Features of the week

It's time once again to roll up all the great stories and article features of the week and post them up here for your reading & viewing enjoyment. Here we go:

1. John Arnold of Centaurus Energy is crowned the new king of hedge funds.

Thanks to Fintag for the heads up on this Guardian article chronicling the latest roll call of hedgie masters and their place among the world's top financiers.

2. "Why some funds do not want your money". The Financial Times reports on the difficulty some investors face in trying to invest in the hedge funds of their choice. Some investors have even tried to trick their way in!

Article related note: Did you know that there is now a small secondary market that lets investors buy and sell hedge fund investment units? I did not. Read all about it at the link above.

3. Uranium crosses the $100 mark. It's been quite a ride for anyone who's been watching the chart or investing in the metal or in shares of uranium producers.

From a low of around $8 in 2001, U308 spot prices built a base above the $10 mark and have climbed relentlessly over the past several years. This week, prices moved up to $113 a lb. on news of supply disruption due to problems at ERA's Ranger mine.

What's the story behind the climb? That is the subject of our next feature...

4. "Uranium stocks about to gap higher", says newsletter writer, Elliot Gue. An interesting feature on the history of the 1950s uranium boom and a look at the fundamentals driving the recent resurgence in nuclear power.

5. "How to Get Out of Iraq". Thanks to 321gold.com for the link to this Nation article by Juan Cole. Let's read it and see if it makes sense.

6. Bloomberg reports that Russia's RTS index has hit the 2000 mark for the first time, thanks largely to rising oil prices. The country's stock market capitalization has now passed the $1 trillion mark. Quote:

The RTS, dominated by oil and gas companies, has doubled over the past 17 months, helping push the value of the country's stock market to $1.1 trillion.

7. On a related note, did anyone else catch that brief Bloomberg interview clip with the deputy CEO of Gazprom earlier in the week?

Alexander Medvedev told Bloomberg that he'd like Gazprom to reach a $1 trillion market cap, and that he thinks this goal is attainable in the next few years.

Remember, this sum represents the current value of the entire Russian share market, as we just learned in the previous article. Medvedev seems confident that this goal will be reached within a decade.

I saved the interview link and I see that it's been lengthened to include 46 minutes of discussion.

8. Ron Paul on the "Federal Reserve Monopoly over Money".

Good reading, and enjoy!