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<title>Minyanville - Craig Mellow RSS</title>
<description>
The Trusted Choice for the Wall Street Voice
</description>
<link>
		http://www.minyanville.com</link>
<copyright>
		2013Minyanville Publishing and Multimedia, LLC. All Rights Reserved
</copyright>
		<item>
<title><![CDATA[Russia Budges on Politics, Economics Not So Much]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/global-markets/articles/Russia-Budges-on-Politics-Economics-Not/5/9/2013/id/49729</link>
<pubDate>
			Thu, 9 May 2013 11:08:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/global-markets/articles/Russia-Budges-on-Politics-Economics-Not/5/9/2013/id/49729</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[This week actually brought some encouraging news from a sphere that rarely offers any: international diplomacy.  Not that anyone noticed much between the Cleveland kidnapping story and the Dow (INDEXDJX:.DJI) setting new records.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Moscow, and agreed to make joint efforts to end the awful civil war in Syria.  Lavrov hinted that Russia would even throw its client, president Bashar al-Assad, under the bus if necessary for peace. "We are not interested in the fate of certain persons," the Kremlin's foreign policy supremo said. "We are interested ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[This week actually brought some encouraging news from a sphere that rarely offers any: international diplomacy.  Not that anyone noticed much between the Cleveland kidnapping story and the Dow (INDEXDJX:.DJI) setting new records.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Moscow, and agreed to make joint efforts to end the awful civil war in Syria.  Lavrov hinted that Russia would even throw its client, president Bashar al-Assad, under the bus if necessary for peace. "We are not interested in the fate of certain persons," the Kremlin's foreign policy supremo said. "We are interested ]]>
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<title><![CDATA[Why Wall Street Is Unmoved by Global Gold Fever]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/Why-Wall-Street-Is-Unmoved-by/5/6/2013/id/49644</link>
<pubDate>
			Mon, 6 May 2013 09:35:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/Why-Wall-Street-Is-Unmoved-by/5/6/2013/id/49644</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Gold-buying fever continued unabated among the untutored masses worldwide last week.  Imports to India, the biggest gold consumer by far, were running at five times average levels, according to investment bank UBS.  Chinese smallholders used their May Day holiday not to head for the beach, as this column naively suggested last week, but to flood the gold dealers in Hong Kong. Turkey bought more gold in April than in any month since the fateful days of August 2008. And so on.

Were the financial pros back in New York and London impressed by this spontaneous outpouring of gold love? Not ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[Gold-buying fever continued unabated among the untutored masses worldwide last week.  Imports to India, the biggest gold consumer by far, were running at five times average levels, according to investment bank UBS.  Chinese smallholders used their May Day holiday not to head for the beach, as this column naively suggested last week, but to flood the gold dealers in Hong Kong. Turkey bought more gold in April than in any month since the fateful days of August 2008. And so on.

Were the financial pros back in New York and London impressed by this spontaneous outpouring of gold love? Not ]]>
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			<item>
<title><![CDATA[In Mexico, It Really Is the Economy, Stupid]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/business-news/markets/articles/In-Mexico-It-Really-Is-the/5/3/2013/id/49631</link>
<pubDate>
			Fri, 3 May 2013 13:42:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/business-news/markets/articles/In-Mexico-It-Really-Is-the/5/3/2013/id/49631</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[What is the first thing you think of when I say "Mexico"? It's a good guess that very few Americans would respond: "dynamic, diverse economy," "manufacturing powerhouse," "attractive young leader," or "enviable macroeconomic fundamentals." But investors ought to be smarter than average here.

The Mexico we mostly see in our media is a teeming, teetering state whose most notable products are drug violence and illegal immigrants. President Obama flew to Mexico City yesterday trying to shift the focus to the country's economic achievements and promise, but the press back home was having none of it. 

The Washington Post spun Obama's ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[What is the first thing you think of when I say "Mexico"? It's a good guess that very few Americans would respond: "dynamic, diverse economy," "manufacturing powerhouse," "attractive young leader," or "enviable macroeconomic fundamentals." But investors ought to be smarter than average here.

