“No king on earth is as safe in his job as a Trade Union official. There is only one thing that can get him sacked; and that is drink. Not even that, as long as he doesn’t actually fall down.” George Bernard Shaw STRIKING is for plebs. Unions and industrial relations. Economist China’s economic destiny in doubt after… Continue Reading

Good morning, Millions Stuck in Dark, Cold. Bloomberg Asia’s green shoots allay global slump fears. Green shoots are sprouting across much of the Far East as stimulus begins to feed through, greatly reducing the risk of a deep global slump next year. Telegraph Photo:EPO McKinsey report: ‘Solutions-oriented’ assets to hit $2 trillion in 5 years. Pensions &… Continue Reading

“Unless EU leaders come up with a sustainable solution and cut the debt burden, everything is going to fall apart in Greece.” Greek death spiral raises heat for German-bloc creditors. Telegraph “Portfolio strategies should acknowledge bite-sized future returns and the growing risk that the negative consequences of misguided monetary and fiscal policy might lead to disruptive financial… Continue Reading

Happy Halloween… Berkshire Extends Housing Bet With Brookfield Venture. Bloomberg Norway Oil Fund Looks Into Factor Risk Model Embraced by Pimco. Bloomberg Centamin’s licence for flagship Sukari mine revoked by Egyptian court. Financial Post Is India’s Rising Billionaire Wealth Bad for the Country? NYTimes Ortega Tops Buffett With Zara Fortune of $53.6 Billion. Bloomberg Gary Shilling: Who Loses When Fed Keeps… Continue Reading

Billions in Hidden Riches for Family of Chinese Leader ExxonMobil oil chief ‘assassinated’ in Brussels street. Telegraph Now is the time to reduce equity exposure. Ritholtz South Africa has made progress since becoming a full democracy in 1994. But a failure of leadership means that in many ways, South Africa is now going backwards. Over the Rainbow. The Economist Blackstone… Continue Reading

We were travelling all throughout Albania today, which is a wonderful country. Tomorrow we’ll be back to posting as normal, but in the meantime, please enjoy some photos from our trip.

Petronas Rejection Casts Doubt on Cnooc $15.1 Billion Bid. Bloomberg Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. to spend at least $2 billion to buy an iron ore mine in West Africa. Bloomberg Interview: Oceanic Iron Ore Corp. Courts Asian Partners To Unlock Value At Hopes Advance. CEO Rick Rule Bullish On Uranium, Ag-Materials. King World News Fort Knox, an Impregnable… Continue Reading

In spite of falling iron ore prices, a group of well known insiders from Oceanic Iron Ore Corp have reached into their own pockets to move their Hopes Advance project in Quebec’s Labrador Trough forward. We had the opportunity recently to connect with Oceanic’s chairman and former president of Teck Resources, Steven Dean, and Oceanic’s president, Alan… Continue Reading

Bush in the Wilderness. New York Magazine Moving Around Without Losing Your Roots. HBR Plutocracy Rising: Moyers, Freeland, and Taibbi. Café Américain Play golf or get ugly: The Kochs’ quest to save America. McClatchyDC Batista’s AUX moves on juniors in California gold district in Colombia. Mineweb Wealthy Advised to Sell for Gains Before Unfriendly 2013. Bloomberg A Secretary to… Continue Reading

“As today’s aristocrats age, many of them will undertake their own web legacy projects, and a niche production market will grow at the intersection of art, technology, history and public relations.” Web Legacies of the Super Rich. CEO “It’s almost like ‘The Beverly Hillbillies. They just shot in the ground and up came bubbling crude oil…” Iowa Farms… Continue Reading

“The easiest way to get people to do what you want them to do… is to start with people who want what you want.” Seth’s blog Koch Sued by Executive Claiming He Was Held Captive. Bloomberg Michael Belkin Predicts 40% Stock Market Drop. Ritholtz via WSJ Robert Friedland’s Ivanplats to raise $300-million at $4.75 a share. Globe and Mail  also: Ivanplats IPO… Continue Reading

Petromanas Energy Inc. ($PMI), an Albanian-focused oil and gas explorer backed by Royal Dutch Shell, was discussed in the Energy Report recently by National Bank analyst Darrel Bishop. Highlights below. Shpirag-2 well site in Albania – Photo: Petromanas TER: One of the jurisdictions you follow is unusual —Albania. Can you explain the investment thesis and the current opportunities? DB:… Continue Reading

PIMCO to open first Latin American office in Brazil. Bloomberg Al Gore has thrived as green-tech investor. Washington Post Source: New Yorker How Quicken Billionaire Dan Gilbert is Giving Back to Detroit. Forbes Gtg golf with my bro, Bethpage… #brocup

by James Kwantes That thud you heard yesterday was Lumina Copper stock dropping a further 8.5% onnews that its strategic review process has yet to land a buyer for the company’s Taca Taca copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in Argentina – not the easiest place to do business. It wasn’t the NR expected by takeover-hungry investors, who took the stock down hard.… Continue Reading

Since we first wrote about Petroamerica Oil Corp. ($PTA.v) on August 16, shares of the Calgary/Bogata-based oil and gas junior have risen over 50% to 52-week highs (chart). Obviously something is up so we decided to take a closer look to see why shares in PTA have more buyers than sellers. What first attracted us… Continue Reading