This market is so wild, so volatile, that I’m calling it the “Andy Warhol market” — everyone gets a turn to be right, but only for 15 minutes at a time! And right now, there are massive forces lined up that could thrust stocks and commodities to the moon … and an equally formidable array of triggers that could send them tumbling lower. The stocks I’ll leave to others … But let me show you the forces that are pushing around gold and oil. Plus I’ll give you four ways to play these wild swings. Gold-ilocks and The 3 Bears I’m generally bullish on gold, so it’s good to acknowledge the bearish forces as well. While total gold demand rose 18% in the third quarter, the fourth quarter was when ...

Unity Bank Plc and Shenzhen Energy are looking to Nigeria's power industry and discussing a potential JV. Shenzhen Energy Group has strong expertise in gas-turbine powered plants. Unity Bank has already assisted Shezhen Energy Group to secured a site in Geregu, near Ajaokuta in Kogi State, to build a power plant.

In Akan (Ghana) Afishapabr /In Arabic Milad Majid br /In Zimbabwe Merry Kisimusibr /In Afrikaans (South Africa) Geseënde Kersfeesbr /In Zulu (South Africa) Sinifisela Ukhisimusi Omuhlebr /In Swazi (Swaziland) Sinifisela Khisimusi Lomuhlebr /In Sotho (Lesthoto) Matswalo a Morena a Mabotsebr /In Swahili (Tanzania, Kenya) Kuwa na Krismasi njemabr /In Amharic (Ethiopia) Melkam Yelidet Beaalbr /In Egyptian (Egypt) Colo sana wintom tiebeenbr /In Yoruba (Nigeria) E ku odun, e hu iye' dun!

The diversification of Nigerian banks out of its own borders using their strengthened balance sheets may be slowing due to the credit crisis. Ten out of the 24 licensed commercial banks in Nigeria now own at least one full-fledged licence in a foreign country. They are First Bank of Nigeria, FBN, Union Bank of Nigeria, UBN; Bank Intercontinental; Access Bank; Platinum Habbib Bank; Bank PHB, the United Bank for Africa, UBA, Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB, Zenith Bank, Oceanic Bank and FinBank. Nigerian bankers are breathing a sigh of releif that they came late to the international leverage party and are now re-evaluating their strategy.br /br /The trend to own international branches was started by the problems Nigerian businesses have in transfering money internationally following clamp downs on international money laundering. This will not go away. By opening branches, the banks faciliated the acquisition of property ...

Royal Dutch Shell, Plc (RDS.A) does not compare favorably with its peer group in terms of upstream growth prospects, returns, and costs. The group also remains exposed to production problems, continued instability in Nigeria, and political interference in Russia.While the super majors as a group should hold up better in the current challenging macro backdrop, given their relatively diversified business structures, strong balance sheets, and attractive dividends, we see better investment ideas in this space.Our preferred plays among the super majors remain Exxon (XOM), Chevron (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP). As such, we maintain our Hold recommendation on Shell.Read the full analyst report on RDS.ARead the full analyst report on XOMRead the full analyst report on CVXRead the full analyst report on COP ...

Feel like getting angry? Treasury publishes latest debt/deficit details… But Fed now encouraged to intervene more… latest data show historic inflation drop… How to invest accordingly? Burritt on near-term trading, Grantham on the long haul… Byron King explains why $40 oil is “worst of both worlds”… Bill Jenkins explains the dollar’s recent downturn… Plus, the Dububble expands… refrigerated beaches on UAE shores…

However dire you think U.S. government’s fiscal condition has become… today we learn it’s even worse. For starters, would you invest in this business?

2008 fiscal year net operating cost: $1 trillion. Triple that of 2007. And those aren’t funky alternative accounting methods… today’s charts and numbers come directly from the 2008 Financial Report of the U.S. Government, issued yesterday.

What is “net cost”? It is “computed by subtracting earned revenue

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The weekly auctions and uas of the reserves have failed to stabilize the naira. The Nigerian Central Bank has ordered the country's banks to reduce foreign exchange positions to reduce local demand for dollars.

Bring up “frontier markets” and most investors envision a potpourri of nations primarily located in Africa or the Middle East. Not so fast, my friend. A closer inspection of the growing number of frontier mutual funds and ETFs, for instance, shows that at least in regards to some of them, there is very little correlation to the aforementioned regions. Consider the Claymore/BNY Mellon Frontier Markets ETF (NYSEArca: FRN). The fund uses an indexing approach and seeks to more or less replicate, before fees and expenses, an equity index called The Bank of New York Mellon New Frontier DR Index. What does that mean? A close inspection of the fund’s holdings shows that Poland (25.07%), Chile (23.55%) and Egypt (14.78%) account for a majority of the top country weightings, and moreover that financials account for 41.61% of the sector weighting. Per Matthew McCall, ...

Year to date movements against USD.br /br /Nigeria naira -7.8%br /Kenya shilling -18.6%br /Ghana cedi -21.0%br /CFA franc -11.6%br /Morocco dirham -9.7%br /Mauritius rupee -12.8%br /Botswana pula -24.4%br /Zambia kwacha -20.9%

Central Bank of Nigeria intervened in the Nigerian foreign exchange markets, purchasing $912 million worth of naira at a rate of 130/USD. Nigeria’s history of multiple exchange rate regimes make it imerative that the Central bank give better guidance on what is going on in its currency. In the past, there have been unregulated parallel markets. The potential for such informal currency arrangements arrising again are a concern.