The Mexico we mostly see in our media is a teeming, teetering state whose most notable products are drug violence and illegal immigrants. President Obama flew to Mexico City yesterday trying to shift the focus to the country's economic achievements and promise, but the press back home was having none of it. 

The Washington Post spun Obama's ]]>
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<title><![CDATA[Gold Mavens Study Hindu Culture Along With QE3]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/commodities/articles/Gold-Mavens-Study-Hindu-Culture-Along/4/29/2013/id/49516</link>
<pubDate>
			Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:05:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/commodities/articles/Gold-Mavens-Study-Hindu-Culture-Along/4/29/2013/id/49516</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Confused about where the price of gold is going next? You are not alone. The mysterious metal clawed back a 7% gain last week after cratering by 15% the week before, as measured by the popular SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEARCA:GLD). 

Retail buyers across the globe rushed in to stem a panic by options traders and ETF investors. The US Mint reported that April gold sales were tripling the level of March. Demand from India exceeded its previous record by 20%, according to supplier Standard Bank (OTCMKTS:SBGOF). Pretty much every place in between caught gold fever, too. That did not ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[Confused about where the price of gold is going next? You are not alone. The mysterious metal clawed back a 7% gain last week after cratering by 15% the week before, as measured by the popular SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEARCA:GLD). 

Retail buyers across the globe rushed in to stem a panic by options traders and ETF investors. The US Mint reported that April gold sales were tripling the level of March. Demand from India exceeded its previous record by 20%, according to supplier Standard Bank (OTCMKTS:SBGOF). Pretty much every place in between caught gold fever, too. That did not ]]>
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			<item>
<title><![CDATA[With Oil and Gold Down, India Is Looking Up]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/With-Oil-and-Gold-Down-India/4/24/2013/id/49454</link>
<pubDate>
			Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:50:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/With-Oil-and-Gold-Down-India/4/24/2013/id/49454</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[While America was absorbed by the Boston Marathon bombing and its aftermath over the past 10 days, the world financial landscape experienced a significant shift. Weaker economic signals from China continued to drive down the price of oil, bringing its drop since April 1 to an impressive 9%, as measured by the popular United States Oil Fund ETF (NYSEARCA:USO). 

The price of gold crashed still more dramatically, by 11% since a panic started on April 12.  The whole basket of world commodities has become 6% cheaper this month, as reflected by the Power Shares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (NYSEARCA:DBC). ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[While America was absorbed by the Boston Marathon bombing and its aftermath over the past 10 days, the world financial landscape experienced a significant shift. Weaker economic signals from China continued to drive down the price of oil, bringing its drop since April 1 to an impressive 9%, as measured by the popular United States Oil Fund ETF (NYSEARCA:USO). 

The price of gold crashed still more dramatically, by 11% since a panic started on April 12.  The whole basket of world commodities has become 6% cheaper this month, as reflected by the Power Shares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (NYSEARCA:DBC). ]]>
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			</item>
			<item>
<title><![CDATA[Trauma Produces Split Personality in Gold Market]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/Trauma-Produces-Split-Personality-in-Gold/4/19/2013/id/49376</link>
<pubDate>
			Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:18:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/Trauma-Produces-Split-Personality-in-Gold/4/19/2013/id/49376</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Suppose you had your house on sale and were finding no takers. You cut the price by 10% or 15%, and the next morning find buyers lined up around the block. You might think you had found the right price for the asset, or overshot a bit on the downside.

A similar situation persists on the world gold market after the metal&#39;s worst week in memory &ndash; sort of. Gold&#39;s value as measured by the popular SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEARCA:GLD), plunged 13% from April 11-15 before rebounding slightly later in the week. The metal&#39;s value has dropped 22% from ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[Suppose you had your house on sale and were finding no takers. You cut the price by 10% or 15%, and the next morning find buyers lined up around the block. You might think you had found the right price for the asset, or overshot a bit on the downside.

