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"In a year wracked by economic uncertainty and stumbling global stock markets, Russia has been an unlikely standout performer," explains global investment expert Nick Vardy.

In his Global Bull Market Alert, the advisor asserts, "The Market Vectors Russia ETF (NYSE: RSX), is a bet that Russia's buoyant stock market performance this year is set to continue."

"Even as China is now down by more than 50%, bad boy Russia's performance has been second only to Brazil this year and it actually has outperformed its BRIC rival by a hair during the past three months.

"Despite Russia's reputation as a country rife with corruption, scant respect for genuine democracy and the Rule of Law, it's always hard to argue with success.

"Scan the Russian press, and it quickly becomes apparent that the contrast between the collective economic mood of Russia and the United States couldn't be sharper. While U.S. drivers cringe at $4 per gallon gas, Russia celebrates high oil prices as the source of its newfound wealth.

"To add insult to injury, the most recent Forbes 400 list confirms that Moscow now boasts more billionaires than New York City.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the value creation at both companies is astonishing and not going away, despite the market trend.

Every now and then days like yesterday happen. Days where it is so crazy, where the selling never ends and the buying never ends. Where the sellers just keep reloading and the buyer just keep buying.

Some of it seems like short-covering panic and some of it seems like sellers who can't take the pain anymore. As I watched Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG) (Cramer's Take) -- a very good company, a company that priced a gigantic piece of merchandise 30% higher a fortnight ago -- go down more than 10% today, I am astonished at the market's inefficiency.

When I see Nucor (NYSE: NUE) (Cramer's Take) decline 10% on a good quarter and conservative guidance, I marvel at how ridiculous things are. Sure, you can say if you look at a three-year chart, "This is the end of the bubble." But how about value? How about the fact that COG is making much more money than it ever has and is unlikely, given the big shift toward natural gas, ever to make as little money as it did a few years ago?

U.S. stock futures turned higher Friday morning after earnings from Citigroup that beat expectations offset disappointment from Merrill, Google and Microsoft. There was also some pressure from oil as prices rebounded to above $131 a barrel, following Nigeria cutting output.

Many on Thursday started wondering if we have seen the bottom. Stocks rallied for a second straight session as oil continued its price drop. Better -than-expected earnings for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) again lifted banks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 207.38 points, or 1.9%, the S&P 500 index rose 15.7 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 27.45 points, or 1.2%.

Without any economic releases today, the market will continue to focus on earnings, and investors have a lot to mull, especially after Thursday's wave of financial results releases after the close, and with financials and techs being in the center of attention.

After JPMorgan Chase brought on some optimism with its results Thursday morning, Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) reported after the close a wider-than-expected loss of $4.65 billion, or $4.9 a share, on $9.7 billion of credit-market writedowns. The loss per share was larger than any analyst had expected according to Bloomberg survey. MER shares are declining over 4.8% in premarket trading.

Editor's Note: This post was written by Terry Woo, one of Minyanville's sharpest minds AND/OR brightest bulbs. For more perspective AND/OR insight, visit www.minyanville.com.

Crude oil is trading lower for a third day in a row.

Currently there's talk out there of demand destruction in other countries (i.e. China's slowing economic growth and slowing U.S. economy). But I don't think there has been enough coverage on financial television regarding Iran.

Remember crude's breakout when the world speculated Israel was preparing to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. And remember more upward pressure when Iran retaliated by test firing its long-range missiles.

As reported by CNN yesterday, Undersecretary of State William Burns is accompanying an EU delegation and will meet with a top Iranian nuclear official... something that hasn't happened in decades! It's a game changing event. That combined with North Korea (cooperating with the world in giving up its pursuit of nuclear weapons), I believe this is simply the Iranian risk premium being taken out of the price of oil.

"The 'low-hanging fruit' on our buy list includes refiners," says resource expert Curtis Hesler in The Professional Timing Service. Here, he looks at Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO).

"Refiners enjoy a virtual monopoly. The high price of crude has put the squeeze on profit margins -- especially in the case of gasoline, even though it is selling for over $4.00 now. Gasoline always becomes a political issue during election season.

"Nevertheless, gasoline prices are generally rising. The stock market is also getting 'depression minded,' to the point of paranoia; and this fear is dragging some stocks like refiners lower with the tide.

