TODAY: Putin likens Oleg Deripaska and other Pikalyovo factory owners to 'cockroaches' in open castigation of the super-rich; fears of social unrest due to unemployment becoming a reality?; Poland angered by Russian 'rewrite' of the origins of World War TwoPrime Minister Putin has made an all-guns-blazing appearance in Pikalyovo to reprimand the owners of the town's three factories and instruct them to pay their workers' wages, in what Bloomberg calls 'the most visible industrial action in Russia since the Siberian miners' strike of 1998.'  He launched a stinging attack on the businessmen behind the wage arrears, including Oleg Deripaska, saying: 'you have made thousands of people hostages to your ambitions, your lack of professionalism -- or maybe simply your trivial greed'.  He also ...

While the mainstream media has been focused on the run-up in equities, one overlooked sector has turned “red hot,” according to Justice Litle in Taipan Daily. Justice is talking about the grain markets – foodstuffs like corn, wheat, soy and sugar.

This chart shows the price movements since the beginning of the year of the Powershares DB Agriculture Fund (NYSE:DBA). It represents a basket of futures contracts for commodities such as wheat, corn, soybeans and sugar. As Justice says, “Commodity after commodity has roared back to life, thanks to a combination of renewed inflation expectations, a crashing U.S. dollar, and newly bullish fundamentals.”

Last Thursday, we discussed at length the effects that inflationary expectations are having on the market. We said that Treasuries were a bad

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