RUSSIAN PHENOMENON

The President noted that the Commission's most important task is to start the process of modernising the national economy as soon as possible. According to Mr Medvedev, there is a need to focus on the key areas of technological breakthroughs and on specific projects that will be directly under presidential control.

President proposed focusing on the following priorities: energy efficiency and conservation, including the development of new fuels; nuclear technology; space technology, particularly those related to telecommunications (GLONASS [Global Navigation Satellite System] and ground infrastructure); medical technology, especially diagnostic equipment and drugs; and strategic information technology, including the development of supercomputers and software.

Dmitry Medvedev also outlined the key areas of technological development that would be under direct presidential control. These include areas where there are competitive projects and advanced research at the world-class level, and economic sectors whose development may contribute to the modernisation of related industries. Dmitry Medvedev also noted the social impact of these fields and their links to defence and security needs. kremlin.ru

   VIDEO RECORD

Company CEO Evgeny Kaspersky took the President on a tour of the laboratory.

In particular, Dmitry Medvedev inspected the server room, where the automated analysis of new viruses is conducted, programmes' original codes are kept, and anti-virus updates for the entire world are disseminated.

Then the President was shown the so-called iron room, a place for studying and analysing viruses and testing smartphone anti-virus software.

In the virus laboratory Mr Medvedev watched the experts test anti-hacker software.

Dmitry Medvedev inspected the company's classroom, where representatives of the Kaspersky Lab partner firms are trained, along with students from schools and universities taking courses in IT security.

After the tour the President visited the department in charge of developing new software.

Kaspersky Lab is an international group of companies, with 22 regional offices in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Romania, Poland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, and the United States. Kaspersky Lab’s partner network covers more than 100 countries.

The company’s technology protects over 250 million computer users worldwide. Many of the technologies actively used in today’s anti-virus industry were first developed by Kaspersky Lab. kremlin.ru

Here’s a chart showing TLT (20 year bond PRICE) in red/black versus the S&P 500 in black.

While stocks have been rising, bonds have been plunging. Nearly all of the time, it’s bonds that win this tug of war; and it’s stocks that succumb. It makes sense.

- Plunging bonds represent surging interest rates…

- Surging interest rates are pure poison for corporate profits…

- And any damage to profits must be reflected in plunging stocks.

This chain reaction of events does not always unfold immediately. But the longer it’s delayed, the harder the subsequent fall. And right now, the gap between bonds and stocks could not be more obvious or extreme.

Read more

RT - President Dmitry Medvedev has been flying high... while keeping his feet firmly on the ground. During a visit to St Petersburg, the Russian leader tested one of the country’s latest helicopter simulators.

With a firm hand at the controls, he flew the chopper from a virtual airport to a drilling site at sea, landing it safely. It’s not the first time Medvedev has climbed into an aircraft cabin. Earlier this year he spent 30 minutes flying a Russian SU-34 fighter jet.

May 25, 2009

Based on a synopsis created by Adrian Piotrovsky (who first suggested the subject to Prokofiev) and Sergey Radlov, the ballet in its original form was completed by Prokofiev in September 1935, on commission by the Kirov Ballet. The original version had a "happy" ending, but was never publicly mounted, partly due to increased fear and caution in the musical and theatrical community in the aftermath of the two notorious Pravda editorials criticising Shostakovich and other "degenerate modernists". Suites of the ballet music were heard in Moscow and the United States, but the full ballet premiered in Brno, Czechoslovakia, on 30 December 1938. It is better known today from the significantly revised version that was first presented at the Kirov in Leningrad on 11 January 1940, with choreography by Leonid Lavrovsky. Prokofiev objected to this version.

In 2007 Peter Martins made Romeo and Juliet on New York City Ballet to the Prokofiev music.
On July 4, 2008, with the approval of the Prokofiev family and permission from the Russian State Archive, the original Prokofiev score was given its world premiere. Musicologist Simon Morrison, author of The People's Artist: Prokofiev's Soviet Years unearthed the original materials in the Moscow archives, obtained permissions, and reconstructed the entire score. Mark Morris created the choreography for the production. The Mark Morris Dance Group premiered the work at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College in New York state. The production subsequently began a year-long tour (in progress as this is written) to include Berkeley, Norfolk, London, New York, and Chicago.

May 20, 2009

May 20, 2009

Central bank now expects unemployment to rise to a range of 9.2% to 9.6% this year. Fed also predicts a sharper decline in GDP than it had forecast in January.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) by Chris Isidore -- The Federal Reserve's latest forecasts for the U.S. economy are gloomier than the ones released three months earlier, with an expectation for higher unemployment and a steeper drop in economic activity.

The Fed's forecasts, released as part of the minutes from its April meeting, show that its staff now expects the unemployment rate to rise to between 9.2% and 9.6% this year. The central bank had forecast in January that the jobless rate would be in a range of 8.5% to 8.8%, but the unemployment rate topped that in April, hitting 8.9%.

The Fed also now expects the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, to post a drop of between 1.3% and 2% this year. It had previously expected only a 0.5% to 1.3% decline.

