As a candidate, Barack Obama positioned himself as the Anti-Bush. But as president, his foreign policy actions and outcomes so far could be called Bush-Like. Thatrsquo;s the view put forth in an interesting analysis from Stratfor Global Intelligence, a geopolitical think tank based in Austin, Texas. Stratfor president George Friedman spins the globe and points out where the campaign rhetoric left off and the realities of being president set in. Wersquo;re still deeply entrenched in Iraq. We are still telling the Iranians to negotiate on nuclear development, or else. Our tense relationship with the Russians over regional dominance remains intact. The French and Germans are still holding us at armrsquo;s length despite Obamarsquo;s overtures. We are maintaining the status quo with China by focusing on our common economic interests and avoiding politics. Sure, itrsquo;s only been seven months since Obama took office, but contrary to the view of Obama purists, Friedman says the promises ...

The Dow Jones Industrial Index on Thursday breached 9,000 for the first time since January and the Nasdaq Composite Index notched up a 12th consecutive advancing day (the first time sine 1992) as favorable reactions to earnings and economics reports propelled stocks and other risky assets higher. Meanwhile, the usual debate on the outlook for the economy and shenanigans of financial institutions again dominated the video channels over the past few days.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s bi-annual testimony on Capitol Hill (and an expected grilling by Alan Grayson) and other highlights of the week’s trials and tribulations were captured on video and are included in this video-o-rama compilation. Strutting their stuff were a star-studded cast including the likes of Martin Feldstein, Stephen Roach, Bill King, Nouriel Roubini, Sheila Bair, Mario Gabelli and George Friedman.

The compilation starts off with an interview with Harvard’s Martin Feldstein about his “double-dip” economic

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George Friedman of Stratfor gives some interesting and less interesting opinions on the Obama-Medvedev summit coming up next week.  Friedman believes the the "sphere of influence" question will be the central issue of the meeting, while he doesn't expect any major breakthroughs, just more cosmetic agreements.  Beware of high flying assumptions and weighty clichés (like Obama showing that he is "tough as Putin"!).

The financial debate during the past few days was dominated by President Obama’s sweeping revamp of financial market supervision, and this issue also occupies a number of slots in today’s Video-o-rama.

But it was not all about regulation, as pundits were also trying to figure out whether there were in fact economic “green shoots” and what the implications for financial markets might be. Commentators include Michael Lewis, John Rogers, Robert Kleinschmidt, Jack Welch, Barry Ritholtz, Nouriel Roubini, Stephen Roach, Mario Gabelli and George Friedman.

The compilation kicks off with author Michael Lewis discussing his article “The End of Wall Street”, and concludes with a fascinating analysis of the Iranian situation by George Friedman of Stratfor, geopolitical analysts.

You Tube: Michael Lewis - the end of Wall Street? “Author Michael Lewis discusses how his experience working at Salomon Brothers and writing Liar’s Poker influenced his article, ‘The End of Wall

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