Iteris, Inc., a leader in advanced traffic management technologies, today reported financial results for its fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2009. Net sales and revenues increased 1.6% over the preceding quarter, from $14.6 million to $14.9 million, primarily the result of a 20.5% increase in the sale of Roadway Sensors and a 30.5% increase in the sale of Vehicle Sensors. Growth was partially offset by a 16.9% decrease in Transportation Systems contract revenues. In addition, gross margins increased to 44.2%, compared to 38.1% for the preceding quarter, and compared to 41.3% in the same quarter of the prior fiscal year, although the current quarter total net sales and contract revenue figures represent a 22% decrease compared to the same quarter in the prior fiscal year. The gross margin increase was the result of a higher mix of Roadway and Vehicle Sensor net sales as a percent of total sales and

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Anders Aslund thinks Russia's economy isn't up to the ranks of its famed acronym partners.  He's not the first to say it.  Although Aslund has been saying this for a long time, most observers agree that some tough times are ahead - and I don't happen to think that bodes well for the small civil society movement.  From the Moscow Times:

The state-dominated banking system remains a morass. The five dominant state banks are in poor shape. The government pours more and more money into them, but it helps little as the banks lose it in short order on politically motivated, nonperforming loans. The state banks pose a threat of nationalizing big Russian companies, while they provide little credit. In effect, the Kremlin maintains a detrimental liquidity squeeze.

Senior officials interfere arbitrarily in big enterprises, asking them to hire more workers, to reduce prices and to expand

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By Cees Bruggemans

A Zuma Presidency could surprise with some remarkably positive outcomes during its period of office.

Here follows a modest attempt at short-listing a few obvious outcomes to look out for, this in addition to any gains or losses from new policy emphasis, direction or efforts.

Given popular demand, Mr Zuma could conceivably be a two-term President, taking him potentially to 2019.

But Mr Zuma apparently indicated before winning the presidency that he only aspires to one presidential term, potentially wishing to bow out in 2014. Were he to do so, he would be following in Mr Mandela’s footsteps.

There is already in place a safe pair of proven hands in the form of Deputy-President Motlanthe to whom to pass the reigns in 2014. And if not him, there apparently are many more such potential torchbearers able and willing. Thus the Zuma legacy could potentially extent at

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Looking past the poverty and ahead, if you sit on Indian investments you could be rewarded with plenty of profits. This from Chris Mayer writing for the Daily Reckoning: Of all the crazy events in 2008, seeing the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in flames on TV is one I’ll remember for a long time. Last year, when I traveled throughout India, my first stop was Mumbai (or Bombay, as people still call it). I stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace. I remember what an oasis of calm that hotel was after spending a day in bustling Bombay. I remember its onyx columns and archways and domes, its hand-woven carpets and crystal chandeliers, its exceedingly polite staff and impressive Sikh doormen. Built in 1903 by a Tata, the Taj was a place of grace and old-world charm. From the hotel, you got a panoramic view of the bay, where the ...

Of all the crazy events in 2008, seeing the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in flames on TV is one I’ll remember for a long time. Last year, when I traveled throughout India, my first stop was Mumbai (or Bombay, as people still call it). I stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace.

I remember what an oasis of calm that hotel was after spending a day in bustling Bombay. I remember its onyx columns and archways and domes, its hand-woven carpets and crystal chandeliers, its exceedingly polite staff and impressive Sikh doormen.

Poor India, the old stomping grounds of the great Hindu kings, the playground of the Mughal Empire, had a rough year in 2008. India has had such a good run - five years of nearly 9% economic growth and a booming stock market - that it had reason to feel it was Fate’s spoiled darling. But in a long and checkered

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strong/stronga href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SVFAWkhXc8I/AAAAAAAAL3k/ueQYKIgYSc0/s1600-h/hrvynia.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283074594387227586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 159px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SVFAWkhXc8I/AAAAAAAAL3k/ueQYKIgYSc0/s320/hrvynia.png" border="0" //abr /br /blockquotep“In Ukraine, the evidence is still that policymakers do not quite understand the seriousness of the challenges they face,”. Timothy Ash, analyst at the Royal Bank of Scotland. /pp“There is a burgeoning economic crisis in the European periphery,” Krugman said on the ABC network Dec. 14. “The money has dried up. That’s the new center, the center of this crisis has moved from the U.S. housing market to the European periphery.” /p/blockquoteMake no mistake about it. What is taking place right now in Ukraine is extraordinarily serious. The IMF have recently agreed a support loan to the country, but the politicians themselves still can't agree on whether or not they are actually going to abide by the conditions attached to it. Meantime, as we can all see on ...