A similar situation persists on the world gold market after the metal&#39;s worst week in memory &ndash; sort of. Gold&#39;s value as measured by the popular SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEARCA:GLD), plunged 13% from April 11-15 before rebounding slightly later in the week. The metal&#39;s value has dropped 22% from ]]>
</content:encoded>
			</item>
			<item>
<title><![CDATA[Chechnya Primer: A Brief History of the Political and Economic Battles in the Region]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/business-news/editors-pick/articles/Chechnya-Primer-chechnya-muslim-chechnya-history/4/19/2013/id/49372</link>
<pubDate>
			Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:35:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/business-news/editors-pick/articles/Chechnya-Primer-chechnya-muslim-chechnya-history/4/19/2013/id/49372</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Editor&#39;s note: As the US and the world watch events in Boston, many are also looking for information about Chechnya, a region of importance for Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the two brothers named as suspects behind this week&#39;s Boston Marathon attack. Here, Russia expert Craig Mellow describes the political and economic history of the area.

To the small minority of Americans who happen to have spent the 1990s living in Russia, the name of the holed-up Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, immediately rang a bell. He shares a first name with the late president of the breakaway republic ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[Editor&#39;s note: As the US and the world watch events in Boston, many are also looking for information about Chechnya, a region of importance for Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the two brothers named as suspects behind this week&#39;s Boston Marathon attack. Here, Russia expert Craig Mellow describes the political and economic history of the area.

To the small minority of Americans who happen to have spent the 1990s living in Russia, the name of the holed-up Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, immediately rang a bell. He shares a first name with the late president of the breakaway republic ]]>
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			<item>
<title><![CDATA[Have Oil Prices Stabilized? Don't Be Too Sure]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/commodities/articles/Have-Oil-Prices-Stabilized253F-Don2527t-Be/4/5/2013/id/49106</link>
<pubDate>
			Fri, 5 Apr 2013 14:05:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/commodities/articles/Have-Oil-Prices-Stabilized253F-Don2527t-Be/4/5/2013/id/49106</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[It's official now. Everyone agrees. Rising oil prices are so last decade.

A lot has happened in the world over the last three years. The Middle East has turned upside down. The eurozone appeared to be on the ropes then stumbled back into the ring.  Barack Obama came back from the political dead. The Chinese economy lost altitude then took tentative flight again. 

None of it has affected the price of oil much. The popular United States Oil Fund ETF (NYSEARCA:USO), which tracks the price of West Texas Intermediate crude, is virtually flat compared to April 2010.  Brent crude, which ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[It's official now. Everyone agrees. Rising oil prices are so last decade.

A lot has happened in the world over the last three years. The Middle East has turned upside down. The eurozone appeared to be on the ropes then stumbled back into the ring.  Barack Obama came back from the political dead. The Chinese economy lost altitude then took tentative flight again. 

None of it has affected the price of oil much. The popular United States Oil Fund ETF (NYSEARCA:USO), which tracks the price of West Texas Intermediate crude, is virtually flat compared to April 2010.  Brent crude, which ]]>
</content:encoded>
			</item>
			<item>
<title><![CDATA[GM Does OK in Emerging Markets, but Toyota, Volkswagen Doing Even Better]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/consumer/articles/GM-Does-OK-in-Emerging-Markets/4/1/2013/id/49006</link>
<pubDate>
			Mon, 1 Apr 2013 11:40:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/consumer/articles/GM-Does-OK-in-Emerging-Markets/4/1/2013/id/49006</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[You would not know it from driving through Los Angeles or watching televised sports, but America is not the world's biggest auto market any more, at least by units sold. That mantle passed quietly to China after the 2008 crisis. The No. 2 world economy gobbled 19.3 million new motor vehicles last year, compared to 14.5 million for the USA.

That sales gap can probably only widen, not because China is so great, but because it is still so poor and car-hungry.  The US is home to nearly as many vehicles as people, 797 for every 1,000 units of population. ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[You would not know it from driving through Los Angeles or watching televised sports, but America is not the world's biggest auto market any more, at least by units sold. That mantle passed quietly to China after the 2008 crisis. The No. 2 world economy gobbled 19.3 million new motor vehicles last year, compared to 14.5 million for the USA.

