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	<title>Stock Market News &#38; Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks &#187; Mayor</title>
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		<title>Memorial Plans to Counter Stalin Poster Plans</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/memorial-plans-to-counter-stalin-poster-plans/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/memorial-plans-to-counter-stalin-poster-plans/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:10:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[campaign]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[even statements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Great]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[great patriotic war]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Josef Stalin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mbk center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Memorial;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[moscow mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stalin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[street posters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[victory memorial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[war]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2010://1.23139</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
        Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's plans to commission a vast series of street posters of Josef Stalin for the May V-Day parade has raised a lot of controversy, not least even statements from United Russia and the Public Chamber that he should cancel...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Economist: Luzhkov v Kremlin</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-economist-luzhkov-v-kremlin/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-economist-luzhkov-v-kremlin/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:43:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Natruskin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artist colony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civic council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deep roots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[demolition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kremlin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[moscow mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mr Luzhkov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nbsp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[question]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rechnik]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state television]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2010://1.22968</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
        What's the deal with Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov's sudden thirst for demolition, eviction, and intimidation? &#160;The neighbourhood of Rechnik, on the outskirts of Moscow, home to a number of houses varying in size and value, was subjected to a...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Luzhkov to Fight the War against Snow</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/luzhkov-to-fight-the-war-against-snow/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/luzhkov-to-fight-the-war-against-snow/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:03:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aleksandr Azarov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Yablokov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chemicals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hugo Chávez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Megan Stack]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[senior scientist at the observatory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Beijing Olympics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Victory Day;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22433</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Cloud seeding, the practice of dousing the clouds with chemicals from fighter jets to change the weather, really seems to be in vogue.&#160; I remember first hearing about it during the Beijing Olympics, as the authorities sought to ensure a...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; Dec 1, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-dec-1-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-dec-1-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:04:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Activist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Analyst]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bill Browder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boris Nemtsov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commission of European Communities;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commissioner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Council of Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Rogozin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[envoy]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[founder]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[HIV]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[law-enforcement system]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[opposition politician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recently deceased company lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RFE/RL's Russian Service;]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Magnitsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Svetlana Izambayeva]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Lisbon Treaty herald]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Telegraph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tony Halpin]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Valdai Dacha]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Nabokov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22339</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: Browder on Magnitsky; Luzkhov wins his Nemtsov libel suit; blogging fury prompts cancellation of dacha tender; HIV rates on the up; discrimination follows apace. &#160;OSCE to discuss Medvedev security proposals; analysts wonder whether draft pact is more substance or...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Global Entertainment Corp. (GNTP.OB) Opens Two Event Centers in Texas and Missouri</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/global-entertainment-corp-gntp-ob-opens-two-event-centers-in-texas-and-missouri/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/global-entertainment-corp-gntp-ob-opens-two-event-centers-in-texas-and-missouri/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:00:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>QualityStocks</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small & Micro Cap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Allen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Allen City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Allen Event Center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CenterPoint]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Central Hockey League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Manager]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Collin County]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Ice Rink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Don Reimal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Encore Facility Management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GetTix.net]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Entertainment Corp.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GNTP Rick Kozuback]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Independence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Independence Don Reimal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Independence Events Center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Coliseums Company]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kozuback]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[manager]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Missouri]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mixed-use site]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peter Vargas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[President and CEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[project management services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Heacock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Terrell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Texas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[turnkey solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://Blog.QualityStocks.net/?p=19374</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Global Entertainment Corp. announced today the grand opening of its two new event centers in Allen, Texas and Independence, Missouri. 
Allen, Texas is proud of their beautiful new Allen Event Center (AEC). At the official ribbon cutting ceremony this past Nov. 4, 500 spectators packed the plaza entrance to hear Mayor Stephen Terrell welcome the [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A lesson in Alaskan “waste management”</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/a-lesson-in-alaskan-%e2%80%9cwaste-management%e2%80%9d/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/a-lesson-in-alaskan-%e2%80%9cwaste-management%e2%80%9d/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:54:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew Snyder</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baltimore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bill Bonner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caterpillar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christoph Amberger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commodities Carry Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contrarian profits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas drillers;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gold miner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harley Davidson]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Kentucky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas drillers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas Prices]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Pennsylvania]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shelbyville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Silvercorp;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state lawmaker]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[TFN Strategic Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. government;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ultra-low retail tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.contrarianprofits.com/?p=21078</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[pBaltimore #8212; (TFN): Some good friends of mine recently took their TV out to their front yard, put two high-brass shells in their 12 gauge and pulled the trigger.  They rendered the hunk of glass and plastic useless. Called it Alaskan waste disposal./p
pAfter last night, I’m ready to get out the 00 buckshot, myself./p
