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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RJA_ who wrote (39288)	8/27/2008 2:20:11 PM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218043

Russia tension affecting investor sentiment-FitchReuters, Tuesday August 26 2008 * Rising tension with West could damage investor sentiment towards Russia * Russian corporates, quasi-sovereigns seen most at risk * Some impact on sentiment towards wider region * Fitch watching other "frozen conflicts" in region (Adds quotes) By Peter Apps LONDON, August 26 (Reuters) - Rising tension with the West could damage foreign investor sentiment towards Russia, ratings agency Fitch said on Tuesday, although it does not immediately threaten Russia's sovereign rating. But Fitch head of emerging European sovereigns Edward Parker told Reuters conditions for Russian corporate and quasi-sovereign borrowers may become more difficult in the aftermath of its invasion of Georgia. He said the fallout of the conflict may also affect sentiment towards other Central European and ex-Soviet states but that the oil and gas-rich country's vast foreign reserves eased the risks to the Russian economy. Fitch rates Russia as "BBB+" with a stable outlook. "In terms of the cost of the conflict, the impact on the economy is negligible," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. "We're not expecting to take a negative action with regards to Russia's rating. The main potential impact on Russia is through an impact on capital flows into the country... affecting foreign investment." Russia recognized Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states on Tuesday, setting it on a collision course with the West. Russia's ambassador to NATO compared the situation to 1914 when World War One was about to break out. Parker said Russian foreign exchange reserves saw a slight fall last week but that it was too soon to say if the trend would continue. "It's still very early days to assess the impact," he said. "Given that Russia has $580 billion in foreign exchange reserves, it has the ability to ride out weekly changes." But he said some Russian corporate borrowers as well as quasi-sovereigns -- firms seen almost indissolubly tied to the state -- might face problems with foreign lenders. FROZEN CONFLICTS "There are a significant number of corporates who are very dependent on international capital markets," he said. "There could be an impact on the Russian banking system as well." Investor sentiment towards other regional economies was also being affected, he said. Ukraine is seen amongst the most exposed, with any fall in foreign direct investment potentially making it harder to cover their current account deficit. Parker said there was already some impact on investor sentiment towards the Baltic states as well as Central European countries such as Poland, which has angered Russia by agreeing to house a U.S. missile defence shield. "We don't see any immediate impact -- it's more a potential impact if Russia decides to take more aggressive action in due course," Parker said. "But it is affecting investor sentiment." He said Fitch was keeping a close eye on other "frozen conflicts" in the region such as Moldova's Transdniestria region -- which like Abkhazia and South Ossetia is home to Russian peacekeepers -- as well as in Azerbaijan and Armenia. Azerbaijan and Armenia remain locked in a territorial dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Parker said Fitch did not expect conflict in any of those regions, but if one did occur it would be potentially negative for their credit ratings. He said Russia's recognition of the two Georgian breakaway regions did not significantly itself change the credit picture for either country. Fitch downgraded Georgia to B+ with a negative outlook at the start of the war. "This has been predictable since the start of the conflict earlier in the month and is within what we have factored into the current credit rating," he said

To: RJA_ who wrote (39288)	8/27/2008 3:03:23 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 218043

<<Deserts make great sites for solar farms tho... but a little far from demand>> ... current tech DC power transmission could work, and well, but require moolah to kick off. once the planet sees the imperative and oil stays at 150/barrel (and all other fuels gravitate towards that standard), the moolah will be there, for pebble and solar everything <<Traditionally, what happens is immigrants adopt to the prevailing culture, rather than the other way around. Otherwise the immigration becomes more in the way of a takeover. Are you suggesting thats what must or should happen in Europe?>> ... do not know. depends on the relative numbers, and how badly europe retrogress towards intolerance. the idea that europe should remain european will not get support from the cold mathe of demography. <<- america can expect continuing skewing of population via iron law of demographics, [not sure what you mean here, please explain...]>> - different segments of usa population breed at vastly different pace, demographically speaking, and continuing immigration adds accelerant to the pile. the experiment may not work after all. << - one person one vote per india model will not be able to cut it on a level playing field Not sure what you mean by this>> When there are no man-made threats around and all around you are busying with killing each other off, one person one vote in usa can appear to be the right way. Upon a levelized arena, where no geography is secure from man-made threats, and all are competing all different ways, what worked before may not work anymore, given the changed circumstances, and should the system not be able to adapt, then the system ends, one way or another path. it is far easier for china to become more democratic, progressively speaking, than it ought to be for america to become authoritarian, although i must observe that so far is not the case, as the usa population seems quite docile. <<Colorado great place for solar. More sun than most places in US... Still, price not right yet>> Colorado will be reasonable come 2012. <<We are on the cusp of great change. May the force be with us all>> ... for sure, and can be mathematically proven.