It’s one of the top stories on all the financial news sites:

China “worried” about US Treasury holdings - AP
China “worried” about safety of U.S. Treasuries - IHT
White House Seeks to Reassure China U.S. Debt Safe, Deficits Under Control - Bloomberg
China’s premier worried for U.S. investments

Most analysts estimate that China has $1 trillion invested in U.S. Treasuries and notes. That’s roughly half of its currency reserves… And if China decides to sell them - at least, if they sell them all at once - it could slash T-bill values.

That would ultimately slash creditor’s reserves, though, which would be a little like self-mutilation.

I’m not alone in thinking that the move away from T-bills will be more like blood-letting than amputation… And some emerging markets are actually still interested in buying U.S. Treasuries.

Russia, for instance. On March 4, 2009, Russia became the 5th largest U.S. creditor with a total of $116 billion in U.S. T-bills in its coffers.

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It wasn’t that long ago that nuclear energy was a pariah, politically and environmentally.

But with climate change and and energy crisis headlining our political campaigns and agendas, nuclear energy just might be back on the table… And not only here in the U.S., either.

France’s GDF Suez (GSZ:Paris), newly-formed energy group, and Spain’s Iberdrola (IBE:Madrid) just announced that they will join forces to build nuclear plants in the United Kingdom… As have German companies RWE (RWE:Hamburg) and E.ON (EOA:Hamburg).

But friendly European countries teaming up to build nuclear power plants isn’t the only card in play. Nuclear energy is on the table in Russia, China, and Iran.

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I’m sitting in our Baltimore office on the fourth floor of a beautiful historic building. The blinds are up, and I’m watching flurries float down in the grey of winter.

A lovely scene that I’m sure I’d appreciate much more if I wasn’t so darn cold…

I arrived at work this morning to a near-empty building, a single coworker hanging around to tell folks that the heat is broken, and that most of our publishing crew has headed down to the local coffee shop, Donna’s, to get warm.

I’ve spent my morning shivering over a quickly cooling cup of coffee as a pounded out my article for Taipan Insider for tomorrow.

I figured I’d wait it out. They said they were fixing the heat, but that was about two and a half hours ago, and now my fingers feel like they’ve been making snowballs for, well, for about two and a half hours.

This must be what it feels like in Eastern Europe right about now. Gas from Russia is still not flowing right, after 19 days. There’s a deal on the table that all parties are expected to sign, if their cold hands can grip a pen.

Right now, it’s 37 degrees in Prague, with a chance of snow tonight. It’s 30 here in Baltimore, and as I’ve said, we’ve already got the flurries…

Stay warm, folks.

First, I want to say that I really enjoy hearing from our readers. I will always invite your comments, questions and criticism.

On Wednesday, I shared with you some comments about an article I wrote on Russia’s natural gas monoploy, and this stand-off between Russia and Ukraine.

I was lucky enough to get a comment from a gentleman with some specific insight into the situation. I’m posting it here for you all to read, and again, feel free to comment if you wish…

Hi Sara,

I have family in Ukraine, and several growing small business’s and I am in the country maybe every two months for extended periods.

I can tell you that the political and emotional situation is very dire. This is a country that has been under the rule of the USSR for a very long time, and the people have an outlook that is not quite in tune with our, free democratic outlook. Corruption at all levels is widespread and a normal course of doing business. This extends to the political elite who view the privilege of power as a route to obtain vast back handers and favours. They are in power supported by the people with money and not by their political accumin or skill, nor for that matter their great passion to reform and build a sophisticated country.

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