pI’ve got my eye out for good intentions, gone bad after spending the last three editions of Notes discussing the idea of financial regulatory reform./p
pDuring 52-mile commute home yesterday, they were all over the place, anything from idiotic signs to a couple of state cops setting a trap and writing tickets for not moving to the left lane when passing a stopped emergency vehicle./p
pThe gung-ho troopers had#8230;/p]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Axing Governors</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/axing-governors/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/axing-governors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:22:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Misharin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boris Nemtsov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Communist general secretary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deputy transport minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[former deputy transport minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[high-profile Governor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leonid  Brezhnev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mintimer Shaimiyev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nikolai Zobin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[presumably less autonomous model]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solidarity movement leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[State Duma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sverdlovsk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tatarstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tatarstan President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Ilyukhin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Western model for fighting corruption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22134</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Nikolai Zobin in today's Moscow Times laments that President Medvedev persistently highlights the level of corruption in Russia, whilst, by all accounts, the problem of graft has increased during his Presidency. (See yesterday's 'corruption blast' for the latest examples).&#160; When...]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Corruption Blast</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/corruption-blast/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/corruption-blast/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:58:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Morozenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Kuznetsov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ex-chief financial official]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial official]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Korolyov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22114</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today has not been a good day for the respectability of Russia's organizations.&#160; Firstly we have the weekend's&#160; police corruption You Tube video, whose revelations about alleged case fabrications and all manner of other dishonest practices have put quite a...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; Nov 6, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-nov-6-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-nov-6-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alcoholism;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Ryukhin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Shlyakhturov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti-fascist activist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chechnya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eugenia Khasis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grigory Solominsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human rights lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[KGB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Main Intelligence Directorate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhael Gorbachev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow court]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nikita Tikhonov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rights activist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rights group;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Orthodox Church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Rights Group Memorial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Karpukhin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Lavrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shin Bet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spy chief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stanislav Markelov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Ryzhkov;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22054</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ TODAY: Markelov murder suspect reportedly confesses; vengeance a possible motive?&#160; Activist abducted in Moscow.&#160; Spy chief issues warning on Georgia; Lavrov surprised at Poland soliciting US help.&#160; Medvedev reserves army use for emergencies. Luzhkov lays into Abramovich; new vodka...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>TAXS, SCHW, PSFT, DISH, PWRM, MMM, CSRH, WFC, CVAT, JPM, AQNM, DrStockPick.com Stock Report!</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/taxs-schw-psft-dish-pwrm-mmm-csrh-wfc-cvat-jpm-aqnm-drstockpick-com-stock-report/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/taxs-schw-psft-dish-pwrm-mmm-csrh-wfc-cvat-jpm-aqnm-drstockpick-com-stock-report/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:36:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dr. Stock Pick</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stocks to Watch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[3M Co.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[advertisement services]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[ALS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amplification Technologies Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aquentium Inc.;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Banking]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://drstockpick.com/?p=4284</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Dr Stock Pick HOT News &#38; Alerts!
_________________________________________

FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com

_________________________________________

Tuesday October 27, 2009
DrStockPick.com Stock Report!
TAXS, SCHW, PSFT, DISH, PWRM, MMM, CSRH, WFC, CVAT, JPM, AQNM
**************************************************************
TAXS, TaxMasters Inc., TAXS.OB
TAXS&#8216; commitment to helping taxpayers in the United States regain compliance with The Internal Revenue Service IRS.
TAXS finalized plans this week to take advantage of the [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211; Oct 26, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-oct-26-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-oct-26-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:22:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Lebedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Kudrin]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21901</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The ever-positive Vladimir Putin is forecasting 8% inflation for the coming year, which would be a 'post-Soviet low'. &#160;The government will sell tons of its gold stockpile this year to cover its budget deficit and help it fund other supporting...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/20/09, PWRM, TRS, PRU, TPC, NWS, ARAY</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/drstockpick-com-stock-report-102009-pwrm-trs-pru-tpc-nws-aray/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/drstockpick-com-stock-report-102009-pwrm-trs-pru-tpc-nws-aray/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:35:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dr. Stock Pick</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Accuray Incorporated]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Antonio Villaraigosa;]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://drstockpick.com/?p=4125</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Dr Stock Pick HOT News &#38; Alerts!
_______________________________________

FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com

_______________________________________
Tuesday October 20, 2009
DrStockPick.com Stock Report!
**************************************************************

Power3 Medical Products, Inc. (OTCBB:  PWRM), a leader in neurodegenerative disease and cancer biomarkers and  diagnostic tests, announces further international recognition of validity as the  company’s President and CSO, Dr. Ira Goldknopf, will deliver an invited [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; October 15, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-october-15-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-october-15-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:24:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chechen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chechen President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Duma]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MGU head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow State University;]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[negotiator]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ramzan Kapyrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Secretary of State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Lavrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Ryabko;]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Sadovnichy]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Walt Whitman statue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21777</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: Clinton turns attention to civil society and gives speech tackling human rights abuses; Walt Whitman statue unveiled; Putin advises against intimidating Iran; opposition politicians stage Duma walk out.&#160; Memorial to appeal.&#160; Putin turns pop svengali?'In an innovative society, people...]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/07/09, IARO, CNBC, WR, S, DCOM, TRXI</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/drstockpick-com-stock-report-100709-iaro-cnbc-wr-s-dcom-trxi/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/drstockpick-com-stock-report-100709-iaro-cnbc-wr-s-dcom-trxi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:17:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dr. Stock Pick</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stocks to Watch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airline carbon emissions calculations]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Carl Brewer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Center Bancorp Inc.]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Dr Stock Pick HOT News &#38; Alerts!
_______________________________________

FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com

_______________________________________
Wednesday October 7, 2009
DrStockPick.com Stock Report!
