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Strategies & Market Trends : Anthony @ Equity Investigations, Dear Anthony, -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nazbuster who wrote (31247)	4/20/1999 12:47:00 AM
From: Richard Miller	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 122087

The reality of the situation would have made no difference. The older people still want Communism as a general rule. The heads of the KGB became the leaders of the Russian Mafiosa, and the whole country thinks that's how it was supposed to be from Untouchables and Al Capone. The incredible graft prevalent throughout the whole society is why Russia cannot make it. If you believe there were 10 years or more to educate and build a legal system from scratch, perhaps your thoughts have some merit. It's a tough situation. 75 years of no capitalism is a hard act to follow.

To: Nazbuster who wrote (31247)	4/20/1999 1:02:00 AM
From: David in Ontario	Respond to of 122087

OT - Daniel I agree. The Revolution came in 1917 and after 3 generations it all came crashing down. You just cannot move to a new form of government and social infrastructure overnight and it'll take a generation or two for Russia + former statellite republics to become truely stable and prosperous. The trick is to get from where they are today to a state of prosperity without being side tracked - or for other political forces to move into the void and recreate what has gone before. Furthermore, and IMO these folks have to be left alone to generate their own society based on their own values and history - with assistance form 1st tier western states when requested. Brow beating them into accepting our way of life never provides a long term solution: Lebanon (with their British/French imposed confessional system of government) and Sudan (with the British imposed boundaries of an Arab north and Africa south) are two examples of where the 'western' will has failed. Ancient hatreds are difficult to overcome. Sadly history has shown time and time again that most wars are based on 'who loves god more' if you want to put it into a nutshell. As Harold MacMillian - a former British prime minister once said - "Democracy is a bad form of government, but it is the best we have". David.

To: Nazbuster who wrote (31247)	4/20/1999 1:47:00 AM
From: J.Y. Wang	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 122087

<RUSSIA -- Kind of on-topic> Russia is a basket-case in an area full of basket-cases. We had a discussion about this in business school, and one of the most compelling reasons given is this: There is no one alive in Russia right now who has lived in a free or capitalist Russia. In Czarist Russia, most of the commerce and skilled positions were fulfilled by Germans, Jews, etc. In communist Russia, capitalism was the enemy. In the US, if you buy, say, watermelons in Georgia for $2 each and sell them in Michigan for $5 each, you are called an entrepreneur and are looked upon positively for providing watermelons to those who live in Michigan and for making money for yourself. In Russia, if you buy cabbage in St.Petersburg for $1 and sell it in Moscow for $3, you are looked upon as scum, a scoundrel, as someone who is profiting at the expense of society. Russia's economic problems are societal, social and cultural. The corruption of officials, pervasiveness of the mafia, and everyday violence in Russia is also beyond anything Americans can comprehend. You cannot conduct any business or commerce without paying off the mafia. Education is important to the revival of Russia, but the problems in Russia are far, far deeper than most Americans realize. It is a dangerous scenerio, in my opinion. Russian nationalists or communists can win power and maybe go back to the old ways. This is related to the stock market. The market was truly priced for perfection. The world is not perfect and never will be. Russia is unpredictable and may explode. Ignorant US politicians are creating a future conflict with China, a country with 1.2 billion people and nuclear weapons. War in Kosovo is spreading to Albania. India and Pakistan are waving nuclear weapons in each other's face. Indonesia, the world's third most populous nation, is in turmoil with ethnic and religious violence similar to the Balkans. With all that going on, AOL's P/E was 750 and KO's is still 45?! AOL's stock is at least a lottery ticket, but KO's P/E at 45? How much more sugar water can you sell next year than this year? The market is probably going to tank more. Net stocks tanked about 17-20% today and QQQ tanked 5%. DJIA hung strong. Here's my prediction for what's going to happen: Nets are going to drop more, QQQ is going to drop more, and it will spread to the DOW when people wake up and say, "What did I just pay for DE/CAT/XON/KO?!?!"