Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat's commentary for the week of March 18, 2014?

Article Excerpt

Many observers draw scary conclusions from Russia’s annexation of the Crimea. They fear it’s just the first in a series of land grabs. They think the ease of the takeover will embolden Russia, and lead it to rapidly stir up trouble among other nations with large Russian-speaking minorities. (This includes three NATO members—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.) Some even worry that a future Russia/U.S. head-butting contest could cascade into a nuclear war. On the other hand, the stock market reacted to the news of the Crimean referendum vote with two days of substantial gains. I’d say this is a favourable response to the Crimea news, and a realistic one. Putin simply took advantage of a highly unusual situation. The Crimea was part of Russia for hundreds of years, until Nikita Khrushchev gave it back to Ukraine in 1954. If the past couple of decades are any guide, Crimeans will be better off as subjects of Russia than of Ukraine. Energy exports have given…