Pssst…wanna buy some cheap stocks? How about some shares in Russkie enterprises? They’re the cheapest in the world…on a P/E of only 6.8 compared to a world average of about 12.
Bloomberg has more details:
While the Micex advanced 13 percent in the past year, its valuation tumbled 31 percent because Russian shares failed to keep pace with a surge in earnings estimates spurred by oil’s rally above $80 a barrel. Equity mutual funds in the world’s largest energy exporter attracted less money in the past six months than funds in the other so-called BRICs – Brazil, India and China – as investors favored more expensive shares in faster-growing economies, EPFR Global data show.
“Russia remains relatively out of favor in an emerging markets context,”said Lewis Kaufman, a money manager at Thornburg Investment Management, which oversees about $65 billion in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “If we can sustain oil prices of $80 to $100, Russian equities offer a unique combination of cyclical and structural recovery potential.”
Gazprom, Russia’s largest listed company, trades at 4.3 times 2011 profit estimates, compared with 10 times for PetroChina Co., the biggest Chinese energy company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The discount on the Moscow-based natural-gas monopoly to Beijing-based PetroChina has widened to 58 percent from 50 percent at the start of 2010, the data show.
Gazprom shares are poised to rally 34 percent in the next 12 months, according to the average of 10 analysts’ share-price estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The stock has retreated 7.8 percent this year, compared with a 2.3 percent gain for PetroChina.
Russia has the cheapest stocks among major developing nations, based on 10-year reported earnings, a valuation measure designed to adjust for economic cycles, Jonathan Garner, the chief Asia and emerging markets strategist at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, wrote in a Nov. 8 report.
“It’s probably the cheapest market among global emerging nations,”said ING’s Bakkum, who recommends an “overweight”position in Russia. “A lot people are prepared to buy Russian assets.”
*** Those poor TSA agents. Just doing their jobs. Trying to protect the safety of travelers…by groping their private parts. And now everyone is getting on their case.
One woman charged that her blouse had been pulled down, exposing her breasts to the whole airport…and that TSA agents laughed about it. One said he had missed the action. But no problem. He’ll watch the video, he said.
Another traveler said that an agent had put his hand down his pants.
All right, so they occasionally go too far…embarrass and humiliate travelers. But think of all the good they do!
Well…wait…we’re thinking. When did TSA ever actually stop a bomber? Never, as far as we know.
Did it ever discourage a bomber…so he had to take his rig and blow up a bus or a train or maybe even a golf cart instead? Not that we’ve ever heard about.
We’ve never been mistreated by an agent of the TSA. Bullied, yes. Threatened, yes. They’ve been impolite on occasion. We’ve been patted down so vigorously we didn’t know whether to leave a tip or lodge a complaint.
But we try to maintain a sense of humor.
“The trouble with you, is you just don’t get it,”said a paranoid friend lately. “Can’t you see? This TSA has nothing to do with keeping out bad guys. It’s about keeping us in. They’re not really there to make the airlines safer. Instead, it is just a preparation. They are getting Americans accustomed to following orders, standing in line, and acting like half-wits. They are also training up a whole class of goons. These guys don’t ask whether it really makes sense to pat down girl scouts and look at old ladies naked. They just do whatever they’re told to do. And they probably enjoy it.
“There are always some people like that – ready to be concentration camp guards and exterminators. The TSA program helps the authorities identify these people.”
“Why” we asked.
“Who knows…maybe they just want power. Maybe they just want a docile population so they can do what they want.”
Bill Bonner,
for The Daily Reckoning Australia
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