As Rule of Law in South Africa Faces New Concerns, Zuma Puts Corruption Charges Behind Him

Irrespective of whether the decision was correct, the reasoning behind it casts a cloud of new questions over Jacob Zuma's potential presidency and the South African legal system.

Follow the link to read South African prosecuters drop Zuma graft charges (Reuters).

Arms Control: The U.S. and Russia Return to Old Reliable Common Ground

Long overdue...

Click on the link to read: U.S., Russia Say They Want to Reduce Nuclear Arms (The Moscow Times).

Next Stop, Latin America: China's Effort to Reduce its Hefty Exposure to the Dollar

Though unlikely in the near-term, an alternative global reserve currency could greatly increase the cost of borrowing for the U.S. government forcing American debt into a zero-sum game.

Read more about a nascent, yet important trend noted in the the following article,  China, Argentina Reach Agreement on Currency Swap (Bloomberg).

As America Spends, Investors Scale Back Their Appetite for U.S. Debt

Borrowing becomes more expensive as the yield on a five-year note increases to 1.85% from an anticipated 1.8%. 

Read more on how Weak Demand for Treasury Auction Gives Wall Street Pause (NY Times). 

The Geithner Plan in so many words (and pictures)

Click on the link to view an Interactive Graphic created by the Financial Times.

Step 1: Admitting There is A Problem (U.S. and Mexico Drug Trade)

Preventing a failed state at America's southern doorstep.

Click on the link to read Clinton admits U.S. demand feeds Mexico drug trade (San Jose Mercury News).

Naked Short Selling and Lehman: A Failure-to-Deliver

To put it simply (comments and clarifications welcome):

Short Sale

• Borrowing and selling shares of a particular stock.
• Then locating and delivering those shares at a later date (usually within 3 days). 
• If the price goes down, there is a profit -- price at time borrowed minus price at time delivered. 
  
• Moral: A short sale drives down the share price of the stock because it is a sale. Supply and demand -- a sale increases supply, down goes price.

Naked Short Sale

• A short sale where the shares sold are never located and delivered.
• Equivalent of selling shares that have not been authorized by the issuer.
• Moral: Acts as a dividend, increases supply and further drives down the share price.

The following article is fairly comprehensive, but worthwhile: Naked Short Sales Hint Fraud in Bringing Down Lehman (Bloomberg).