"The current profit squeeze will not be permanent, but Valero has another arrow in its quiver. They are able to process sour crude, which is becoming more prevalent as exporters keep more of the good stuff (light sweet crude) at home and ship the heavy sour crude.

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) shares are falling today, pulled down by declining oil futures following a report the US supplies rose unexpectedly. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on XOM.

After hitting a one-year high of $96.12 in May, the stock hit a one-year low of $77.55 in January. This morning, XOM opened at $81.99. So far today the stock has hit a low of $79.41 and a high of $81.99. As of 2:10, XOM is trading at $80.07, down $2.12 (-2.6%). The chart for XOM looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bear-call credit spread above the $90 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 5.3% return in one month as long as XOM is below $90 at August expiration. ExxonMobil would have to rise by more than 12% before we would start to lose money.

XOM hasn't been above $90 since late May and has shown resistance around $89 recently. This trade could be risky if the price of oil is driven back up soon, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by resistance XOM might find at its 200 day moving average, which is currently around $89 and falling.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in XOM.

OPEC again lowered its forecast for 2008 global oil demand growth, adding that the economic slowdown affecting the United States and other industrialized nations is likely to lower demand growth in 2009 as well, the group announced (pdf).

OPEC lowered its 2008 forecast to 1.20% global oil demand growth, down from 1.28%. It was OPEC's fourth downward revision for oil demand this year. The new price structure and slower global economy "have helped dampen oil demand growth in many regions," the cartel said in its July report.

OPEC, which accounts for about 40% of the global oil supply, now expects 2008 demand to rise by 1.03 million barrels per day, or 70,000 barrels per day less than the group's previous forecast.

On Tuesday, oil plunged $6.44 to $138.74 per barrel -- its biggest decline, in percentage terms, since March 2008 -- following Tuesday morning testimony by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, during which the Fed chair said credit market write-downs were likely to slow the already anemic U.S. economy even more, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday. Economist Glen Langan told BloggingStocks OPEC's revised forecast is likely to represent another data point the oil bears will like.

Oil price key: Emerging markets

Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO), a petroleum refiner, is recently up 94 cents to $17.04. Crude oil futures are recently down 3.45% to $133.96 according to Bloomberg.

TSO call option volume of 15,013 contracts compares to put volume of 4,461 contracts. TSO August option implied volatility of 96 is above its 26-week average of 62 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

The plunge in oil prices and Intel's good earnings report from Tuesday were not enough to lift mood on Wall Street this morning. Investors, worried about a wave of data, earnings and Bernanke's second day of testimony, pushed U.S. stock futures lower. However, after yesterday's wild swings in the market, we may yet see futures change directions several times before the open.

On Tuesday, the session was marred by wild and volatile trading, induced by concerns over financials in general and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in particular. The steep drop in oil prices -- over $6 a barrel -- offset somewhat Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's bleak testimony. Sill, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 92 points, or 0.84%, lower to close under the 11,000 mark. The S&P 500 dropped 13 points, or 1.09%, while the Nasdaq Composite, in anticipation of Intel's earnings, rose 2 points, or 0.13%.

Today, more economic data and earnings will affect the Street's sentiment.
At 8:30 a.m. EDT, consumer price index -- inflation at the consumer level -- for June is due out. Again, there is a big difference between expected CPI and core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices.
At 9:00 a.m., May net foreign purchases will be reported and shortly after, June industrial production and capacity utilization.
At 2:00 p.m., investors could go over the released minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting.

Meanwhile, Bernanke will continue his testimony that is due to start at 10 a.m. EDT.

Oil plunged more than $8 to about $136 Tuesday at mid-day after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's indicated the risks to U.S. growth have increased as a result of credit market losses, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

Oil fell $9.26 to $135.92 per barrel before recovery slightly. Oil hit a record of $147.27 per barrel on July 11.

The other major energy commodities, likewise, plummeted on the news. Heating oil plunged almost 15 cents to $3.91 per gallon, unleaded gasoline sank almost 17 cents to $3.39 per gallon, and natural gas plunged 44 cents to $11.51 per million BTUs.

"Oil in free-fall"

Energy trader Jim Dietz said "a mini selling frenzy" hit the oil market after Bernanke indicated the U.S. economy was likely to slow further.

"We did have some support for an oil-long trade earlier as an investment when few other investments are working, but that sentiment was quickly wiped out by Bernanke's comments," Dietz said. "We had oil in free-fall for about an hour. The market put 'two and two together.' We had the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout news yesterday [Monday] and Bernanke's bearish comments today. That led a lot of people to conclude we're going to see a slowdown in oil demand growth, which means lower prices."

