Today we meet the Golden Horde which is different from the golden hoard, a stash of gold coins found on their land by a California couple. I will report on that hoard tomorrow.

Crimea has always been a melting-put. It was first settled by Pontic Greeks, and then by Turkic Khazars, some of whom converted to Judaism in the 8th century. The Khazars in turn were defeated by The Golden Horde of Mongolian Tatars led by a son of Genghis Khan. The Horde kept their Crimean base after losing most of Russia. Then led by Timur (Tamberlane) the Crimean Tatars were defeated and became Shia Muslims. They bin turn were defeated in a series of battles between 1554 and 1774 by Tsarist Russia in what is today Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. In 1783, under Catherine the Great, the last Muslim rules of Crimea fell.

In today's Crimea melting pot, elements are missing, like Pontic Greeks, Khazars, Tatars, and, my biggest lament, Jewish gangsters like Benya Krik. The Yiddish-speaking criminal was created by the Red Cossack commander Isaac Babel, a small fierce Jew put in charge of an elite cavalry regiment fighting against Wrangel's anti-Revolution White Army by Lenin and Trotsky.

Babel's Odessa Jewish gangster was an equally improbable figure. He appeared first in a book of short stories, and, in 1927, in a silent movie. Like Babel, the Cossack commander, Benya (full name Ben-Zion), also displayed considerable chutzpah. Benya was a Jewish MacHeath but less murderous. (Brecht copied Babel but both were influenced by John Gay's 18th century Beggar's Opera.)

In the late 1930s purges, Babel was shot at Stalin's orders and the Jewish Crimeans deported to Siberia. Later Tatars and Greeks, accused of supporting the German invaders, were also deported there by Stalin. The Tatars were allowed to return in 1954. Ukraine was given the Crimea by Khrushchev.

The Pontic Greeks left Crimea for Greece. Jews left for Israel and America. With them they took Crimean songs like this one (which contains only two Slavic words):

Az men fort kayn Sevastopol,
Iz nit vayt fun Simferopol,
Dortn iz a stantsie faran.
Ver dar zuchn naye glikn?
S'iz a stantsie an antikl
In Dzhenkoye, dzhan, dzhan dzhan.

(Translation: As you exit Sebastopol,

It's not far from Simferopol.

There you'll find an old depot.

Why try finding a new fortune

When there's an old, antique one?

In Dzenkoye, dzhan, dzahn, dzahn.)

When the Soviet Union broke up, Crimea twice proclaimed independence but was persuaded to settle for autonomy within Ukraine in 1992. While there are few Jews left (mostly very old) there's plenty of anti-Semitism.

More follows for with three new results and news from Spain, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, India, Jordan, China, Singapore, and Portugal.

*Royal Bank of Scotland under its new-broom management reported a 50% higher loss for 2013, at GBP 9 bn. This was partly because of having create provisions for compensating clients for mis-selling them forex insurance (GBP 3.8 bn) and for impairments (GBP 4.8 bn). The bank missed consensus forecasts of a loss of GBP 6.7 bn because of these moves. Revenues fell 12% to GBP 19.4 bn. It plans to slash overhead and jobs and get rid of lines of international securities and banking business over the next 5 years. While it cut its bonuses to top execs, they still topped GBP 576 mn, outraging shareholders, regulators, and staffers below the top. We do not own the common shares of this 81% government-owned bank, but its high-yielding preferreds.

*Vale also reported lousy-looking earnings for Q4, but beat estimates thanks to higher prices for its iron ore pellets. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA, a measure of cash-flow) rose to $6.64 bn in the quarter, handily beating the Bloomberg consensus estimate of $5.9 bn. It is generating more cash because Chinese demand for steel is up along with prices, and because it is keeping down costs and capital expenditure. Iron ore pellets commanded $135/tonne in Q4, up 12% y/o/y, and Vale execs say the level will remain over $110 the rest of this year as Chinese demand rises by 3 to 6%.

The bottom line was worse, as at RBS because of house-keeping. It wrote down its Argentina potash investment, a relic of grand ambitions by its prior management, and finally settled its dispute with the Brasilia tax authorities, which cost $2.3 bn and $9.5 bn respectively. The result was a net loss of $6.45 bn or $1.25/sh, 60% higher than the Q4 2012 loss. This missed Bloomberg consensus by 2 cents/sh.

Its output from Brazilian mines missed its target for the year by 2% because of heavy rains.

VALE is up 2-3% today because the write-offs and tax charges (and maybe the rains) are one-offs.

*Telefonica beat Dow-Jones consensus forecasts with net profit more than triple prior year Q4 at euros 1.45 bn (c$2 bn). The main reason was write-downs in Q4 2012 but why quibble. Sales were off 9% to euros 14.44 bn, marginally ahead of estimates, mainly the result of the drop in the Brazilian real (and its sales there.) TEF also announced a cost-saving program.

In the conference call, Chairman Cesar Alierta brushed off the EU complaint issued this morning against TEF's euros 8.55 bn buy of Royal KPN's E-plus saying he is sure the deal will be approved and will close in H2. The EU warned that the price of a mobile phone plan would rise by 13-17% after the number of players is reduced to 3, and I think TEF will have to sell assets to satisfy Brussels.