At the April meeting, the Fed decided to once again leave its key federal funds rate near 0%, a level it has been at since last December. The central bank also announced that it did not plan on increasing purchasing more long-term Treasury notes anytime soon.

The Fed disclosed plans to begin buying $300 billion's worth of such Treasurys in March in order to try and keep long-term rates down and boost economic activity.

But according to the minutes, some members of the central bank's policy committee indicated they were open to increasing its purchases of Treasury notes and mortgage securities as a way of spurring more lending.

Treasury prices rallied after the minutes were released, pushing their yield, which moves in the opposite direction, down to 3.18%.

Stocks, which have moved sharply higher during the past two months on hopes that the recession may soon be ending, fell Wednesday afternoon.

According to the minutes, Fed members did indicate they expected GDP to increase slightly in the second half of this year. However, it would not be enough to overcome the anticipated declines in the first half. GDP shrunk more than 6% in the first quarter.

Policymakers acknowledged that there were some better economic readings in the period leading up to the April meeting, but added that they were not convinced the economy was out of the woods yet.

In the minutes, Fed members indicated that there are a number of factors that "would be likely to restrain the pace of economic recovery over the medium term" and added that the credit crunch would "recede only gradually" and that "households would likely remain cautious" in their spending.

Fed members expressed concerns about rising problems in the commercial real estate market as well, indicating that this could cause further problems for financial institutions still struggling with the effects of the collapse of home prices and rising mortgage defaults.

The Fed also reduced its GDP targets for 2010 and 2011, but the central banks still expects the economy to grow in both years.

Read more

May 15, 2009

President Dmitry Medvedev is the most important and influential supporter of the Internet revolution in Russia.

Here is Medvedev's blog on LiveJournal http://community.livejournal.com/blog_medvedev

Medvedev said: "I want to add that I have decided to expand the possibilities for discussion in my blog. This is something you have written to me about. My blog will now be part of Live Journal. A community has been set up on Live Journal, and there you will find all of the recordings, and will be able to do what you have long hoped for – respond to the comments made. So, if you want to reply directly to any of the blog’s visitors, you can now do so. This was rather complicated before, but now the possibility is there, so, go ahead and make use of it."

At this point there are thousands of comments! Not bad for first two weeks.

May 14, 2009

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Longtime technical analyst Robert Prechter, who forecast the 1987 stock market crash, predicted this week that U.S. equities may plunge to half their lows hit in March as a deflationary depression bites.

Oil and U.S. Treasury bonds are also locked in long term bear markets, while corporate bond prices will plunge precipitously by next year as broad economy, banking system and company earnings sustain more damage from a financial crisis that's akin to the Great Depression, he said.

The U.S. S&P 500 stock index's .SPX rebound by nearly 40 percent since it sagged to a 12-year closing low of 676 points on March 9 is not sustainable, Prechter said in an interview with Reuters.

"It's not the start of a new bull market," said Prechter, chief executive at research company Elliott Wave International in Gainesville, Georgia. "Our models are (showing) right now that it is a much bigger bear market than most people realize, something along the lines of 1929-1932," he told Reuters in a wide ranging interview. "It's a very rare event," he added.

"I think the next leg down will be at least as severe if not more severe than what we just experienced. So you want to stay on the side of safety," he said.

As in his 2002 book "Conquer the Crash," which warned of the dangers of a U.S. debt bubble and deflationary depression, Prechter continues to advocate safer cash proxies such as Treasury bills.

SEVEN MORE YEARS?

Riskier assets such as commodities, corporate bonds, and stocks which are currently anticipating that the severe global economic downturn may be bottoming, are likely to have short lived intense rallies, but within an inexorable long-term decline that may last another seven years, he said.

As banks continue to accumulate losses and corporate earnings fall, "the difficulties will probably last through about 2016," he said. "There will be plenty of rallies along the way."

Oil may rally further from current levels just below $60 per barrel but the upside will be capped at about $80 per barrel as the commodity is locked in a long-term bear market, he said.

In July, U.S. crude oil hit a record peak above $147 per barrel and was just above $57 per barrel around noon on Thursday.

"Deflation is coming, it's going to lead to a depression. We're not at the bottom yet," Prechter said. "I think we are going to have bouts of deflation separated by recoveries."

Prechter also painted a bleak picture for commodities like silver and is largely unenthusiastic about gold, believing the precious metal made a major peak when it rose above $1,000 last year.

While gold may have already topped at above $1,000 an ounce in March 2008, Treasury bond prices are likely to fall in a long term bear market, with huge government debt issuance being the main catalyst.

The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield, which moves inversely to its price, hit a five-decade low of 2.04 percent in mid-December.

"People got very enamored with bonds and very enamored with gold and I don't like to be invested in markets that are over subscribed," Prechter said.

"The Treasury (Department) has taken on so much bad debt" at a time tax receipts are falling, that "there will be a slow, but very steady change in the way people will view the U.S. government," said Prechter. As a result, investors in Treasury notes and bonds will ultimately demand higher yields, he said.

The U.S. central bank will not be able to control the government bond market and prevent yields from rising, regardless of how much money the Fed uses to buy Treasuries, he added.

