« Small-Caps Shine | Main | Apple's Earnings Update »

I saw Jim Cramer’s Mad Money TV show last night. During the “lightening round,” a caller asked him his thoughts on PetroKazakhstan (PKZ). The stock has been a huge winner for the past few years, but it’s fallen on hard times recently.

Cramer response was that he doesn’t trust the Russians. Hmmm...that’s all well and good, but PetroKazakhstan is based in Canada, and it does its business in Kazakhstan, which is not Russia.

Here’s a quick geography lesson: Russia is one separate country, Kazakhstan is another. That being said, they’re not the same. They're different. Yes, they’re near each other. They even share a border. But ultimately, they’re two separate, sovereign countries. Actually, the Kazaks are pretty insistent on this point.

I did a little research, and it turns out those spunky little Kazaks have their own country, language and currency. Imagine that! Kazakhstan has lots of cities, too. With cool names! (I looked it up.)

I can only hope that somewhere in, say, Astana—or maybe in Oskemen—some caller to a financial TV show asks the host about the Bank of New York. “Sell! I don’t trust those Mexicans!”

Posted by edelfenbein at July 14, 2005 9:59 AM