**************************************************************

International Aerospace  Enterprises, Inc. (OTCBB: IARO) today announced that IARO&#8217;s President  Saffet Uslu has returned to the US from a successful Middle East sales and  marketing trip. During the trip he had an opportunity to meet [...]]]></description>
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		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; October 5, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-october-5-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-october-5-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:41:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Litvinenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anatoly Chubais]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrei Nesterenko;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ban Ki Moon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BBC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Binyamin Netanyahu;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Black Sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bush]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commission of European Communities;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Miliband]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[defunct electricity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Secretary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harold Wilson;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Herald Tribune]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jorg Himmelreich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[KGB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lisbon;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Secretary General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Lavrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergey Ponomarev;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[serious concern]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[the International Herald Tribune;]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[the Washington Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UES]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Kingdom]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Yelena Baturina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21644</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: Lavrov keeps eagle eye on Georgia; Netanyahu's fears about Russian rogue scientists; Chubais takes the fall for hydropower plant disaster.&#160; Litvinenko widow despairs over apparent British moves towards rapprochement.&#160; Luzhkov-Baturina to take Nemtsov to court. UN report pessimistic on...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; September 24, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-september-24-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-september-24-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:53:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arms cuts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charles Dharapak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eastern Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guantanamo Bay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japan]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Kyle Hatcher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leonid Gozman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikheil Saakashvili]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Polish parliament]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Right Cause party]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Foreign Ministry;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. Petersburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Guardian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the New York Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US Embassy;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[White House]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yukio Hatoyama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21522</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: Russia relenting on Iran sanctions; calls missile defense decision constructive; arms reductions talks are apparently progressing apace; Medvedev urges for Middle East arms cuts too.&#160; Island cooperation for Japan and Russia; Georgia undecided on Guantanamo guests; Poland - officially...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Grigory Pasko: Welcoming our Friend, Lt. Col. Chávez</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/grigory-pasko-welcoming-our-friend-lt-col-chavez/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/grigory-pasko-welcoming-our-friend-lt-col-chavez/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:17:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Algeria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cherepkov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Colonel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Duma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[he observed the 40th anniversary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hugo Chávez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latin America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LDPR leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Libya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lieutenant-colonel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lt. Col.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lyubov Sliska]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Muammar Qaddafi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RF]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkmenistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vice-speaker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Zhirinovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladivostok]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21317</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It's September again, and that means the children are heading off to school, and the birds - heading south. And, as tradition goes, Comandante Chávez has embarked on a world tour. This time, the Lt. Col. - the leader of...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; September 8, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-september-8-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-september-8-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:56:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[assassinated activist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[assassinated activist 's assistant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[assistant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Berlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boris Nemtsov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Duma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eduard Shevardnadze]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Galina Starovoitova]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Ministry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lawmaker and human rights activist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Metzel;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow court]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opposition candidate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opposition politician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[police chief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rossiyskaya Gazeta;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ruslan Linkov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Semyon Mogilevich;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[senior investigator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Lavrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solidarity Opposition Movement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soviet Foreign Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Kolokoltsev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Nekrasov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20694</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: 1998 Starovoitova murder case to be reopened; Moscow city Duma election opposition candidates outraged; Nashi vs Nemtsov thrown out of court.&#160; Lavrov positive on reset; new police chief; Moscow mayor to fight weather.According to Bloomberg, Russia has reopened the...