Resident voice of reason at The Daily Reckoning, Bill Bonner takes a hard look at Goldman Sachs and replaces jealousy with admiration. “We pick up sword and shield, ready to fight for Goldman, after reading the Financial Times. The FT has devoted a whole page to Goldman bashing. It’s time someone stood up to say a kind word for the firm.”

Bill Bonner (The Daily Reckoning, UK):

The Lloyd’s Prayer

Our Chairman, who art at Goldman Blankfein be thy name The rally’s come God’s work be done On earth as there’s no fear of correction Give us our daily gains…

Poor Goldman Sachs. Everyone is on its case. Criticizing. Carping. Jealous. Envious.

So, today we rise in defense of the Wall Street giant. Yes, the Goldmen may be shysters. But they are honest shysters…

Besides, it was another slow day on Wall Street. Investors

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This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy.

• Jennifer Hughes (Financial Times): Visibility improved but storms may lie ahead, November 13, 2008. The fog is beginning to lift. All year executives, analysts and investors have talked of a “lack of visibility” on the outlook for the economy, earnings and financial markets. By “visibility” they are in essence complaining about the uncertainty that clouds all forecasts all the time, but which we had increasingly managed to ignore during such a steady run of good times. Investors are becoming more confident that the fog is lifting, but that does not necessarily mean there is sunshine waiting just behind it.

• Doug Kass (TheStreet.com): Market ignorance is bliss, November 12, 2009. I do believe with some certainty that the market’s vulnerability

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First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has pledged not to fire workers from near-insolvent Avtovaz, but to create new subsidiaries employing up to 15,000 people.  Auto sales declined by 51% in the first 10 months of 2009, compared with the same period last year.  At the annual Foreign Investment Advisory Council, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has wooed foreign investors by concurring with their criticisms about 'excessive bureaucracy'.  The number of unemployed in Russia has begun to mount, having fallen successively for six months.  The Central Bank may buy gold from the state repository, says its First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev.  Evraz Group plans to sell as much as $1.04 billion of 10-year bonds, the company has announced.  Coking coal miner Mechel has seen a reversal of fortune, now back to a pre-crisis level of production ...

AIDS experts are aghast to see that rates of HIV in Russia have doubled in the past 8 years, reports the Washington Post.  Russia's 'healthy lifestyles' program and advocacy of abstinence have not been effective in combating the problem, international AIDS workers at an Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference have argued.  Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yakovenko has apparently defended Russia's 'humanitarian but not dubious methods' (the 'dubious' one being the widely-favored methadone substitution program - illegal in Russia) and advocated the increasing involvement of the Russian Orthodox Church in curbing insalubrious lifestyle choices. So will any advice be heeded?  The problem of HIV in Russia seems to remain, in the Kremlin's ...

A new World Bank report says that Russia is likely to bear the brunt of changes to regional climate brought on by global warming.  Gazprom, currently feuding with Rosneft over blocked access to energy infrastructure, may rework its 'tough line' of fining European customers that do not buy the minimum-stated amount of gas each month.  Rosneft has outlined plans for $6 billion worth of offshore investment for the next few years.  The question of Iranian nuclear capability continues to be debated in the press.  '[U.S.] administration officials claim to have won Moscow's agreement to join in sanctions should Iran refuse to make a deal,' says the Washington Post, but the paper is also running this Reuters story: 'the Kremlin said that sanctions against Iran are highly unlikely in the near future.' Naftogaz October gas bill from Russia is to be ...

MMR Information Systems today described to investors the benefits of its MMRPro system for Electronic Medical Records (EMR). This system will utilize a proprietary, Kodak-branded architecture and will enable any medical practice, even small or mid-sized, to achieve standards in medical record computerization that qualifies them for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

The entire MMRPro system should come in at under $20,000 over three years, a price point that trounces all competitors, as a typical EMR solution requires many times that much for only a single year. CEO and Chairman of MMRF, Robert H. Lorsch, quieted concerns raised last week in an article by the Washington Post that cited gross inconsistencies and inaccurate medications resulting from EMR systems by detailing the universality of the approach enabled by his Company’s MMRPro system.

Lorsch boldly proclaimed his Company’s commitment to resolving this situation through its software, saying that mistakes

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This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy.

• Joseph Stiglitz (The National Interest): Death cometh for the greenback, October 27, 2009. Whichever path we take, like it or not, we will be moving away from current arrangements, the dollar-reserve system. There are only two questions: will the movement away be orderly or disorderly, and will America play a part in shaping the new system that will emerge?

• Doug Kass (TheStreet.com): Earnings likely to trend lower, October 27, 2009. Underpromising and overdelivering is the oldest game in the investor relations handbook, as earnings expectations are often cagily crafted by corporate managements. In turn, many Wall Street analysts, emulating Ralph Wanger’s zebras, follow that company guidance in adopting a herd mentality that morphs into a Wall

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Today's headlines speak of the bleak but sadly not unfamiliar news of another human rights activist being murdered in the North Caucasus.  On Sunday, businessman and rights defender Maksharip Aushev was killed when 60 rounds of bullets were sprayed into his car along a highway in the province of Kabardino-Balkaria.  Aushev is the third human rights activist to be murdered in the trouble spot in a little over three months, following the murder of Memorial's stalwart Natalya Estemirova in July and childrens' charity officer Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband in August. The Guardian adumbrates Aushev's trajectory into the sphere of human rights advocacy, prompted by the experience of his own son and nephew being kidnapped, followed by ...

K’s Media, a provider of premium brand advertising to targeted high-end audiences through an innovative media platform, recently announced that the company has developed the first and only dynamic media advertising program to be broadcast throughout golf courses in China. The strategically placed media screens will feature revolving broadcasts up to 60 times per day to effectively strengthen brand recognition.

Founded in 2007, K’s Media’s media platforms are installed in karaoke clubs, business entertainment centers and golf clubs throughout China. According to the Washington Post, China is emerging as a new hotbed of golf enthusiasts due to its growing middle class made up of successful small- and medium-size business owners and government officials. Since 2008, K’s Media has successfully attracted high-profile clients, including Motorola, Aston Martin, Acura, Remy Martin, Glashutte, Evian and Budweiser.

“Today China boast more than 200 world-class golf courses and current golfing enthusiasts of almost 4 million are

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TODAY: Did Clinton get what she wanted?; media reports possible silence for sanctions deal; START treaty progress.  Georgia accused of abetting al-Qaida; Putin 'satisfied' with job.  German official castigates Medvedev for investigation into Stalin-researching historian; the man of steel's grandson loses battle with newspaper; psychological perils of police force and military; mafia boss funeral. According to the Moscow Times, Hillary Clinton received a 'cool welcome' from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the crucial issue of sanctions on Iran, with Russia still resisting.  Clinton apparently 'brave-faced' it, saying, 'we did not ask for anything today. We reviewed the situation', and added 'Russia has been extremely co-operative in the work we have done together'.  Reports have circulated that the ...