That sales gap can probably only widen, not because China is so great, but because it is still so poor and car-hungry.  The US is home to nearly as many vehicles as people, 797 for every 1,000 units of population. ]]>
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<title><![CDATA[Cyprus: Profit From Cypromania With European Bank Stocks]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/business-news/markets/articles/Cyprus253A-Profit-From-Cypromania-With-European/3/21/2013/id/48853</link>
<pubDate>
			Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:31:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/business-news/markets/articles/Cyprus253A-Profit-From-Cypromania-With-European/3/21/2013/id/48853</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[I am supposed to write about emerging markets for this estimable media outlet, but feel entitled this week to expand my turf to Cyprus. If a government proposal to skim government-insured bank deposits, Cyprus's first financial recovery plan, does not say emerging market, it is hard to think what does.

Among other things, this week's Cyprus crisis marks the apogee of an ongoing role reversal between developed and developing world. The "risky" developing countries (the bigger ones anyway) run budget surpluses, stack up savings, and pay their bills without a murmur. Meanwhile Europe has been convulsed by half a dozen ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[I am supposed to write about emerging markets for this estimable media outlet, but feel entitled this week to expand my turf to Cyprus. If a government proposal to skim government-insured bank deposits, Cyprus's first financial recovery plan, does not say emerging market, it is hard to think what does.

Among other things, this week's Cyprus crisis marks the apogee of an ongoing role reversal between developed and developing world. The "risky" developing countries (the bigger ones anyway) run budget surpluses, stack up savings, and pay their bills without a murmur. Meanwhile Europe has been convulsed by half a dozen ]]>
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<title><![CDATA[Resist Temptation With Shale Gas Stocks]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/energy/articles/Resist-Temptation-With-Shale-Gas-Stocks/3/15/2013/id/48743</link>
<pubDate>
			Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:11:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/energy/articles/Resist-Temptation-With-Shale-Gas-Stocks/3/15/2013/id/48743</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Investors are always logically tempted to pour money into fast-growing, innovative economic sectors &ndash; like railroads in the 19th century and the Internet in the late 20th century. As these examples show, the temptation should often be resisted. Too many companies charge into the new perceived Klondike, and a few decades need to pass before market conditions that promise stable profit to the survivors gel.

The game is afoot again in a smaller way these days with shale gas, which everyone from President Obama to ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) is promising us will transform America's economic future for the better.  

US ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[Investors are always logically tempted to pour money into fast-growing, innovative economic sectors &ndash; like railroads in the 19th century and the Internet in the late 20th century. As these examples show, the temptation should often be resisted. Too many companies charge into the new perceived Klondike, and a few decades need to pass before market conditions that promise stable profit to the survivors gel.

The game is afoot again in a smaller way these days with shale gas, which everyone from President Obama to ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) is promising us will transform America's economic future for the better.  

US ]]>
</content:encoded>
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<title><![CDATA[How Do You Invest in Fast-Growing Chinese Oil Companies? Carefully.]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/energy/articles/How-Do-You-Invest-in-Fast/3/7/2013/id/48597</link>
<pubDate>
			Thu, 7 Mar 2013 13:35:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/energy/articles/How-Do-You-Invest-in-Fast/3/7/2013/id/48597</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[China's economy may be knocking and pinging a bit as an engine for global growth, but its three big state-owned oil companies are just hitting their stride. Consider these headlines from just the past week or two:

China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC (NYSE:CEO), closed its $15.1 billion acquisition of Canada's Nexen (TSE:NXY), the biggest foreign corporate purchase in Chinese history. China National Petroleum Corporation, better known as PetroChina (NYSE:PTR), was reported in talks to acquire a big slice of a $50 billion elephant oil field in Iraq called West Qurna-1.  PetroChina is predicted to either supplant or partner ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[China's economy may be knocking and pinging a bit as an engine for global growth, but its three big state-owned oil companies are just hitting their stride. Consider these headlines from just the past week or two:

