You might know the name Lutz Kleveman if you've read his articles or heard him speak about his book, The New Great Game: Blood and Oil in Central Asia. Last year, Lutz went off to South America to chronicle the drug trade and the rising tide of urban warfare between drug lords and paramilitary police. Very much the kind of thing we were hearing about in the news out of Brazil a couple weeks ago. I read Kleveman's article, "Street Fighting Boys", last night and you can read his account of time spent among the drug gangs by clicking the link.
S&P cut Nasdaq's credit rating to junk status citing debt burdens and its questionable strategy to buy a controlling interest in the London Stock Exchange. Financial Times reported that the exchange's counterparty credit & bank loan rating were lowered fromm BBB- (lowest investment grade rating) to BB+. The change will increase Nasdaq's borrowing costs should it wish to pursue aquisition targets. For an earlier look at the exchange consolidation trend that brought about Nasdaq's push for a stake in the LSE, please see "Exchange fever" .