Understanding Where Russia Is Today [View article]
If you want Russia to be pro-West, you have to be pro-Russia yourself. Hard to do that when Western media tries to demonize anything Russian, including Putin. The president who turned Russian economy around and restored multiple economic sectors that were dead during the Yeltsin times. It seems that the West prefers Russia to be weak and pro-West on the international arena, like a puppet state. Anything else is automatically a "quasi-dictatorship", "KGB", "evil", etc.
Intel: Retirement Of CEO Paul Otellini Is Bad News [View article]
Otellini lead Intel to conquer the desktop and server markets, but did not accomplish much in the mobile and tablet markets. Hopefully the new CEO will change that.
Intel (INTC -1%) spikes lower on a Bloomberg report that Apple (AAPL +1.3%) is thinking of abandoning the use of Intel's CPUs within Macs in favor of internally-developed, ARM-based processors such as the ones that power its iOS hardware. Similar reports have been around for a while. [View news story]
Semiaccurate had an interesting article about this last year: http://bit.ly/mukZtm
The Russian equities today are at very low P/E valuations which make then highly attractive. Although there are still problems to be solved and plenty of room for improvement in investment climate, the Russian economy is growing and developing quite well, with many various steps taken to diversify away from natural gas & oil exports. Just look at their IT industry that is booming in double percentage digits per year (see RUSSOFT.org). Intel, Cisco, SAP, IBM, HP and many other Western software/IT giants have R&D centers in Russia. Agriculture is booming too, with many sectors having surplus, and the last main obstacle that still remains is meat production. Car production had a turnaround in the last 10 years, where most of the cars in Russia are now locally produced rather than imported, many of which are actually European/Asian brands. Space industry is leading in the world in terms of number of launches per year, with a new cosmodrome being built in the far East. Of course, a Western observer/investor with a heavy Cold War bias, russophobia, and immense hatred of Vladimir Putin, is just too blind to recognize the investment potential of Russia. On the other hand, even Jim Rogers has recently changed his view on Russia.
3 Reasons The Russian Ruble Is The Least Risky Investment Under Putin 2.0 [View article]
Take off your cold war goggles, corruption and crooks are everywhere, including Wall Street. Based on Putin's changes and policies of 2000-2008, the Russian economy is still booming. Agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and R&D centers with many Western companies such as Intel, Google, Motorola, Sun, Boeing, Nortel, HP, SAP, Airbus, and many others.
Russia: Buying Twice The Growth For Half The Price [View article]
"Cold war goggles" are still disillusioning lots of finance folks in Europe and US. While they moan and whine about Russia's problems (pot calling kettle black, in some cases), Russian economy is growing very fast, including non-energy sectors (nominal GDP significantly undervalues economic growth in Russia). Just look at the agriculture in the past few years, or the IT outsourcing industry. IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, SAP, Intel, Airbus, and many more plan or already have research & development centers in Russia. The risk these companies willing to take is quite bigger than some allocation of Russian stocks in your portfolio.
Obviously, the Russian government and corporations still have crucial issues to solve, and the investment risk is still high, but the chaos of the 1990s is gone. Economy has doubled in the past 10 years, multiple manufacturing sectors have been resurrected, while the Soviet era debts have been paid off.
Tim Cook's weekend trek to China reportedly yielded “great meetings” with Chinese officials, and Apple (AAPL +0.2%) plans "greater investment" in the country which may include owning manufacturing or R&D facilities. Despite a just six retail stores so far, one China-based consultant says AAPL “has done a great job” in China replicating its U.S. retail success. [View news story]
Lockheed Martin (LMT) has been awarded a $715M modified Navy contract for the construction of two Littoral Combat Ships. The ships are the third and fourth in a 10-ship contract awarded in December 2010. [View news story]
"The littoral zone is the part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore."
Moscow Election Should Clarify Investors' Russian Strategy [View article]
Russia has a huge economic potential to continue its growth. Although it will be easier for Putin now than when he first came to power in 2000, the stakes today are much higher. Russia today is a $2+ trillion economy, not <1$ trillion like it was in 2000. Unlike in early 2000s, when they had little reserves and still recovering from financial crisis of 1998 and Cold War era debt, modern Russia has paid off its debt, and maintains enough reserves to continue its economic expansion. In just the last few years, multiple agricultural sectors in Russia have become self-reliant and even net exporters. Every month Russia builds tens of new industrial and manufacturing facilities, which are often omitted in the Western financial press. The railroad industry is already ~3% of GDP which is a good sign of economic activity. The space industry is currently leading the world in the number of successful launches per year, while two new space ports are being built and new rockets are being designed. Software exports industry has grown from under $1 billion in 2005 to over $3 billion in 2011, and high-end stuff like algorithm design have already surpassed India and China. Some big and small steps so far, but in the right direction to reduce their reliance on oil and foreign imports. There are obviously still major problems in Russia, but now they finally have the resources to deal with them.
Understanding Where Russia Is Today [View article]
Is $1200 Gold Possible? [View article]
That is the real question!
Russians May Soon Get A More Diversified Economy [View article]
Intel: Retirement Of CEO Paul Otellini Is Bad News [View article]
Intel (INTC -1%) spikes lower on a Bloomberg report that Apple (AAPL +1.3%) is thinking of abandoning the use of Intel's CPUs within Macs in favor of internally-developed, ARM-based processors such as the ones that power its iOS hardware. Similar reports have been around for a while. [View news story]
http://bit.ly/mukZtm
3 Reasons To Consider Russia [View article]
Of course, a Western observer/investor with a heavy Cold War bias, russophobia, and immense hatred of Vladimir Putin, is just too blind to recognize the investment potential of Russia. On the other hand, even Jim Rogers has recently changed his view on Russia.
The S&P 500 Could Go Negative For The Year - Analysis Of The Previous 50 Years [View article]
3 Reasons The Russian Ruble Is The Least Risky Investment Under Putin 2.0 [View article]
Russia: Buying Twice The Growth For Half The Price [View article]
Obviously, the Russian government and corporations still have crucial issues to solve, and the investment risk is still high, but the chaos of the 1990s is gone. Economy has doubled in the past 10 years, multiple manufacturing sectors have been resurrected, while the Soviet era debts have been paid off.
Tim Cook's weekend trek to China reportedly yielded “great meetings” with Chinese officials, and Apple (AAPL +0.2%) plans "greater investment" in the country which may include owning manufacturing or R&D facilities. Despite a just six retail stores so far, one China-based consultant says AAPL “has done a great job” in China replicating its U.S. retail success. [View news story]
Lockheed Martin (LMT) has been awarded a $715M modified Navy contract for the construction of two Littoral Combat Ships. The ships are the third and fourth in a 10-ship contract awarded in December 2010. [View news story]
hmm... getting ready for Strait of Hormuz...
Moscow Election Should Clarify Investors' Russian Strategy [View article]
In just the last few years, multiple agricultural sectors in Russia have become self-reliant and even net exporters. Every month Russia builds tens of new industrial and manufacturing facilities, which are often omitted in the Western financial press. The railroad industry is already ~3% of GDP which is a good sign of economic activity. The space industry is currently leading the world in the number of successful launches per year, while two new space ports are being built and new rockets are being designed. Software exports industry has grown from under $1 billion in 2005 to over $3 billion in 2011, and high-end stuff like algorithm design have already surpassed India and China. Some big and small steps so far, but in the right direction to reduce their reliance on oil and foreign imports. There are obviously still major problems in Russia, but now they finally have the resources to deal with them.