This is horrible, horrible news, especially considering the circumstances behind the arrest of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer involved in the William Browder and Hermitage Capital affair (this saga of state corruption is best told in a ten minute film released by the defense).  We already knew the lengths to which Russian prosecutors can go in forcing prisoners to manufacture false testimony, but this terrible death is beyond outrageous.  Let's be clear that the circumstances of the death are currently unclear, but for a man who should never have been in prison in the first place, this incident requires a very serious and strong response.Read the Vedomosti coverage here.  This is from Greg White in the Wall ...

In this video, Jim Chanos, legendary hedge fund manager of Kynikos Associates, and Robert Sloan, managing partner of S3 Partners, discuss lessons learned from the financial crisis. (Also see my recent post “Jim Chanos: Ten lessons from the financial crisis”.)

Source: CNBC, November 12, 2009.

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Tuesday October 20, 2009

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NEW YORK, Oct. 20 /CRWENEWSWIRE/ — Deloitte today released the 2009 Technology Fast 500(TM), an annual ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America based on five-year fiscal revenue growth. ReachLocal, a global provider of localized internet advertising solutions, achieved the coveted top spot on the list with 2008 fiscal year revenue of $146.69 million and a five-year fiscal growth rate of 146,050 percent. The company is privately held and based in Woodland Hills, California.

“Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500(TM) identifies some

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International mining and natural resources company, Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF) announced on Oct 12 its decision to exercise its right of first refusal to acquire U.S. Steel Canada’s 44.6% interest and ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s 28.6% interest in the Wabush Mines joint venture in Canada. Wabush Mines includes the Scully Iron Ore Mine near Wabush, Newfoundland, Labrador; the pellet plant and port facilities at Point Noire, Quebec ; and integrated rail facilities. In addition, Wabush Mines owns an equity position in an electricity generation utility in Newfoundland that provides power for its mining operations. On Oct 9, Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Ltd. (CLM) had announced an agreement with U.S. Steel Canada and ArcelorMittal Dofasco (other two joint venture partners), to acquire their interests in the Wabush mine for about $88 million in cash if Cliffs, the third partner to the joint venture had no objection. Under the ...

URS Corporation (URS) announced that an alliance between URS and PBS&J has been awarded a contract by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist the agency in providing temporary housing and mass care solutions for the survivors of the disaster. The five-year contract has a maximum value of $375 million for the alliance, in which URS is the managing partner. The joint venture will be responsible for hauling and installing, the maintenance and deactivation of temporary mobile housing units, as well as the construction of temporary housing communities, as necessary. Additional responsibilities could include providing support for mass care initiatives, such as base camp development, food preparation and distribution and other life support functions as requested by FEMA. URS Corporation provides engineering, construction, and technical services to the power, infrastructure, Federal, and industrial and commercial market sectors in the United States and internationally. Its ...

MMR Information Systems, Inc. has been gaining a reputation for providing consumer-controlled Personal Health Records and electronic safe deposit box solutions. MMRF, which operates through its wholly-owned subsidiary MyMedicalRecords (MMR), took a major step towards enhancing its future with the announcement that it has entered a five year agreement to license an existing 80 million person direct marketing database of street addresses, cellular phone numbers, e-mail addresses and other comprehensive data with E-Mail Frequency, LLC (the “Licensor”).

The Agreement allows MMR to market, through the use of the Database, its MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record, MyEsafeDepositBox virtual vault, and MMRPro document management system to physicians and their patients. According to the press release, the Company will have access to at least 20 million addresses per month and be able to use the Database for traditional direct mail marketing, as well as e-mail and text marketing.

MMRF has agreed to pay $250,000

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Gold prices rallied today, Thursday, to their highest level since February on strong investment demand amid caution ahead of key U.S. non-farm payrolls data on Friday (London GMT).

Bill O’Neill, managing partner of New Jersey-based LOGIC Advisors, said that asset-diversification demand for gold and other precious metals by jittery investors amid shaky equities markets propelled gold’s rally.

Spot gold hit an intraday peak of $992.55, which marked the highest price since Feb. 24. It was at $989.10 an ounce at 12:07 p.m. EDT (1607 GMT), against $976.60 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday.

U.S. December gold futures were up $10.70 at $989.20 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Fears that U.S. payrolls data may disappoint sparked a flight to quality among investors on Wednesday. The metal broke out of its previous $930-$960 range as a move through technical resistance above $960 sparked a rally.

VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov

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Gold futures trimmed losses but still ended lower on Monday, as risk-averse investor sentiment and a tumbling Chinese equities market prompted selling in bullion and other commodities.

The positive link between gold and equities market has been on the rise, as the metal is used as a hedge against inflation and erosion of portfolio values.

“The markets today are focusing on China and the sharp break of the Shanghai equities index,” said Bill O’Neill, managing partner of New Jersey-based LOGIC Advisors.

“In recent weeks, we noted the weakness in the equities, of course, has had a positive relationship with commodities, and that continued to be a factor,” he said.

Global stocks fell on Monday, dragged by a six percent tumble in China, which sent nervous investors into the yen for safe haven. Wall Street was off about 1 percent in afternoon trade.

U.S. December gold futures settled down $5.30 at $953.50 an ounce on the COMEX

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August 27, 2009 ndash; LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK) announced an agreement with Yancheng City of Jiangsu Province for the development of a number of PV projects (ground-mount, roof and BIPV) totaling up to 500MW over the next five years. And Canadian Solar (Nasdaq:CSIQ) said it has signed a LOI with the Administration Committee of Baotou National Rare Earth Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, for rights to design, install, operate and maintain a 500MW solar facilitynbsp; in Baotou. The three-phase project is expected to start in September 2009 and run through December 2011 (phase 1: 100MW; phase 2 and 3: 200MW). These announcements mark an important trend in the solar markets and one that we have been commentating on a lot lately ndash; the further move by midstream solar firms to vertically integrate downstream and even moving into operations of solar facilities. Cowenrsquo;s Raj Seth this morning commented on the ...

S2C Global Systems, Inc., an exporter of natural bulk water and supplier of water distribution technologies, recently announced that the company has entered into discussions with government officials in Mexico City and the Municipal District of Southern California to supplement their fresh water supply. The current water shortages in Los Angeles and Mexico City threaten approximately 40 million people.

S2C’s primary focus is Alaska Resource Management, LLC, a partnership with True Alaska Bottling, to export of billions of gallons of water globally from the water sheds of Baranof Island, Alaska. S2C’s chief executive officer, Alejandro Bautista, has been invited along with the managing partner of Alaska Resource Management, Rod Bartlett, to meet with officials of Mexico City to determine a suitable water supply strategy. In addition, Joe Dickson, the chief financial officer of S2C Global Systems is currently in talks with the Municipal District of Southern California to meet the

...