Special Extra: Market Matters

World stock markets were soaring higher Monday on news of international cooperation to promote liquidity (cooperation from which, as we report below, Russia was totally excluded) — but not Russia’s.  Markets were up over 5% in Britain, Germany Australia and France (Hong Kong was up 10% and the U.S. was up 11%, the biggest one-day gain in Dow Jones history) but Russia’s MICEX ruble index was down nearly 5% and the RTS dollar index was down over 6% (its consumer/retail index down 8% while oil/gas was down 6%), and their losses had been artificially mitigated because they had been held closed until 10:30 am in a further continuation of last week’s panicked repeated shutdowns which made Russia look like “just another bumbling backwater” and exposed Russian dictator Vladimir Putin for what he is — just another tinpot, unqualified strongman, no different than Robert Mugabe.  The U.S. market was not shut down when it took a massive hit last week, nor was it shut down when it soared to open this week. That’s because the U.S. market has something Russia’s lacks:  honesty, diversity and fundmentals.