Gold below 1400 USD - but will CBs start buying?

Gold has dropped BELOW $1400 per troy ounce (biggest drop since 1983), dancing at the 1390 level. Sri Lanka says this is an opportunity to increase reserves. Gold has traded as high as $1921 in September 2011.

Vedanta Increases Oil and Gas Production, Tullow Monetises Assets

Vedanta's oil and gas production has increased thanks to Cairn India (a subsidiary) which has made its 26th oil strike in Rajasthan. Its iron ore operations suffered due to suspensions in Goa (Western India, with an Arabian Sea coast) and Karnataka. Silver production was up to 13m ounces. Goa put a ban on iron ore transportation due to accidents on the roads.

Tullow Oil, another FTSE oil and gas producer, as part of its "portfolio management and asset monetisation" process, will be selling its assets in Bangladesh to Singaporean company, KrisEnergy, for $42m. This gives Kris a 30% stake in Block 9, which includes the Bangora gas producing facility. Tullow is named after a small town in Ireland, about 35 miles South of Dublin. It's Founder and CEO is Aidan Heavey.

Regulatory Pedigree Bankers Rise to the Top in Nomura's Latest Nomination

Jeremy Bennett, who has advised the former FSA on banking reform, has become Chief Executive of Nomura in the EMEA region. He will be based at the firm's Angel Lane headquarters. The chartered Management Institute (CMI) has reported a 15%+ rise in Chief Executive total compensation over the past twelve months.

Slovenia Says "No Euro Bailout"

The OECD warned that Slovenia was not doing enough to tackle a "severe banking crisis". PM Alenka Bratusek, from the University of Ljubljana  has said said "we will solve our problems alone". The population of Slovenia is 2 million, with national language Slovene (an Indo-European language) and a land mass smaller than New Jersey.  The country lies between Italy and Croatia.