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Stalin Helps Bring in the Vote</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/stalin-helps-bring-in-the-vote/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/stalin-helps-bring-in-the-vote/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:19:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Communist Party]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Duma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soviet Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stalin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20683</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This column in the Moscow Times argues that the Stalinist renovation of the Kurskaya metro station is an elections ploy by United Russia to win the votes of the elderly.&#160; Interestingly, the author Sergei Obukhov, a duma member from the...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211; August 4, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-august-4-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-august-4-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:44:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[law-abiding traders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mosow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oleg Tinkov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Restaurant owner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steel Mill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zlatoust steel mill]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19665</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Russia's 'unsustainable' budget deficit is reportedly 'a major threat to economic stability'. &#160;Sevastopol market in southern Moscow is the latest market to be raided by police, heightening fears among law-abiding traders that they may be caught up in the clamp...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Grigory Pasko: Russia Gets Eco-Schooled</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/grigory-pasko-russia-gets-eco-schooled/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/grigory-pasko-russia-gets-eco-schooled/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:55:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alena Suvorova]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alena Viktorovna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Department of Education;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deripaska's aluminum plant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[director of the center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electricity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy conservation projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy-conservation technologies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy-efficient light bulbs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grigory Pasko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[implementing energy-conservation technologies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lenin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Olga Skorokhodova]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poisoning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RUB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shelekhov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shelekhovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States Agency for International Development;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Syusin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19587</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ A very modest «Alenka» (on the profanation of the idea of energy conservation) Grigory Pasko, journalist I recently attended a seminar for radio journalists in Irkutsk, which had an interesting article published in the official programme about the implementation...]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211; July 24, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-july-24-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-july-24-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:05:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics Ministry;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil wealth funds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Skype]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The central bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zebra Telecom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19526</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Top bankers have recommended that the Central Bank cut its interest rates by as much as 5 percentage points.&#160; The Economics Ministry has announced that GDP is 9.6% down on this time last year and has warned that at the...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Deals Deals Deals</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/deals-deals-deals/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/deals-deals-deals/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:03:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Bonner</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Airline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airline representative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank Of America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Banking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Citigroup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contrarian profits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[discount carrier;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dow 30]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EUR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[George W Bush]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goldman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harry Allingham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jpmorgan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ken Lewis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lehman bros]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Madrid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[normal banking activities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Krugman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pennsylvania]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plaza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Queen;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Economist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wall street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.contrarianprofits.com/?p=19239</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[pAs we all know, the depression is over. The stock market seems to think so#8230; with the Dow up 32 more points on Friday#8230; and apparently eager to go higher. Oil rose above $64. And gold is trading at $937 this morning. /p
pFriday, two more banks – the Bank of America (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=BAC"BAC/a) and Citigroup (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=c"C/a) – announced impressive results. Between them, they made $5.4 billion in the last quarter./p
pThese follow announcements earlier in the week from JPMorgan (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=JPM"JPM/a) and Goldman (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=GS"GS/a). As reported in this space, Goldman set the pace by reporting that it has managed to earn more than $1 billion per month in the 2 nd quarter of this year. It said it did so by helping clients#8230;/p]]></description>
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		<title>Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov Targeted</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/moscow-mayor-yuri-luzhkov-targeted/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/moscow-mayor-yuri-luzhkov-targeted/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:13:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[businessman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catherine Belton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elena Baturina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forbes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shalva Chigirinsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sibir CEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkish coast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov Targeted]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19465</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What does the closing of a large Moscow flea market have in common with a fake tax evasion case-slash-state takeover scheme of an oil company?&#160; Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov is at the center of both them, revealing, what some sources...