Thomas, I'm not negative. I'm willing to put $ in Russia long term
(or until the political situation changes). I would buy at
these levels, but I would like to see bottoming-out first. This is
not Asia, Russian stocks are extremely low right now. As for
the barrel of oil - it loses value as Asia drops. I believe,
this effect should definitely be short-term. The barrel
of oil is insanely low priced already. However, tension is high,
and there will be increased political risk if the situation is
not handled promptly, in a way which does not hurt ordinary
russians any more than they already were hurt. People care more
about food on the table than "freedom". In fact, I guess, the
majority in Russia still does not fully understand this word.
You have to take out Moscow and St. Petersburg, where people do understand; but they also have more food on the table. A lot
of people remember communism as a better time. In fact, election
of communist government, brought by economic hardship, was quite
common in other Eastern European countries.
Anyway, I am happy that the discussion here picked up
somewhat. I have found little information about Eastern Europe
on the net, so my hope is that we could stay more informed about
what's going on there. That's the objective of my posts here -
not commentary or advice. My long-term bias is firmly bullish.
I will "buy the dip" here, short elsewhere.
-Vi |
