Currencies rally…  Eurozone growth unexpectedly stronger!  FOMC extends QE…  Norges is the first! And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to you! Well… Turn-around Tuesday came 24 hours later this week! HA! Yes, the currencies came back yesterday, but not with a lot of conviction… You see… Stocks rallied, but that doesn’t mean what I talked about yesterday still won’t happen… Be careful there!

The euro has received some additional love this morning, as the Eurozone’s economic growth printed better than expected, albeit still negative… But… Germany and France showed growth, which I must say is very unexpected! That means that both Germany and France have exited the recession… Well, that is at least for now! For those of you keeping score at home, Eurozone GDP fell -.1%, which is far better than the -.5% that was expected… Oh! And this is for the 2nd QTR… You would have to

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The Government’s initiative to lower fuel prices may hurt Chinese refiners in the short term. Prices for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel will drop by 3.3%, 3.7% and 5.5%, respectively. The National Development and Reform Commission reported that the corresponding retail prices for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel will be about $954, $846 and $699 per ton.

Refiners in China had been witnessing an upswing in refining margins, led by the rise in fuel prices thrice during the year. This is the first price cut in 2009 following three consecutive increases.

The Chinese Government has played a conservative role in pricing of refined product (particularly gasoline and diesel). It is the policy of the Government to cap prices of refined products to control inflation. Price regulation – which did not allow the companies to pass on high refining costs to consumers – is one of the key reasons for

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Pavel K. Baev has a good article up about Vladimir Putin's conspicuous absence from the Gazprom annual meeting earlier this month, when Alexei Miller had to give a long list of bad news, including an 85% dividend cut, a 35% cut in investments, and delays in production plans across the board.  But it's not like Putin has just been sitting in his dacha - we've been treated to a long list of hands-on management and personal appearances, from the humiliation of Deripaska at Pikalyovo to the complaints over pork prices at a supermarket.  Baev lists some of these activities here:Duties of prime ministers are certainly complex, but few apart from Putin have taken to making blitz appearances ...