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Cherkizovsky Market Closing</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-cherkizovsky-market-closing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-cherkizovsky-market-closing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:36:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Associated Press]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catrina Stewart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caucasus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lone security guard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real estate transaction;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Telman Ismailov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19431</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ For some weeks now we have been hearing about the mysterious closure of the Cherkizovsky market in Moscow, as well as the abundant swirling rumors behind the business dispute.&#160; The cast of characters is as colorful as can be.&#160;...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Another election, another government in Bulgaria</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/another-election-another-government-in-bulgaria/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/another-election-another-government-in-bulgaria/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:21:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Manuel Alvarez-Rivera</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Attack Coalition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blue Coalition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boyko Borisov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bulgaria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bulgarian National Assembly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bulgarian Socialist Party]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coalition for Bulgaria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commission of European Communities;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electoral systems;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Parliament]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Filip Dimitrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgi Purvanov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global economy matters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Monetary Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[king]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manuel Alvarez-Rivera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movement for Rights and Freedoms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Assembly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Movement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Movement for Stability and Progress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sofia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Democratic Forces (UDF)]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[by Manuel Alvarez-Rivera, Puerto Ricobr /br /Bulgaria will be having a new government after President Georgi Purvanov formally asked Sofia mayor Boyko Borisov to form a cabinet on Thursday, July 16. Voters in the Southeastern European nation gave a clear victory to Borisov's right-of-center Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) in a parliamentary election held last July 5. While the election to choose members of the Bulgaria's unicameral Parliament, the National Assembly, was the country's second vote in less than a month - last June Bulgarians elected their representatives in the European Parliament - the parliamentary poll nonetheless had a 60.9% voter turnout rate, up from 55.8% in 2005.br /br /Bulgaria's general election - the seventh since the country peacefully moved away from single-party Communist rule in 1989-90 - was held under a new electoral system which established 31 single-member seats, chosen by plurality voting. First-past-the-post seats were ostensibly introduced to make the National Assembly more accountable to voters, although the remaining 209 seats continued to be filled separately by closed party list proportional representation (using the Hare/Niemayer variation of the largest remainder method among parties and coalitions with at least four percent of the vote, initially on a nationwide basis and then at the multi-member constituency level, the latter stage under a complicated procedure that insures that seats are allocated without changing the nationwide distribution of mandates among competing lists or multi-member constituencies). Moreover, single-member seats were filled in a manner contrary to the principle of one person, one vote: each one of Bulgaria's existing 31 multi-member constituencies was assigned one seat, irrespective of population; the distribution of multi-member constituency seats is also skewed in favor of the smaller provinces, but the differences are considerably less pronounced.br /br /At any rate, while the electoral reform may have amounted to little more than window dressing as far as parliamentary accountability is concerned, the introduction of single-member plurality seats has had a distinct impact on the distribution of legislative seats: GERB won a sweeping victory with 26 of 31 first-past-the-post seats, which along with 90 of 209 list seats gave the party a total of 116 National Assembly mandates - five short of an absolute majority; under the previous, fully proportional electoral system, GERB would have only had 105 seats (assuming of course that voters would have cast their ballots in the same manner).br /br /a href="http://electionresources.org/bg/"Elections to the Bulgarian National Assembly/a has detailed 2009 election results and an overview of Bulgaria's electoral systems since 1991.br /br /As in previous elections, corruption and the economy were salient campaign issues. Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007, but it has the dubious distinction of being rated the poorest EU member - and the most corrupt as well. In fact, Bulgaria's inability to deal effectively with corruption and organized crime cost the country hundreds of millions of euros of EU aid in 2008. On top of that, Bulgaria has been hit exceptionally hard by the global economic crisis, and after twelve years of growth, the Bulgarian economy is in recession, contracting at a rate which the IMF forecast could reach seven percent this year.br /br /Not surprisingly, the big loser in the election was the ruling coalition government, headed by the post-Communist Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP): the BSP-led Coalition for Bulgaria lost 42 of its 82 its National Assembly seats, and its coalition partner, the National Movement for Stability and Progress (NDSV; originally the National Movement Simeon II) sank below the four percent threshold and lost its parliamentary representation; meanwhile, the third party in the outgoing coalition government, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) - which represents Bulgaria's sizable Turkish minority - slightly improved upon its 2005 result both in terms of votes and seats. Nonetheless, the outcome of Bulgaria's 2009 parliamentary election follows a pattern common to every general election since 1991, in that once more Bulgarian voters have voted out of office the parties running the country.br /br /However, Bulgaria has yet to develop a stable party system: as in 2001, a newly-established party has upset the existing political order, and GERB's convincing victory on its first parliamentary contest strongly resembles that of the National Movement Simeon II eight years ago; interestingly, constituency-level results show a very strong correlation between GERB's share of the vote in 2009 and NDSV's in 2001 and 2005 (0.83 and 0.77, respectively). That said, the rise and fall of NDSV should serve as a cautionary tale for GERB: after the NDSV-led 2001-2005 government of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (the former king of Bulgaria) proved unable to fulfill its campaign promises to deal with corruption and improve living standards, the party quickly went into a steep decline, which culminated in its wipeout last July 5.br /br /It was originally expected that GERB would form a coalition government with the center-right Blue Coalition headed by the United Democratic Forces (UDF) and Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria, which won fifteen seats in the election (down from thirty-seven obtained by its two major constituent parties two years ago), but Borisov has chosen to preside over a minority government, supported from the outside by smaller right-wing parties such as Order, Lawfulness and Justice, which won ten seats in the National Assembly, or even the far-right nationalist Attack Coalition (21 seats). Bulgaria hasn't had a minority cabinet since Filip Dimitrov's UDF government in 1991-92, which lasted just over a year in power - hardly an encouraging precedent. All the same, it appears unlikely the remaining five parties represented in the National Assembly will join forces against GERB, at least for the time being.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8991369883287712098-9215783325040330449?l=globaleconomydoesmatter.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