China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC (NYSE:CEO), closed its $15.1 billion acquisition of Canada's Nexen (TSE:NXY), the biggest foreign corporate purchase in Chinese history. China National Petroleum Corporation, better known as PetroChina (NYSE:PTR), was reported in talks to acquire a big slice of a $50 billion elephant oil field in Iraq called West Qurna-1.  PetroChina is predicted to either supplant or partner ]]>
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<title><![CDATA[Central Bank Buying Puts Bright Spot in Gold Market Gloom]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/Central-Bank-Buying-Puts-Bright-Spot/3/1/2013/id/48462</link>
<pubDate>
			Fri, 1 Mar 2013 10:05:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/Central-Bank-Buying-Puts-Bright-Spot/3/1/2013/id/48462</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[As predicted in these pages six weeks ago, investors are running out of reasons to buy gold.  The ancient store of value's market woes are multiplying.  Buyers are fleeing gold funds on the scantest evidence that the US and Chinese economies are picking up steam. The value of exchange-traded products holding the metal has slid by nearly 5% this year, according to Bloomberg. Gold prices are down by almost exactly as much (no coincidence perhaps).  They have declined more than 11% since a peak last October.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) this week became the latest market maven to turn bearish on ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[As predicted in these pages six weeks ago, investors are running out of reasons to buy gold.  The ancient store of value's market woes are multiplying.  Buyers are fleeing gold funds on the scantest evidence that the US and Chinese economies are picking up steam. The value of exchange-traded products holding the metal has slid by nearly 5% this year, according to Bloomberg. Gold prices are down by almost exactly as much (no coincidence perhaps).  They have declined more than 11% since a peak last October.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) this week became the latest market maven to turn bearish on ]]>
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<title><![CDATA[Putin's BFF at Rosneft Cuddles Up With Exxon, BP]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/energy/articles/Putin-Rosneft-Exxon-BP-BP-russia/2/21/2013/id/48286</link>
<pubDate>
			Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:44:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/energy/articles/Putin-Rosneft-Exxon-BP-BP-russia/2/21/2013/id/48286</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Who would want to do business with one of Vladimir Putin's best friends? Plenty of people, starting with BP (NYSE:BP) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) -- if that friend happens to be Igor Sechin, chief executive of Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft (PINK:RNFTF).

Sechin is a famous Bad Guy in the Russian hierarchy. An old KGB mate of Putin's, he is supposed to have engineered the dismantling of private oil power Yukos after the arrest of its boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003. Rosneft absorbed most of Yukos' production assets.

Sechin was rewarded with a promotion to deputy prime minister in charge ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[Who would want to do business with one of Vladimir Putin's best friends? Plenty of people, starting with BP (NYSE:BP) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) -- if that friend happens to be Igor Sechin, chief executive of Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft (PINK:RNFTF).

Sechin is a famous Bad Guy in the Russian hierarchy. An old KGB mate of Putin's, he is supposed to have engineered the dismantling of private oil power Yukos after the arrest of its boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003. Rosneft absorbed most of Yukos' production assets.

Sechin was rewarded with a promotion to deputy prime minister in charge ]]>
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<title><![CDATA[A Perfect Storm May Be Brewing for Platinum]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/A-Perfect-Storm-May-Be-Brewing/2/15/2013/id/48144</link>
<pubDate>
			Fri, 15 Feb 2013 11:05:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/A-Perfect-Storm-May-Be-Brewing/2/15/2013/id/48144</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Platinum is an exotic investment. All the exchange-traded funds that track the metal hold about $2 billion between them. That compares to $70 billion just in the smash-hit SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEARCA:GLD). But the herd has had its priorities wrong lately.

Platinum is off to a roaring start for 2013. The most relatively popular fund, ETF Physical Platinum securities (NYSEARCA:PPLT), has gained 11.7% year-to-date and 8.6% over the past three months. The corresponding numbers for GLD are -1.8% and -4.8%. There are reasons for this divergence beyond market whimsy.
 
