If you are investing in Russia, don't worry about a company's fundamentals: read the President's lips. Last Thursday, shares of the oil giant Yukos were at a 30-month low and were dragging the rest of the Russian stock market down with them. The market feared that the Yukos affair was heading for the worst possible end bankruptcy.
But Thursday afternoon, Vladimir Putin told journalists he had no interest in seeing Yukos go bankrupt, and in less than two hours Yukos shares jumped by 35% and the market finished 10% up in record trading. Yukos' share price rose...