While not invested in Ukraine, I find the haggling over its natural gas bills from OAO Gazprom fascinating. Gazprom, OGZPY, is ostensibly a private for-profit company, but it isn't really.

BNP Paribas' Swiss-based COO with an aristo name, George Chodron de Courcel, 64, appears to be ready to sacrifice himself to settle with US prosecutions over money laundering on behalf of rogue regimes Iran, Cuba, and Sudan.

Gazprom got lucky. First the EU wrote a letter to Putin asking him not to cut gas supplies running through Ukraine after Kiev turned down OGZPY demand to be paid $3.5 bn for gas in advance. That was good for Russian morale.

The last week which saw US market weakness also has seen a rush into emerging market bond funds. This has made most of the yield funds sector less appealing than before.