In 2013 TEF met its target of cutting debt below euros 47 bn (in fact to euros 45.4 bn) while boosting cash generation to meet its free cash flow target for the year of 5.4 bn or euros 1.19/sh. The sequential earnings increase in Q4 was 1.8%.  2013 net profit rose 18.9% to euros 4.953 bn mainly thanks to 9%-plus annual sales growth in Latin America and mobile telephony, said Alierta.

For this year too he forecast accelerating revenue growth despite new investments. He also promised fiber-optic coverage in Spain will double which may help employment and commerce there.

TEF will pay out a final 75 eurocents/ in 2013 dividends, 35 cents in scrip (new shares) and 40 cents in cash (at last!) Despite the good news TEF stock is down today but not down as much as it was at the opening.

*The long awaited formula for how Portugal Telecom (PT) will take over Oi was posted. The first reaction, by Fitch Ratings, was a warning that the merged entity's "financial profile is less likely to support a BBB- rating" despite potential economies of scale, synergies, a single simpler management, and diversification.

The plan is to create a single large consolidated Brazilian multinational company incorporating both PT and Oi to get better access to capital markets despite Fitch. The new entity, called Corp Co, will eventually list on the Novo Mercado in Brazil, Euronext Lisbon, and the NYSE. The new entity may get a nicer sounding name. It will be headed by Zeinal Bava, ex-CEO of PT and current CEO of Oi.

The first step will be the transfer of shares in the 3 telcos (two of them private Brazilian groups which control listed Oi) into Corp Co. The grups will get Corp Co convertible debentures worth reais 938.5 mn each, a total of Rs 1.77 bn, plus a future convertible debenture worth Rs 2.394 bn to back a further convertibles issue by Corp Co. The public Oi shareholders have to vote on this next month but PT is excluded from voting.

The valuations were set by Banco Santander Brasil and the subscription of the new convertible and shares is being underwritten by Banco BTG Pactual. The eventual Oi capital increase will top reais 14 bn after which its shares will be offered to the public.

In theory the deal is to go forward by April 23. Existing and future convertible debentures will convert to stock 60 days after the re-organization is completed. Each Oi share will convert to 0.9211 Corp Co shares; each PT share will convert 1:1 once the Brazilian deal goes through. My comment: Oi.

*Another day, another deal. Global Logistic Properties announced a new strategic food distribution partnership with Chinese food and agro products supplier Cofco which will cover fresh and packaged foods, and e-commerce. They will create new facilities as well as using existing GBTZF China sites leased to Cofco.

*Yandex, the Russia search site HQ'd in Holland, and Google agreed to create a joint real-time bidding site for ads. It will connect YNDX's RTB platform for Russia, one of the few countries where Google is weak (despite Sergei Brin's backgroun), with Google display ads. Forget privacy. Facebook is already sharing with YNDX user profile info to generate better search. YNDX calls the Google deal "mutually beneficial" as it will give Google advertisers access to Yandex and all its data.

*Tencent appears to be gaining from comparisons with Alibaba. Shanghai today banned the taxi calling apps, Didi Dache from TCTZF and Kauidi Dache from Alibaba. (Dache is Chinese for taxi.) Tencent invested $100 mn in Didi last month.

Tencent also announced that it has named Barclays plc to prepare an offer for a stake in JD.com Inc, the former 360Buy, a Chinese online e-commerce retailer which had been planning an US IPO at about $1.5 bn.

Normally a takeover bid causes the buyer's share to drop so I have no idea why Tencent is up on these developments. Its Hong Kong share rose 5% today.

*A new 52-week high of eurocents 92 was hit by A2A (in Milan, not the rarely traded ADR, AEMMY.)

*Covidien completed the $860 mn takeover of Israel's Given Imaging today. It also won FDA ok for its Puritan Bennett 980 smart ventilator. It helps wean patients off the device and breath naturally.

*CAE will get C$250 mn in Canadian govt R&D loans (which bear no interest but have to be repaid) over the next 5 1/2 years to fund its Project Innovate which will expand and add to its modeling and simulation systems for aerospace and security industries. It plans to develop modular platforms easier to deploy and upgrade for civil and defense air training. The money has to be spent in Canada.

*Hikma Pharma rose another 11.8% in London trading, Allah alone knows why. HKMPY here is down 1.4% today.

*Meanwhile Krishna alone knows why Dr. Reddy's Lab (RDY) is hitting another new high.

*Also recovering is Singapore REIT Ascendas India Trust Units, ACNDF.

*Your editor exited Odontoprev at $7.25/sh yesterday after I called E-trade to complain that the stock had traded as high as $7.55 and was not sold at my limit price. This is how pink sheet market-makers make money. Brokerages let them get away with this. It is also abnormal for Deutsche Bank, the depositary, to have pushed this ADR as a buy. The Weds. sale was only booked after I put in a new sell order today at $7.55. O Brave New World!