Smart Investment

Not mine. I'm writing about China ... again.

FT: "Brazil and China signed a landmark agreement on Thursday that will ensure long-term supplies of oil to China while delivering much-needed financing to help Brazil develop enormous reserves of oil and gas recently discovered in its coastal waters. ... Petrobras, Brazil’s publicly traded but state-controlled oil company, will supply China with between 100,000 and 160,000 barrels of oil a day. In return, China will supply loans of up to $10bn (£7bn, €8bn) to help Petrobras and its private-sector partners develop the so-called “pre-salt” fields."

China is also build lots of nuclear power plants.

Meanwhile, Barry and Nancy are hitting the bong, listening to "Green Tambourine" and sipping green tea, and listening to their green yogis bloviate about "global warming'. And investing in "green energy". What fools !

Meanwhile, in Europe ...

[FT] "Members of the European parliament walked out in protest on Thursday after Vaclav Klaus, the Czech Republic president, said the institution suffered a “democratic deficit” and likened its workings to those of eastern Europe during the communist era. In his first address to the parliament, Mr Klaus characterised the institution as one that alienated voters and offered no credible opposition. He argued that decision-making powers should be pushed out of Brussels and back to individual member states.

"Mr Klaus said: 'Here, only one single alternative is being promoted and those who dare thinking about a different option are labelled as enemies of European integration. Not so long ago, in our part of Europe we lived in a political system that permitted no alternatives.' "

He does have a point. The bureaucrats running the EU do seem afraid to hold real elections and to create a representative United States of Europe. They don't want nations to hold referenda on ratifying the Lisbon treaty.

Otherwise, it's more of the same whining and handwringing. By the way, the problems in Europe show this is not a purely American problem.

Markets

They still have the flu ... or is it pneumonia. ? Or ???

Today is option expiration day, so anything can happen as the beefers fight it out.

Yesterday I did a small asset allocation trade, taking some excess cash and buying the VNQ - a Vanguard real estate trust index fund. My real estate holdings were below target allocations by quite a bit.

NYTimes suspends its dividend ... so the spoiled rich & powerful will now bear some of the pain they love to pontificate for the common man.

Word of the Day

"Repine" - verb, intransitive [$10]; from the card file.
Repine means 1. to be discontented or low in spirits; complain or fret; 2. to yearn after something.
Sentence: Some leadership out of Barry might help the stop the endless repining of the ruling classes - woe is us ! - and motivate positive actions to rebuild the future.

Le Mot du Jour

"Maladresse" - noun, feminine.
Maladresse means 1. clumsiness, awkwardness; 2. tactlessness. Examples: Quelle maladresse ! how tactless ! Maladresses de style - awkward or clumsy turns of phrase.
La phrase: L'adminstration d'Obama montre de maladresse par ses premières actions.
Sentence: The Obma administration shows some clumsiness through its initial actions.