"Americans have the will to resist because they have weapons. If you don't have a gun, freedom of speech has no power." -- Yoshimi Ishikawa, Japanese author, in the LA Times 15 Oct 1992

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In a ceremony at the Kremlin, and on the second day of Chinese leader's Xi Jinping's visit, Putin and Xi kicked off formal talks which will focus on the Ukraine crisis. They shook hands and stood side by side as their respective national anthems played, aired on state television. Following the meeting, they held a joint press conference, to be followed by a state dinner at the Kremlin. 

Derivatives.  Not much being said lately on them but a lot has been said on bank failures of as late.  I do not understand why not, they are directly related.  In math a derivative of a function is, in the most simple terms, “the rate of change of the function's output relative to its input value”.   Easy enough, but in financial terms a derivative is “a type of financial contract whose value is dependent on an 

The leader of Indonesia says the country must reduce its dependence on foreign payment systems, to negate potentially disastrous economic consequences should the country ever find itself in the crosshairs of Western sanctions.

Addressing a business forum in Jakarta this week, President Joko Widodo argued that Indonesia must shield itself from geopolitical disruptions, citing the sanctions attack on Russia’s financial sector by the US, EU, and their allies over the conflict in Ukraine.

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The Federal Reserve is expected to increase current interest rates by one-quarter of a percentage point. The Fed's forthcoming decision is raising questions as the banking crisis appears to be far from over, despite stabilization measures being taken by the US and Swiss governments.

The US federal takeover of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and the Credit Suisse merger with UBS has not calmed markets so far, according to the Western press. Banks around the world reportedly face falling customer deposits and losses on holding securities.

The US Commerce Department announced proposed restrictions on Tuesday on new foreign operations of semiconductor manufacturers who receive federal funding in the US.

"CHIPS is fundamentally a national security initiative. That's why the law included guardrails to protect our national security," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo posted on Twitter. "Today, we're building on them to ensure malign actors don’t have access to cutting-edge technology that can be used against America and our allies."

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Foot Locker has become the latest chain to close its stores across the nation with the company set to shut more than 400 of its under-performing shops by 2026.

The 420 stores that are set to close across the United States account for nearly 10 per cent of Foot Locker's total sales.

Foot Locker said the closures will allow the company to introduce new store concepts and boost the company's annual revenue by £1billion. 

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The London Metal Exchange revealed a surprising mix-up last week at a warehouse in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.

An operator for the warehouse weighed bags that were thought to contain 54 metric tons of nickel, only to find that they were filled with stones, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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The controversial rescue deal for troubled lender Credit Suisse and the continuing fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank indicates the world is sliding into a crisis “far worse” than the GFC, one analyst has argued.

Following crunch talks aimed at stopping the stricken bank from triggering a wider international meltdown, Swiss bank UBS on Sunday agreed to take over its rival Credit Suisse for $US3.25 billion ($4.8 billion) – less than half its Friday closing valuation.