Half of all gold produced in the world is bought ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
	<![CDATA[Platinum is an exotic investment. All the exchange-traded funds that track the metal hold about $2 billion between them. That compares to $70 billion just in the smash-hit SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEARCA:GLD). But the herd has had its priorities wrong lately.

Platinum is off to a roaring start for 2013. The most relatively popular fund, ETF Physical Platinum securities (NYSEARCA:PPLT), has gained 11.7% year-to-date and 8.6% over the past three months. The corresponding numbers for GLD are -1.8% and -4.8%. There are reasons for this divergence beyond market whimsy.
 
Half of all gold produced in the world is bought ]]>
</content:encoded>
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<title><![CDATA[Like Emerging Markets? Try Markets That Are Really Emerging]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/global-markets/articles/Like-Emerging-Markets253F-Try-Markets-That/2/8/2013/id/47996</link>
<pubDate>
			Fri, 8 Feb 2013 13:25:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/global-markets/articles/Like-Emerging-Markets253F-Try-Markets-That/2/8/2013/id/47996</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[As everybody knows, the world's top stock markets started 2013 on the right foot.  New York, London and Tokyo all racked up their best Januarys in many a moon.  Emerging markets are lagging behind. 

The popular ETF from iShares that tracks the benchmark, MSCI Emerging Market Index (NYSEARCA:EEM), has fallen by about 1% so far this year, and scratched out a 4.9% gain over the past three months. That compares with +6.1% and 6.5% for the S&P 500. Japan's smoking Nikkei 225 (INDEXNIKKEI:NI225) has surged by 9.2% year-to-date, and 27% over the past quarter.  Even recessionary Europe's Euro Stoxx 50 ]]>
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	<![CDATA[As everybody knows, the world's top stock markets started 2013 on the right foot.  New York, London and Tokyo all racked up their best Januarys in many a moon.  Emerging markets are lagging behind. 

The popular ETF from iShares that tracks the benchmark, MSCI Emerging Market Index (NYSEARCA:EEM), has fallen by about 1% so far this year, and scratched out a 4.9% gain over the past three months. That compares with +6.1% and 6.5% for the S&P 500. Japan's smoking Nikkei 225 (INDEXNIKKEI:NI225) has surged by 9.2% year-to-date, and 27% over the past quarter.  Even recessionary Europe's Euro Stoxx 50 ]]>
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<title><![CDATA[Has Commodity Pessimism Become Self-Fulfilling?]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/commodities/articles/has-commodity-pessimism-become-self-fulfilling/1/31/2013/id/47800</link>
<pubDate>
			Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:50:00EST
</pubDate>
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			http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/commodities/articles/has-commodity-pessimism-become-self-fulfilling/1/31/2013/id/47800</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[The financial chattering class has recently added a new buzz phrase to its already overstocked lexicon: "commodity super cycle."
 
Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets equities at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Asset Management, helped popularize this concept when raw materials prices were being pummeled last spring. He peered 200 years into the past and divined a persistent pattern of decade-long rises in commodities values followed by 20-year periods of decline.
 
The boisterous up decade of the 2000s (the little glitch of 2008 excepted) has now ended as its driving engine, China, shifts to less resource-intensive growth and its BRIC cousins sputter ]]>
</description>
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	<![CDATA[The financial chattering class has recently added a new buzz phrase to its already overstocked lexicon: "commodity super cycle."
 
Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets equities at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Asset Management, helped popularize this concept when raw materials prices were being pummeled last spring. He peered 200 years into the past and divined a persistent pattern of decade-long rises in commodities values followed by 20-year periods of decline.
 