There were high hopes that Americans would run out and spend their tax rebate checks in a hurry, and that this would be just what the economy needed to get back on track. Well, it does seem that the checks were spent, but as weaker than expected June retail figures come in, it seems that it was a weak fix to a much bigger problem.

The program worked out pretty well in May, as retail sales grew 0.8% during the month, but we were sent back to reality today as June's figures showed that retails sales in the month grew at a measly 0.1%. This was lower than the 0.4% that Wall Street analysts were expecting. Since these figures typically get re-adjusted, it is not out of the question to assume that this figure could be even lower. May, for example, was originally reported to have had an increase of 1.0%, but that was lowered to 0.8%.

Once again, we have to assume that it is record high gasoline prices that are weighing on consumer's minds, as the biggest declines came in automobiles, furniture, electronics and building materials. Auto sales of course were the biggest drag on the retail numbers, and if you look at the figures while ignoring auto sales, then retail would have actually risen by 0.8%, but that is still under the 1.0% that analysts were predicting.

U.S. producer prices soared a seasonally-adjusted 1.8% in June, the U.S Labor Department announced Tuesday, as rising energy prices continued to increase wholesale costs at an alarming rate.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected the June PPI index to rise 1.4%. Producer prices increased 1.4% in May and 0.2% in April.

The core rate, which excludes food and energy costs, increased 0.2%, the Labor Department said, below the Bloomberg News 0.3% consensus estimate.

Economist Peter Dawson told BloggingStocks Tuesday the June PPI is another unfortunate data point for the economy, but it's not as bad as it appears. "The report is bad, but not as bad as it could have been. Energy really drove the index higher. If you took out gasoline prices, PPI would be down a half percentage point," Dawson said. "That said, energy prices are still rising at an alarming rate and they're a cost concern for businesses and individuals alike."

Oil's four-year bull run to +$140 per barrel has increased the wealth of 'petrodollar' nations, and is about set to propel another shift, this time in the bond market.

Petroleum-exporting nations, such as Saudi Arabia and Russia are set to become the biggest creditor nations to the U.S. Government, Bloomberg News reported Monday.

Holdings of petrodollar nations increased 44% to $510 billion through April, Bloomberg News reported Monday -- an increase pace that's set to displace Japan, which holds the largest amount of U.S. Treasuries, at $592.2 billion.

Oil rose about 20 cents to $145.28 per barrel in late Monday afternoon trading.

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) shares are trading higher today after an analyst wrote in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend that despite rises in oil prices, many oil stocks and oil service companies are undervalued based on price/earnings ratios. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on HAL.

After hitting a one-year low of $30.00 in January, the stock hit a one-year high of $55.38 earlier this month. HAL opened this morning at $48.23. So far today the stock has hit a low of $48.23 and a high of $50.08. As of 1:05, HAL is trading at $48.90, up $1.03 (2.1%). The chart for HAL looks bullish but deteriorating, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bull-put credit spread below the $42.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 11.5% return in just five weeks as long as HAL is above $42.50 at August expiration. Halliburton would have to fall by more than 13% before we would start to lose money.

HAL hasn't been below $44 at all since April and has shown support around $45 recently. This trade could be risky if the price of oil drops off in the coming month, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find around $45 where it formed a bottom in early May.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in HAL.

The list of reasons that oil is trading near $150 a barrel gets longer by the day: speculation, greed at OPEC member countries, rising consumption in India and China and so on.

Perhaps the most worrisome aspect of oil prices is supply interruptions in major exporting nations. Worries about Nigeria and Iran have helped move the cost of crude up over the last few months. Now another big threat can be put on that list.

Oil workers at Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company, have gone out on strike. Brazil is a modestly important supplier of crude, but with the recent discovery of large off-shore deposits, its role is likely to grow.

According to Bloomberg, the strike "may cut Brazilian daily oil output by more than half."

The strike raises two problems, one short term. The psychology of oil prices is so fragile now that even rumors of supply interruptions push crude up. The other, more important problem, is in the future. Brazil's new and significant oil reserves will make the world more dependent on the country for crude. If the workers can strike now to get higher wages, they can strike later. That puts Brazil's output at a level of permanent risk.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.