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		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211; July 13, 2009</title>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:53:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[In the first six months of the year the budget deficit grew to the equivalent of 4.2% of GDP.&#160; The Central Bank has cut interest rates again, for the fourth time in three months.&#160; The Moscow Times has a rather...]]></description>
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		<title>Cliff Hanging In Bulgaria</title>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:12:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Edward Hugh</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /br /pa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SlmdGD2bh-I/AAAAAAAAOoo/P8vnyB3RTno/s1600-h/bulgaria+population.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 258px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357485959172294626" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SlmdGD2bh-I/AAAAAAAAOoo/P8vnyB3RTno/s400/bulgaria+population.png" //abr /br /br /The International Monetary Fund this week forecast the recession in Bulgaria would be deeper than it previously predicted. Such a decision should come as no surprise to anyone, since the country's economic dynamics in both the short and long term look extremely unstable, and Bulgaria is now almost certainly headed towards a series of more or less hair-raising roller-coaster rides. Even the briefest of glances at the population chart above should lead even the most sceptical among us to stop and think a little about the possible economic implications of such an appauling demographic outlook. As can be seen, the opening to the west brought a sharp outflow of people in the late 1980s (mainly ethnic Turks), but the important thing to note is that the decline has continued almost continuously ever since. That is, the decline was not a one-off demographic "shock", but rather it has become a way of life (or, if you prefer, of death, since deaths constantly outnumber births, even before you consider emigration). And it is this "terminal style" dynamic which virtually guarantess that the coming ride will be a bumpy one, not only in the short term (guaranteed by the size of the current account deficit - 25% - which Bulgaria needs to correct) but in the longer term, since according to any known growth theory there is simply no way any country can sustain headline GDP expansion with potential labour force and population contractions of this magnitude.br /br /strongSharp Recession in 2009/strongbr /br /Well, to come down to earth with a bump, let's now get into the immediate situation, and down to the fact that the IMF now expects Bulgaria’s economy to shrink by 7 percent in 2009 (previously they were forecasting a 3.5 percent contraction). They also upped (or downed) their 2010 outlook to an anticipated 2.5 percent contraction, from an earlier 1 percent one, although such an adjustment at this point this is now better than mere guesswork. The point is we are in for a severe contraction, and it isn't going to be any laughing matter.br /br /The IMF revision also follows last weeks announcement that it now expects a “sluggish” global economic recovery and its 2009 forecast reduction for central and eastern European, which went to a 5 percent contraction from an earlier 3.7 percent one.br /br /The heart of the Bulgarian problem at the moment stems from the need to correct a current account deficit which reached 25pc of GDP in 2008, the highest of the 80 emerging markets around the world tracked by Fitch Ratings. Gross external debt reached 102 percent of GDP.br /br /br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SlicspjK3sI/AAAAAAAAOms/fOshCXR7_Pc/s1600-h/bulgaria+CA+deficit.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357204047638748866" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SlicspjK3sI/AAAAAAAAOms/fOshCXR7_Pc/s400/bulgaria+CA+deficit.png" //abr /br /Bulgaria faces a drastic process of external adjustment process which with the shadow of the current international economic crisis hanging over it will surely be far from painless. Vulnerabilities accumulated during the boom period - a marked rise in private sector external, debt along with a rapid increase in credit growth and widespread FX-denominated borrowing - will make demonstrating unwavering commitment to the currency board arrangement very hard work indeed. Neil Shearing at Capital Economics estimates Bulgaria’s external financing needs at $25 billion this year, including the current-account deficit, short-term private foreign debt payments and interest payments. Foreign investment has fallen by almost half over the last year. Meanwhile private deb is up to just shy of 100 percent of gross domestic product, while the government budget revenue fell 6 percent in May.br /br /br /br /br /strongPlummeting GDP/strongbr /br /br /The Bulgarian economy contracted 3.5 percent in the first quarter when compared with the first quarter of 2008, according to the most recent figures from the National Statistics Office. The turnround is massive when you consider that the economy actually grew by 3.5 percent year on year in the last three months of 2008. In fact, GDP actually shrank by 5 percent from the fourth quarter (or at an annual 20% rate), when it contracted 1.6 percent, according to quarterly data which the statistics institute published for the first time. At this speed, I would say the IMF estimate is well short of the likely outcome, and we could well be looking at a double digit contraction.br /br /a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Slic7GmLG1I/AAAAAAAAOm0/N4iMVFgiRlc/s1600-h/bulgaria+GDP.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 204px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357204295954144082" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Slic7GmLG1I/AAAAAAAAOm0/N4iMVFgiRlc/s400/bulgaria+GDP.png" //abr /br /Domestic consumption fell 5.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier after a 1.4 percent increase in the previous three months. Industrial output, which makes up 31 percent of total GDP, plummeted an annual 12.4 percent in the first quarter, after a 3.7 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2009. Agricultural output, which accounts for 4 percent of the economy, dropped 4 percent after rising 26.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Services, which make up 65 percent of GDP, rose an annual 2.5 percent after a 3.8 percent gain in the previous quarter, although it is obvious that on a quarter over quarter basis even services are now contracting.br /br /First-quarter exports dropped 17.4 percent, while imports dropped 21 percent, meaning that the net trade impact on GDP was positive.br /br /br /strongShort Term Indicators/strongbr /br /br /Bulgarian industrial production continues to fall and was 22.1 percent from a year earlier in May - the eighth consecutive monthly decline. Output was also down month on month - by 1 percent over April. Retail sales dropped an annual 10.4 percent in May.br /br /a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SligIsPRYFI/AAAAAAAAOnY/_OEyFwlsvoc/s1600-h/Bulgaria+IP+two.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 233px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357207827931816018" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SligIsPRYFI/AAAAAAAAOnY/_OEyFwlsvoc/s400/Bulgaria+IP+two.png" //abr /br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SligEPw0AII/AAAAAAAAOnM/_qRNyf4K5LQ/s1600-h/Bulgaria+IP+one.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 233px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357207751568392322" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SligEPw0AII/AAAAAAAAOnM/_qRNyf4K5LQ/s400/Bulgaria+IP+one.png" //abr /Construction activity is also well down, falling by 9 percent in April, over April 2008 according to Eurostat data.br /br /br /br //ppa href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SlidIIljhlI/AAAAAAAAOm8/hKx_y2KaVg8/s1600-h/bulgaria+construction.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 205px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357204519826720338" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SlidIIljhlI/AAAAAAAAOm8/hKx_y2KaVg8/s400/bulgaria+construction.png" //a Donestic demand is also in full retreat, as evidenced by retail sales which were down by 3% year on year in May, with the pace of decline steadily increasing.br /br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SlihALFeqTI/AAAAAAAAOn4/gigxC_4bnyU/s1600-h/bulgaria+retail+two.