Rostelekom OAO (ADR) (ROS)

I rode Rostelekom down from $47.96 to $37.51 in a few weeks back in May. I see no reason for the 15% spike today (back up to my first downthumb), other than a buy recommendation from Tim Seymour on Fast Money. Sounds like a comfirmation to downthumb it again from my perspective. My pitch from before seems to still be applicable.

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As Russia's National telecommunications operator Rostelekom covers a lot of territory, particularly in the "stans" or former Soviet holdings. While growing subscribers they continue to show deficit earnings. Russia in general has had some very strong quarters, but the Russian currency is being bolstered artificially. If the dollar continues to drop then Russia, a resouce rich company, may continue to see growth overall, but Rostelekom does not seem capable of taking advantage of the economy. They have two strong competitors (MBT and VIP) who are making money and unless Rostelekom makes major changes to their operating model then they will continue to lose market share. When I down thumbed them a few days ago, I had no idea they would trough downward so fast, but fundamentally they are operating like a traditional Russian Bear when they need to learn to "communicate" with the bulls. Huge debt and negative margins. MBT had a 50% positive delta on their share price this week alone compared to ROS.

Always need wireline, even from cell tower to cell tower.