There isn’t much to say here either than I said on Friday we would have a week long holiday lower volume each day rally. That came and passed like clockwork. I had no clue the gains would be so huge in such a short amount of time but in this market you get used to anything and everything.

About the only thing that never changes the past few months has been the news. The news has been downright extremely negative and the negativity has reached a point that it is effecting me and might be having a negative impact in my trading.

I am not used to being a professional investor with a paid website. I am not used to having others be in my trades and see the same thing I see. Now many of you can see exactly what I see and I wonder if that is dangerous or

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TODAY: Kremlin continues to ignore Bush administration, Medvedev optimistic on relations under Obama; US to support Ukraine’s NATO bid at meeting; Russia wants EU inquiry into OSCE accounts of outbreak of war in Georgia; population to drop by 34 million by 2050. The Kremlin is continuing to reject proposals from the US Bush administration on its planned missile defense shield, insisting that it will try to resolve the dispute once Barack Obama takes office. In a televised interview, Dmitry Medvedev announced that he had high hopes for US-Russia relations under President-elect Obama, and reiterated his statement that Russia would abandon plans to deploy missiles near the Polish border if the US abandoned its own missile defense plans in the region. The Pentagon General in charge of missile defense is anxious that the US keep to its ...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates made some pretty interesting comments a couple days ago during a speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. With regard to the proposed anti-ballistic missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, Secretary Gates commented that Russia's military appeared to understand and accept that the system would not be aimed at deterring from Russia, but politically, the leadership decided to make issue of it. He also said the argument that 10 interceptors could put the Russian arsenal in jeopardy "is laughable on its face." Coincidentally, today Russia denied that it has been slowing cutting down oil exports to the Czech Republic as punishment for hosting the missile system.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have signed a ‘much-delayed’ agreement under which Transneft will supply China with oil via a new section of its ESPO pipeline. A new report from the International Energy Agency shows that global oil output is falling at a faster rate than originally thought, with a 9.1% annual rate of decline predicted if current conditions continue. Reasons for consumer concern over prices: BP’s profits are up 148% this quarter. Russia’s electricity providers are struggling with cash flow problems as customers postpone payments. Russia's Natural Resources ministry insists that there is no reason why Imperial Energy should not be sold. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants Russia and the US to update nuclear agreements and further reduce nuclear warheads as part of broader intentions to communicate a stronger message ...

The Boston Globe appears to believe that the hard line being pushed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Russia is inappropriate and unnecessary, especially when compared to the realist assessment of Minister of Defense Robert Gates, who apparently believes that Russia poses no military threat... Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered a more dispassionate view the same day, noting that there is no real military threat from Russia. NATO countries should seek a prudent "middle ground" in responding to the war in Georgia, Gates said, and they should avoid sending provocative signals to Moscow. Rice may be the Russia expert, but American policy would be better shaped by Gates's unflustered view of Russia. I'm not sure what's more strange about this op/ed: the portrayal of Gates as the dovish peacenik despite his clear awareness of Russia's energy assault on Europe, or ...

TODAY: Putin ‘defiant’ on troops in breakaway regions, signs new agreements with France; Medvedev responds to Condoleezza Rice; EU struggling on human rights issues against Russia. Aslamazyan to pay fine and go free; cartoons banned. Yushchenko on Russia. Russia’s decisions on troop numbers in the former Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia will be taken ‘defiantly’, without consulting the West, which has urged Russia to withdraw completely from the areas. Russia and France strengthened their cooperation over the weekend, signing agreements on education, renewable energy and Kyoto protocol. France’s Prime Minister, François Fillon, who met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Sochi, said that EU-Russia talks could resume next month. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has played down the image of Russia as a threat, balancing out some of Condoleezza Rice’s ...

TODAY: Russia could block Nato from using its airspace; Robert Gates’ statement on Russia harshly interpreted, Condoleezza Rice tries a violent verbal attack although even US commentators are unimpressed; new military assertiveness; corruption; allies. Russia has threatened to block NATO from using its airspace for operations in Afghanistan, citing member states’ ‘hostile’ policies toward Moscow. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates most recent statement on Russia has not been taken kindly by this Russian newspaper, although the New York Times portrays his position as cautious about provoking hostilities. Condoleezza Rice’s strong rhetoric on Russia this week, which was critical on a range of issues, marks a ‘one-way ticket to insignificance’. Mikhail Gorbachev sees her stance as reckless. Russia is refusing to allow OSCE observers to patrol in South Ossetia.

Steve Clemons at Washington Note unearths a previously unknown letter from last February written from Sen. Chuck Hagel to Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates warning that recognition of Kosovar independence would make for big trouble with Russia. He writes: "Across the board, officials are clearly concerned about the consequences -- including unintended and uncontrollable consequences -- of a Kosovar declaration of independence. This includes a former senior Russian official known for his pro-Western views, who told me that, "there is no way that one cannot view a Kosovar declaration of independence as anything but a precedent" for other similar conflicts." Nikolas Gvosdev was the first to leave a comment on the blog, remarking that DC was myopic in thinking that if Russia didn't apply the precedent to Georgia within the first 24-48 hours, that it had acquiesced.

By Jennifer Yousfi Managing Editor The Boeing Co. (BA) got some hard won good news yesterday (Wednesday) when Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced the U.S. Air Force would reopen bidding on a disputed $35 billion contract based on findings of the Government Accountability Office. "I’ve concluded the contract cannot be awarded at present" because of flaws found by the Government Accountability Office, Gates said at a press conference at the Pentagon yesterday, Bloomberg News reported. The new bidding process will reexamine eight of Boeing’s complaints that were upheld by the GAO, out of more than 100 concerns it had initially raised, by seeking "revised proposals from the industry," he said. Last month, the Government Accountability Office backed a petition brought by Boeing that the U.S. Air Force altered the auction for a $35 billion ...