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 ...

Like a boxer who has a habit of dropping his hands, America finally caught one on the chin. The U.S. economy is flat on its back, and the financial markets are leaning down into its face yelling out a 10-count. But the U.S. economy isn’t “out for the count” yet. It will struggle back to its feet. But if the economy hopes to stay on its feet, it will have to devise new tactics. The old, sloppy tactics of credit-financed consumption won’t work anymore.

The biggest change in the American economy over the last few decades has been the transition from making things to making loans. We Americans abandoned the manufacturing industries that once powered our economy and devoted ourselves to merely financial activities. We became experts in “financial origami.” Precisely when and why this happened will be something for historians to debate. But sometime in the 1990s, the percentage of

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Following yesterday's discussion about the coal industry, where stock pullbacks seemed more or less undeserved, today we look at the oil and gas sector with Zacks senior analyst Sheraz Mian. With the price of a barrel of oil pulling back drastically, does this warrant the significantly lower oil prices?

With oil prices headed to roughly half what they were just a few months ago, how has this affected oil companies under your coverage?

The current market turmoil has been particularly brutal in the oil space, with all sub-sectors getting down to levels not seen in years. While expectations of softening oil demand over the coming quarters and broad credit-market concerns have been the primary reasons for the sector's woes, the sell off has by all measures been over-done.

This indiscriminate sell-off has made the risk-reward trade off of a number of sub sectors very compelling, in our view. Our

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‘Nationalizing banks isn’t an option for the Russian government,’ says one article. ‘If financial troubles persist, the government may take over entire industries, ranging from agribusiness to construction and retail,’ says another. State-owned Vnesheconombank (VEB) may buy a 98% stake in Svyaz Bank for a ‘symbolic sum’. Over 5,000 Muscovites have been prevented from leaving Russia this year, due to their debts. Iron ore miner Aricom began a three-day roadshow in London to raise as much as $1 billion, although the fact that it was even looking for new funds drove down its share price. The In light of Monday’s drastic losses, the RTS has been shut indefinitely. The MICEX may reopen on Friday. The head of MICEX is drawing comparisons with the US crash of 1929. ‘When the entire Russia oil and gas ...

Russia’s energy minister is discussing ways in which the country’s oil reserve could influence global oil prices. Mosenergo will create its own engineering firm to handle turbine construction for Russian energy companies including Gazprom. Dresdner Kleinwort won’t reveal why it is cutting its coverage of Russia’s oil and gas sector. Russia is ‘wielding enormous leverage’ in disputes over the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs. The high cost of energy on global markets ensures that the Russian economy has a solid foundation.

by Edward Hugh: BarcelonaRussia's inflation rate remained tantalisingly frozen at its highest in more than five years in June as energy and food prices continued to move on upwards. Russian consumer prices were up 15.1 percent from a year ago - matching the rate in May- according to data released earlier this week by the Federal Statistics Service.As a result he Russian government is struggling to bring inflation down towards it's 10.5 percent target after increased income from rising global energy prices boosted domestic demand and made possible 300 billion rubles ($13 billion) of extra government spending on items like pensions and state wages in the run up to last December's elections. The result has been a massive surge in consumer spending and construction activity which has pushed the rate of expansion in the Russian economy above its long ...

Russia's inflation rate remained tantalisingly frozen at its highest in more than five years in June as energy and food prices continued to move on upwards. Russian consumer prices were up 15.1 percent from a year ago - matching the rate in May- according to data released earlier this week by the Federal Statistics Service.As a result he Russian government is struggling to bring inflation down towards it's 10.5 percent target after increased income from rising global energy prices boosted domestic demand and made possible 300 billion rubles ($13 billion) of extra government spending on items like pensions and state wages in the run up to last December's elections. The result has been a massive surge in consumer spending and construction activity which has pushed the rate of expansion in the Russian economy above its long term "comfort" capacity level.

In

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