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 205px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357208781105047858" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SlihALFeqTI/AAAAAAAAOn4/gigxC_4bnyU/s400/bulgaria+retail+two.png" //abr /br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Slig7hHUosI/AAAAAAAAOnw/fl4GR8rKUXQ/s1600-h/bulgaria+retail+one.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 203px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357208701119013570" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Slig7hHUosI/AAAAAAAAOnw/fl4GR8rKUXQ/s400/bulgaria+retail+one.png" //a /pbr /pUnemployment is also rising, and hit 6.5% in May, according to the EU harmonised methodology. This is still comparatively low, but the rate will continue to rise sharply throughout the rest of this year.br /br //pa href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SlihKlHP8NI/AAAAAAAAOoA/eVZIKWwXHA0/s1600-h/bulgaria+unemployment.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 206px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357208959890485458" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SlihKlHP8NI/AAAAAAAAOoA/eVZIKWwXHA0/s400/bulgaria+unemployment.png" //abr /br /br /With all this contraction going on, deflation must surely be looming for Bulgaria, but given the very high levels which inflation hit in the second half of last year, the annual rate of inflation continues in positive territory, and what we are seeing for the time being is rapid disinflation. Bulgaria's annual inflation rate fell to 3.9 percent in May from 4.8 percent in April. This is already the lowest level since July 2005, but there is surely much more to come, and consumer prices actually fell 0.3 percent month on month from April, and basically prices are little changed now over the start of the year. Bulgaria’s EU harmonized inflation rate, slowed to 3 percent in May from 3.8 percent in April. Using this measure prices stagnated on the month after gaining 0.5 percent in April.br /br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SliglbU_yXI/AAAAAAAAOng/lXI-H33wA7w/s1600-h/bulgaria+CPI.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 234px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357208321608632690" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SliglbU_yXI/AAAAAAAAOng/lXI-H33wA7w/s400/bulgaria+CPI.png" //abr /br /More evidence of the deflationary pressures which are now about to arrive can be found in Bulgarian producer prices, which slumped the most in more than a decade in May, led by falling manufacturing, mining and quarrying costs. Factory-gate prices dropped 3.2 percent on an annual basis after a 2.3 percent decline in April. Producer prices rose 0.3 percent in the month, after April’s 0.8 percent decline.br /br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SligwV_fDqI/AAAAAAAAOno/WQNyTCjp7O0/s1600-h/bulgaria+PPI.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 232px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357208509154791074" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SligwV_fDqI/AAAAAAAAOno/WQNyTCjp7O0/s400/bulgaria+PPI.png" //abr /Mining and quarrying producer prices slumped 13.4 percent in the year, reflecting a global decline in commodity prices, after a 15.7 percent drop in April. Metal producer prices plummeted 30.9 percent in year, after a 29 percent decline in the previous month.br /br /strongAnother Candidate For Internal Devaluation?/strongbr /br /Many supporters of the continuty of the current Currency Board Arrangement aregue that while the adjustment process is likely to be a bumpy one the CBA should be able to ride out the storm. I severely doubt this, for many of the reasons I have already offered in the case of the Baltic Countries (a href="http://latviaeconomy.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-imfs-decision-to-agree-lavian.html"here/a, a href="http://latviaeconomy.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-latvia-needs-to-devalue-soon-reply.html"here/a, a href="http://latviaeconomy.blogspot.com/2009/06/latvia-devalue-now-or-devalue-later.html"here/a, and a href="http://fistfulofeuros.net/afem/demographics/the-long-and-difficult-road-to-wage-cuts-as-an-alternative-to-devaluation/"here/a). Advocates for maintaining the peg argue the CBA is solidly based and able to weather adverse shocks, given the substantial buffers accumulated in the fiscal reserve account (around 15.0% of GDP) and the existence of large foreign reserves. Bulgaria’s "safety margin" - the sum of international reserves and the domestic currency component of the government’s fiscal reserve account — is estimated to be around 48% of GDP. This compares favourably with the rating agencies’ estimate of contingent liabilities from the financial sector under a reasonable worst case of around 30% of GDP (Standard and Poor’s, 2009). Also, as in the Baltics there is strong feeling of national identification with the CBA, which, coupled with the solid backing of all potential stakeholders (the EU and the IMF in particular), could be consided to offer a robust anchor to the CBA. But as with the Baltics, this kind of support may not be sufficient. Lets have a look at why not.br /br /The first and most obvious issue is the competitiveness one. Since Bulgaria's domestic construction, borrowing and spending bubble has now most definitely burst, and since government spending will be brought under a tight lease by the IMF (when they inevitably arrive) Bulgaria is now (like the Baltics) destined to live by exports (not only live, but also pay down some of the accumulated debt) and this is just where we hit a snag. If we look at the chart for Bulgaria's Real Effective Exchange Rate, then we will see that the country has experienced a significant drop in international competitiveness since the end of 2005, due largely to the high level of inflation the country has suffered.br /br /br /a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Slm6W-Pt2PI/AAAAAAAAOow/7j7cMzQwP8Q/s1600-h/bulgaria+REER.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 233px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357518135562721522" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Slm6W-Pt2PI/AAAAAAAAOow/7j7cMzQwP8Q/s400/bulgaria+REER.png" //abr /br /Wage costs have risen significantly, and even as recently as the first quarter of this year total hourly labour cost rose by an annual 19.2%. The total hourly labour cost was up by 18.5% in industry, by 16.3% in services and by 32.2% in construction according to the statistics office.br /br /Basically then, in order to maintain the CBA Bulgaria will need what is called an "internal devaluation" (generalised reduction in prices and wages) of something like 20%, and seeing the pace at which this process has progressed in the Baltics, there are serious questions about whether Bulgaria would be able to implement such an internal devaluation (ecen with IMF support) before it gets caught in a vicious and painful spiral of falling GDP, falling tax income, falling government spending and even more rapidly falling GDP. Also, unlike the case of the Baltics, where the other Scandinavian countries have been able to render assistance to some extent, there is no obvious external supporter for the Bulgarian peg, and indeed the banking system in some of the countries involved in Bulgaria (Greece in particular) may be nothing like as strong or willing to maintain funding as their Swedish counterparts.br /br /Nonetheless the Bulgarian central bank rejects devaluation, saying the country’s reserves of $16 billion is sufficient to protect the peg, and favours an “internal devaluation” byforcing down domestic wages and prices, a process which will weaken domestic demand, trigger deflation and prolong recession in my view.br /br /Further, since there is no realistic prospect of Bulgarian euro membership in the short term, sticking to the peg for the sole purpose of quickly adopting the euro is a non sequitur, and there is no obvious exit strategy in sight.br /br /On the other hand, while a devaluation would obviously close the current account gap far less painfully, it would not help improve Bulgaria's external financing picture owing to adverse balance sheet effects and the likely rise in bankruptcies. But as has been amply discussed in the Baltic case, the difference with an internal devaluation does not exist from this point of view, and indeed the internal devaluation path may be even more damaging given that even those with loans in Lev would be affected.br /br /The current account will adjust in either case, since it has to, as financing is no longer viable, but this can either be done more painfully, or less painfully, and this is the real question. On