Russia's propitious new high

Matthew Lynn

The Russia story has been as long and tangled as War and Peace. At last a brighter chapter has opened but a happy ending is by no means guaranteed

If you bought into the Russia story early in 1997, you've had a long time to regret it. Until this month in fact. In October, the eight-year-old Russian Trading System Index reached 573. That took it past the previous high of 571, set all the way back on 6 October 1997. There are two points investors can draw from that - one minor, the other more significant. The minor point is that markets do recover, if you wait long enough. One day, the Nasdaq Composite Index will hit the 5048 it reached in March 2000, but maybe not many of us will be around to celebrate. The major point is that th...