MICEX or RTS? That's the question you are probably asking yourself every day. Well, some people do. MICEX and RTS are the competing Moscow-based stock exchanges, where most Russian companies float their shares. Both exchanges have stock market indexes, which aim to be the Russian DJIA -- the official indicator of the market. There is only one problem -- the market is so small, so when you divide it into two, it becomes tiny. So tiny that the readers of this blog could easily affect the stock prices if they wanted to.

RTS, the smallest of the Russian indexes, has been the official Russian stock market indicator for quite some time. The smaller it gets, the higher volatility investors see in the Russian economy (and investors hate volatility.) Economists and analysts alike look at the MICEX index, the largest of the two. Last week the board of directors of MICEX announced that it might be acquiring RTS. Just about time, we say. Two many indexes, too little money.

MICEX's Bright Future [Kommersant]