Next year, U.S. corporate bond prices will probably fall below their extreme price lows of December during the market panic of 2008 when investors fled riskier assets, he said.

"Corporates in terms of price have the big wave down coming. This has been a prequel," Prechter said.

"Many corporations who (now) say we can borrow more money and take more risks: those are the ones who will get in trouble," he said. "Many municipalities will default," he added.

(Reporting by John Parry, Haitham Haddadin and Ellis Mnyandu)

May 13, 2009

The Russian Internet Forum is opening today, and is taking place this year jointly with a conference, The Internet and Business. Last year, I attended the forum, learned about some of the most interesting projects, and shared my thoughts on the Internet’s development in our country and in other countries too. 

I wish the forum’s participants successful work, new and interesting ideas, and what I hope will be productive contact with each other.

I am sure in your presentations and discussions you will inevitably end up raising one unpleasant subject that has dominated the news of late. I refer to the global financial crisis. It has seriously affected our companies’ financial capabilities, and Internet companies have been affected too. This was something we discussed just recently at a meeting with members of the United Russia party. There is less investment today, advertising revenues have fallen, on-line sales have declined, and wages have also dropped.    

But the Internet community has what I think is an important asset and major advantage – an abundance of interesting new ideas and original solutions. Furthermore, despite the current upheavals, the sector has immense potential. I am therefore confident that you will respond to the financial difficulties with new projects and start-ups that will not only help the Internet community but will contribute to our economy in general. And I am confident too that the Internet can help us to create new jobs and give people new opportunities.

The Internet has developed over these last years into a full-fledged self-regulated system that has a substantial influence in all different areas of our lives. Social networks and blogs have become centrepieces in this system (I have noticed too that my blog has taken on a life of its own, and that people are sharing their thoughts with each other, and discussing various current issues, and I am very happy to see this).

Primitive attempts to regulate this system face enormous difficulties. The Internet has its own laws, and these are the laws we, as users, need to follow. I think that in this respect there is work to be done, and this is something in which we all need to be involved.

The Internet should not be an environment dominated by rules set by one country alone, even the strongest and most advanced country. There should be international rules drawn up through collective effort, and the worldwide web should continue to develop as it has done so far – as a common environment. Only this way can we counter terrorism, xenophobia, and other unlawful activity on the Web. Finally, only through collective agreements can we protect copyright. I consider, and indeed insist, that this is all very important.   

What can our countries’ authorities do to develop the Internet here in Russia? I think that our main task is to create the right conditions for maximum access to Internet services. I can assure you that given our country’s size, this is no easy undertaking. I began working on this several years ago.

Another no less important task for the authorities at all levels is to establish an open presence on the net. The situation with openness and readiness to provide various state services through the Internet is still far from ideal here, and to be frank, very little has been done at all in this area. But we are starting to see the first steps in this direction. Many state institutions have created quite good sites of theirs, and there are some successful examples of electronic government in practice, in Tatarstan, for example. I began this blog, and many senior officials could not resist and have followed my example. Information on the incomes of the countries’ senior government officials was published just recently on the Internet.

What is important is that these not be simply one-off actions or isolated examples, but part of a systematic work effort. It was for this purpose that I established the Presidential Council on Information Society Development, which is to activate work in all the various areas related to information openness in our country.

In my view, these two tasks – guaranteeing equal access to the Internet (provision of good quality service at a reasonable price for our country), and having the authorities establish a full and open presence on the net and give the public convenient access to information - are the key tasks for the authorities in this area.  

I want to add that I have decided to expand the possibilities for discussion in my blog. This is something you have written to me about. My blog will now be part of Live Journal. A community has been set up on Live Journal, and there you will find all of the recordings, and will be able to do what you have long hoped for – respond to the comments made. So, if you want to reply directly to any of the blog’s visitors, you can now do so. This was rather complicated before, but now the possibility is there, so, go ahead and make

May 13, 2009

Sviaz Expo Comm Moscow 2009, the largest and most prestigious B2B
exhibition and conference for Russia and the CIS, is opening in Moscow
yesterday. The exhibition, held under the auspices of the Russian
ministries of telecommunications and mass media and of industry and
trade, will last from May 12 to May 15 and attract 340 participants
from 34 countries.

EXPOCENTRE, MOSCOW. At the 21st international Sviaz/Expo Comm 2009 exhibition. With participants of the Computer Olympiad.

The Russian President Medvedev toured the VimpelCom and the Russian
Post exhibits, spoke to participants in the Computer Olympiad, and
went on board a mobile high-definition television station.

Dmitry Medvedev sent a greeting to organisers, participants and guests
at the 21st international Sviaz/Expo Comm Moscow 2009 exhibition. He
said: “The results of the most advanced scientific research on display, the
important exchange of innovative technologies and engineering
innovations, the mutually beneficial contracts that are signed, and a
wide variety of applications targeted to the needs of industry,
business and the ordinary user – all of these are prominent features
of the event... The field of mass communication is rightly considered
one of the most important for modern technological progress, and an
exhibition on such a scale contributes to the expansion of
international cooperation and the implementation of promising
developments for the economy.”