Market Vector Russia ETF Trust (RSX)

Here is one thing you should understand about RSX: it is NOT about the price of oil, but about its first derivative, or maybe even about its second derivative. The way it works is this: when the price is stable, all 100% of revenues gets stolen. When the price goes up, the revenue excess trickles down to the general population. Then Putin & Co. catch up with the trend and now it takes a positive second derivative to have some trickle-down effect as they ramp up the rate of stealing but the price increases still faster. And then when it stops increasing the Ponzi scheme collapses quite regardless of the level at which the price has topped. The economy began to stagnate last summer when oil topped at $147, for crying out loud! What we see now is an attempt to sell oil for $70 while continuing to steal as if it sold for $147. Russia can afford it for a while, until the reserves run out. But they will run out next year and they already plan to borrow $60 bln from abroad. The Russian equivalent of Wall Street with its standard 6-month time horizon is still failing to see the iceberg ahead.