Comments on: Russia’s Problems Impede its Long-Term Profit Promise

By: Giovanni

Giovanni — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 07:50:16 +0000

If the article writer holds that Russia has not grounds to do so, I strogly believe that America (the establishment)together with their cusins British, after becoming two huge hedge funds and debt producers have lost any ground to teach how to govern the economy. About marxism and national socialism
(fascism+nazism) I suggest everybody to read the folowing books by Antony G. Sutton:
Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution
Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler.
Regards.

By: Frank Banano

Frank Banano — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 22:45:16 +0000

Hey I like Russia too. Here’s another good article, It’s a great read, On Investor’s Daily Edge site:

http://www.investorsdailyedge.com/the-russia-pick-i-recommended-to-you-is-up-39-in-53-days.html

Thank you,

Frank

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:29:52 +0000

The U.S. does indeed have the misfortune of being led by a malicious Marxist right now, hell bent on trying to destroy the greatest country ever built, while fervently believing everything the Marxists who raised him taught him, all of it founded on lies. I followed the link from the “Gone with a Whimper” story on Pravda to the author’s blog. His view is definitely colored by the Russian point of view, but he did make some valid points in his article. I agree with his assessment that the “educational” system has been deliberately dumbed down and the kids who go through it are being stuffed as full as a Christmas turkey with loads of irrelevant pop culture and present-day Leftist crap about man-made global warming, Marxist idiot-ology, perversion promotion, etc. Having read John Taylor Gatto’s book, “An Underground History of American Education” (available at http://www.johntaylorgatto.com), it’s easy to agree with the assessment of an intentionally dumbed-down forced-schooling system based on the old Prussian model, mixed with elements of the Hindu caste system. I wonder if the author is aware of a document (a KGB memo, I think) from about 1962 that the CIA translated after the fall of the Soviet Union, when it became available, which suggested infiltrating the schools to implement destructive actions on Western societies, particularly the promotion of homosexuality as innocuous, or even positively, as a way to destroy rival societies. The author had another post on his blog where he talked about the Russians disrupting gay-pride marches in Russia where Western gays tried to put on parades in Russia. Quite ironic that Russia is now desperately trying to stamp out the effects of the poison seeds of perversion that its KGB sowed decades ago throughout the Western world.

By: NoSocialism

NoSocialism — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 03:10:07 +0000

‘It takes one, to know one.’

Makes perfect sense that a Russian would be able to articulate what many Americans don’t want to admit.

To many of us though, it’s perfectly clear.

By: V Todres

V Todres — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:14:38 +0000

Well, should I start numbering inaccuracies?
- The size of the rainy day fund and whether it was indeed fully spent?
- who exactly was it not expecting Russia to survive 2009?
- who are Magma? POssibly, Magna, a Canadian company who in fact got rid of the Russian control because the Russian shareholder could not answer on margin calls?
- when was BP’s Russian unit nationalised? It has been owned by BP 50% and still is. And, even with Fridman as execitve chairman, it is operated by the BP team (COO, CFO, etc)
- and so on and so forth
I have liked your commentaries so far, but now I wonder – was it only because I did not know that much about these other topics of yours? What if the rest of your commentary was the same type of misinformed, inaccurate redneck nonsense as the article above? Where are you writing from – Des Moines, Iowa?
Probably I should take your opinions with much more than a pich of salt now

By: Joel Markham

Joel Markham — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:52:48 +0000

You are incredibly misinformed and write with a glib tone that is striking. Lets start with the vrey unpleasant Mikhail Fridman comment, your judgement is based on ….
Magna (not Magma) is one of the larget tier suppliers in the gloabl auto industry and has been responsible for the design and manufacture of several of the best known autos in Europe (including the BMW X3). Magna has made its intentions ot continue up the vertical integration path well known for many years and in fact had been in talks with Damler to buy Chrysler (and Lord knows woudl have been better suited to the task than Cerebus). Sberbank owned a big chunk of Magna as a result of a default on a loan it made to Basic Element, the owner of Russia’s largest car maker. Russia is Europe’s second largest car market and it is very likely Opel will be merged once it is stabilized.
If you look at the cycle over cycle returns for Russian equities, you will find they outperform the US indices, even on a risk adjusted basis.
Government participation in industrial policy is a fact, and there have been one or two very obvious cases of abuse, but many if not all of the Russian companies are free to operate with shareholders the boards appoint. There are pressures from outsiders who want to be in the business but if you have the right local partner this risk is reduced. Anyone who doesnt do this when investing intenationally is subject to same risk. Russia is not Chicago, and anyone who expects it to be so is naive.

Lastly, the best of all the comments, Russia is not a global growth market like China or Brazil…. No, but it resembles Australia or Canada in terms of its resources profile and has a pretty large market around it which it can serve. In a world of double digit inflation I like that profile more than that of big commodity consumer.

Go back to getting your worldview at the local diner.

By: j lamont

j lamont — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:08:41 +0000

They are correct. The USA IS, descending into Marxism.

Don’t you think so???

By: Trev

Trev — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:25:10 +0000

Just another article attempting to divert us away from the biggest joke in the world today and that is rigth here at home where stupid politics and greedy economics really have succeeded in creating a true dissaster and distruction of once a beautiful and wonderful country. What was once a country offering life at a wonderful level of prosperity and joy to a country of stupidity and fraud which is well on it’s way to a probabilty of variables including extensive poverty, crime ( physical and economic ) and a with all the miltary migth available, to blow us up back into the stone age.

By: motelbill

motelbill — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:31:45 +0000

This is not unusal. I lived in St. Pete when a dispute arose between, of all firms,….The Subway Food Chain and a Russian Partner…..The outcome was Subway (and I believe the store was company owned and not franchised) partner had no recourse in Russian Courts. If they did how would they get an injunction enforced? It will always be interesting times in Russia, especially Moskva!!!!

By: K Alexander

K Alexander — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:06:09 +0000

“Descending into Marxism” is exactly what is happening in the US.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn said once “the lie is the pillar of state”.
Everyone seems to know this but Americans.