditional cue for an informal gathering of the 11-member Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), drew only five top guests: the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Tajikistan.

The presidents of Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan all failed to show up, citing personal reasons. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko went instead to ride a Harley-Davidson at a local bikers' rally.

"The CIS leaders used the chance ... to show they are unhappy with the state of relations with Russia," said Alexei Mukhin, head

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I just couldn't resist the alliteration temptation. What we're looking at here is the broader directions that should result from next week's Obama-Medvedev powwow.

Former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski offers a three-pronged strategy in the Financial Times for President Obama when he travels to Moscow next week. In the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs, Robert Legvold offers a template for improving US-Russia relations in general. Since this is a blog, and not a newspaper or brick-sized bi-monthly periodical, I'm going to reverse engineer the formats of these two articles into what should be an easy reference in the future for those not willing to plow through a 6,000-word appeal to the Obama Administration to redesign relations with Russia NOW. First, Brzezinski:

Goal 1: Advance US-Russian co-operation in areas where mutual interests coincide. ...

VimpelCom Expansion ProgressesVimpelCom (VIP) is the second largest cellular carrier in Russia with over 25% market share and continued expansion in regions of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), operating GSM-based wireless services. We are encouraged with VimpelCom's successful sales growth trend and the company's ability to retain subscribers on a recurring basis, even as overall economic factors remain weak.The company has initiated expansion into other Asian markets along with entry in fixed wireline communication offerings. We believe long-term fundamentals remain firm, although investors must evaluate the risk associated with equity markets in Russia.The acquisitions of Golden Telecom and Corbina have widened the periphery for growth opportunities, which further solidifies VimpelCom's position in the Russian telecom market. Leveraging these acquisitions, the company has expanded its offerings beyond wireless to fiber-based infrastructure with the launch of an array of value-added services, such as ...

GraphOn Corporation, a California based software solution provider that lets users make their applications accessible on company networks or the Web, today announced the signing of a reseller partnership with Moscow-based Softline Company. The partnership allows Softline, a leading reseller of software solutions in Russia and surrounding countries, to market GraphOn’s GO-Global network and Web deployment software for Windows, UNIX, and Linux applications.

The Softline agreement represents a huge market. Headquartered in Moscow, Softline has offices in 41 cities covering 13 countries. The company will market and support GO-Global throughout Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which includes the former Soviet states of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

GO-Global for Windows provides quick access to centrally running Windows applications from any platform and operating system across networks or the Web. It eliminates the need to modify applications, or to

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span style="font-weight:bold;"The Guardian - Comment is free/spanbr /br /br /span style="font-style:italic;"The Russian PM should embrace his Abba-loving side – in a global downturn, his country needs all the kitsch it can handlebr /Comments (67)/spanbr /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"By Jason Corcoran /spanbr /br /Claims that Vladimir Putin is a secret Dancing Queen are causing a sensation in Moscow.br /br /The prime minister's press office has denied that the judo-loving, tiger-hunting all-action hero is a closet Abba fan, following a private concert given by the tribute band Björn Again. Putin's personal spokesman Dmitry Peskov also took the unusual step of writing to the Times to reiterate the point.br /br /But the Kremlin has been far too hasty in trying to suppress this story. Russians would warmly embrace their leader's softer musical side in a crucial year, as the capital prepares to host the ultimate celebration of kitsch for the very first time.br /br ...

Vimpel-Communications, or VimpelCom (VIP) is the 2nd-largest cellular carrier in Russia with approximately 25% market share an continued expansion in regions of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), operating GSM-based wireless services.We are encouraged with VimpelCom's successful sales growth trend and the company's ability to retain subscribers on a recurring basis, even as overall economic factors remain weak. The company added over 4 million mobile subscribers and improved operating margins from 46.8% last quarter to 48.8% in the recent reporting period.We reiterate our Buy rating while reducing the valuation target as we account for global economic factors, ongoing geopolitical events in Russia (surrounding countries), and weaker local exchange rates against the U.S. dollar.Anindya Barman contributed to this report.Read the full analyst report on VIP "VIP" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks ...

Financial NewsJason Corcoran in Moscow10 November 2008 The closure of a Russian hedge fund run by Florin Investment Management has led to fears many more could go under as investors flee emerging markets.It is estimated about 70 hedge funds are operating in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States and analysts predict over half will be wiped out by next year.The closure of Florin FSU Credit Opportunities Fund, which was invested in real estate and equity collateralised debt, led to 10 lay-offs at the firm in Moscow and London.Florin’s principals Neil Smith and Aidan Freyne are hoping to buy the fund’s architecture from its shareholders at Trust Capital and relaunch the fund as a distressed assets vehicle.Smith was previously head of alternative investments at the UK’s Morley Fund Management while Freyne spent 19 years with Salomon ...