the face of it Bulgaria’s incoming government, led by Sofia Mayor Boiko Borissov, advocates taking a loan from the IMF and the World Bank, and following in the footsteps of Latvia, Romania, Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine. The outgoing Socialist government ruled out any international loans. Negotiations are expected to start shortly after the new Cabinet takes office, with the loan itself would probably coming at the end of this year or during the first quarter of 2010, according to Bisser Boev, an economist in the election winning GERB party, in an interview last week.br /br /Neil Shearing, an emerging Europe economist at Capital Economics, goes further, and says Bulgaria’s next government faces a deepening recession and an “imminent” loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund. Basically I agree with Neil: the loan will come sooner rather than later, since having the "bad cop" of the IMF to wave is the only way the new government will be able to govern and implement the internal devaluation, which it is likely will be attempted for a time, even if a breaking of the peg is the most probable medium term outcome.br /br /Neil Shearing also forecasts Bulgaria’s economy will contract by 5 percent this year and 4 percent in 2010. My own feeling is that Neil is a bit to cautious here, and looking at the Q1 contraction and the pace of the decline since, we may well be in for a double figure (10 percent plus) 2009 contraction. Evidence from the Baltics would also tend to confirm this view: struggling to maintain a currency peg in this environment can be very costly in terms of lost GDP, since almost all the burden of current account correction falls on reducing imports, with exports falling rather than rising due to short term competitivity issues, especially when a number of other countries - Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic and Hungary may either devalue or see their currencies fall through sell-offs if they try to lower the currently punitive interest rate firewall (Hungary and Romania).br /br /br /The markets also appear to be far from convinced, and credit-default swaps linked to Bulgarian five-year bonds are up in the region of 400 basis points from the one year low of 290.4 hit on May 20, as perceptions of credit quality deteriorate.br /br /br /br /The coalition must work immediately to shore up revenue, which may fall as much as 3 billion lev ($2.1 billion) this year, said Boev, who was part of the team that mapped GERB’s economic policies and has been suggested by daily Dnevnik as the top candidate to run the Economy Ministry. “We’ll urgently revise the budget and cut what we can, postpone or freeze spending where we can,” said Boev. “This is our first task.” Bulgaria can only afford to co-finance infrastructure projects to bring roads and railways to EU requirements, Boev said. Restoring access to EU funds, which were frozen in 2008 over suspicions of graft, is crucial, he said. Bulgaria stands to receive 11 billion euros ($15.3 billion) in EU subsidies by 2013 to bring living standards closer to EU levels. Boev said the government would be “prepared” to cut investment spending and administrative costs, though it will leave social spending alone because reductions would generate additional unemployment.br /br /br /The IMF forecast a budget deficit of 1 percent of gross domestic product this year and urged the previous government to cut spending by 20 percent. Ousted Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev froze public sector wages less than a month before the elections.br /br /strongThe Risk Of Spillovers/strongbr /blockquote"The macro-situation in Bulgaria is dire," said Lars Christensen, emergingbr /markets chief at Danske Bank.Foreign investment has plummeted. The downturn inbr /the economy accelerated in May and June. While the new government is anbr /improvement, I would not rule out a drop in GDP of 15 to 20pc from peak tobr /trough," he said. My concern is that this is going to spill over into otherbr /countries. If you look at the main lenders, they are Greece, Hungary (OTP bank),br /and Italy."/blockquotepThe danger of a messy ending in Bulgaria adds another twist to the contagion worries which is facing Eastern and Southern Europe in the wake of the global crisis. A break in the Latvian peg (now, not in six months time) would be a blow, but it would, in my opinion, be containable. Estonia and Lithuania would have to correct in line, and pressure would come on Hungary and Romania, but if the Bulgarian peg goes, not in a managed devaluation but as part of a financial crisis inspired rout, which associated political chaos then the problems could rapidly escalate, immediately to four other countries in the west Balkans (Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Albania) and more indirectly down into an already weakend Southern Europe via the Greek and Italian banking systems. /ppBut, you might ask, aren’t the Balkan economies too small to be a potential problem for Europe? This is true, but we need to bear in mind that all four of these nations, despite being outside the European Union, are in fact effectively euroised economies - in all cases their currencies are pegged to the euro. In addition all the Balkan countries have very close economic ties with southern Europe via the channel of expatriate remittances. And the economic problems which currently exist in Greece and Italy only serve to further weaken the nations of the Western Balkans, due to the strong trade linkages that exist within the region. These impacts will in their turn work their way back negatively into Greece and Italy due to their role in funding the region. South Eastern Europe could therefore, be quite literally at risk of economic seize-up.br /br /And we should never forget that the political consequences of economic and currency reversals in the Western Balkans are potentially far greater than the Baltics simply because the former region has a population three times greater than that of the latter.br /br /To be precise, maintaining Balkan GDP involves significant currency corrections. These corrections can take place by formal devaluations, or via the so-called "internal devaluation" process. The slower the Balkan currencies correct, the greater the depth and length of the recession. Basically, under these circumstances, I think that the incentive to devalue will, in the end, be too great. The immediate impact of such devlaluations will be most painful for countries like Croatia, which has a large proportion of euro-denominated loans.br /br /When it comes to the short term dynamics of the looming currency crisis in Emerging Europe, one of the Baltic Three, probably Latvia, will be first to concede its peg. When it does others are almost bound to follow. Everything depends on whether the EU Commission and the IMF are proactive or limit themselves to a mere reactive, problem containment role. If the Latvian currency realignment is done in an organised and systematic fashion, then it may, even at this late date, be a containable process. If the situation is left to fester, and the country falls into the grip of a growing political anarchy, then containment will be much more difficult, since panic will more than likely set in./ppA similar situation pertains in Bulgaria. Absent a Latvian devaluation, it is not unthinkable that the Lev peg may be maintained for another year or so. But if the authorities do go down this road, then we face the severe risk of a raggedy ending, since the problem is not one of sustaining the peg, but of restoring competitiveness and economic growth, and this is much more difficult without a formal devaluation. And if Bulgaria goes hurtling off that cliff on which it is currently perched, then just be damn careful it doesn't drag half of South Eastern Europe careering after it./pdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8991369883287712098-6963277081178645008?l=globaleconomydoesmatter.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
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		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211; July 9, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-july-9-2009/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:24:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Kudrin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finance Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Monetary Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pepsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yelena Baturina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has said that GDP will grow by at least 1% in 2010 and that 'export revenues will decline by $190 billion' in 2009.&#160; Russia could sign an agreement with the IMF on acquiring bonds worth $10...]]></description>
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