The boisterous up decade of the 2000s (the little glitch of 2008 excepted) has now ended as its driving engine, China, shifts to less resource-intensive growth and its BRIC cousins sputter ]]>
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<title><![CDATA[Apple Finds a Sweet Spot in China, but Other American Brands...?]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/global-markets/articles/Is-China-Back253F-That-Depends-on/1/25/2013/id/47634</link>
<pubDate>
			Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:50:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/global-markets/articles/Is-China-Back253F-That-Depends-on/1/25/2013/id/47634</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[One of the mega-questions for world markets as 2013 swings into gear is whether China can recapture its economic mojo and pull multinational corporations selling everything from pig iron to pizza along with it. China bulls saw the mood shift a hair in their favor when official fourth-quarter growth accelerated to a 7.8% annual clip after seven straight quarters of demoralizing deceleration. But debate rages on noisily about whether the recovery will prove ephemeral or robust.  

Some light may be thrown on the subject by the Q4 2012 earnings statements that are coming in bunches now from US-based companies with ]]>
</description>
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	<![CDATA[One of the mega-questions for world markets as 2013 swings into gear is whether China can recapture its economic mojo and pull multinational corporations selling everything from pig iron to pizza along with it. China bulls saw the mood shift a hair in their favor when official fourth-quarter growth accelerated to a 7.8% annual clip after seven straight quarters of demoralizing deceleration. But debate rages on noisily about whether the recovery will prove ephemeral or robust.  

Some light may be thrown on the subject by the Q4 2012 earnings statements that are coming in bunches now from US-based companies with ]]>
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<title><![CDATA[Gold: The Thrill Is Gone, and So Is the Story]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/Gold253A-The-Thrill-is-Gone-and/1/17/2013/id/47475</link>
<pubDate>
			Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:35:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/precious-metals/articles/Gold253A-The-Thrill-is-Gone-and/1/17/2013/id/47475</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Among the big financial questions commonly posed for 2013 is whether the 12-year bull market in gold will finally come to an end.  Actually it has. Gold prices peaked in the summer of 2011 and have been going sideways since October of that year &ndash; 15 months of breakeven.

Metal pros expect moderate gains this year, but certainly no renewed gold rush. The 23 traders and pundits polled annually by the London Bullion Market Association came up with an average 2013 gold price of $1,753 an ounce, about 5% higher than current levels. Three analysts identified by Bloomberg as the ]]>
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	<![CDATA[Among the big financial questions commonly posed for 2013 is whether the 12-year bull market in gold will finally come to an end.  Actually it has. Gold prices peaked in the summer of 2011 and have been going sideways since October of that year &ndash; 15 months of breakeven.

Metal pros expect moderate gains this year, but certainly no renewed gold rush. The 23 traders and pundits polled annually by the London Bullion Market Association came up with an average 2013 gold price of $1,753 an ounce, about 5% higher than current levels. Three analysts identified by Bloomberg as the ]]>
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<title><![CDATA[Russian Companies Come Out Swinging After Election]]></title>
<link>
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/emerging-markets/articles/YNDX-RDS-A-BP-RNFTFPK-LUKOYPK/3/16/2012/id/39934</link>
<pubDate>
			Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:10:00EST
</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">
			http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/emerging-markets/articles/YNDX-RDS-A-BP-RNFTFPK-LUKOYPK/3/16/2012/id/39934</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Political analysts may fear an era of stagnation now that Vladimir Putin has been duly re-elected to a third term as Russia's president. But big Russian companies have shown they were waiting for this event to announce dramatic strategic moves. How these will come out is hard to predict. But the markets look to be in for some interesting times.

The most significant development since the election two weeks ago is the reported decision by state banking giant Sberbank (SBER.ME) to move forward with a public share sale that could fetch $6 billion. The offering is not official yet, but ]]>
</description>
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	<![CDATA[Political analysts may fear an era of stagnation now that Vladimir Putin has been duly re-elected to a third term as Russia's president. But big Russian companies have shown they were waiting for this event to announce dramatic strategic moves. How these will come out is hard to predict. But the markets look to be in for some interesting times.

The most significant development since the election two weeks ago is the reported decision by state banking giant Sberbank (SBER.ME) to move forward with a public share sale that could fetch $6 billion. The offering is not official yet, but ]]>
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