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If you have read the headlines of articles that many major market sites are putting out, you would probably think that the Russian Anti-Monopoly Service’s ruling was a negative thing for steelmaker Mechel (MTL). To name a few, here's Bloomberg's: “Mechel Told to Cut Prices Considerably After Probe”; Reuters': “Russia Punishes Mechel with Enforced Coal Price Cuts”;  and MSN Money's: “Russian Miner Found Guilty of Price Fixing".

Now these headlines are accurate, just very misleading. Yes Mechel was told to cut the prices on the coking coal it sold domestically (coking coal accounts for 8% of M

These guys will find a way to keep the money in their pockets, and the money flooding into the Russian currency has to be invested into something between infrastructure and new development.

You can't go wrong with steel dealers who are willing to cut deals other people are not.

Mechel (MTL) is not for orphans and widows - that much is for sure. But if you can stomach some risk and if you have any money to speculate with, I think this is a great name to get into right now.

If you have never heard of Mechel, it is a vertically integrated steel and power producer in Russia. Recently, the company has been under fire from the Russian Anti-Monopoly Committee due to comments made by Putin. Essentially, Putin accused Mechel of selling their coking coal at inflated prices domestically and evading taxes.

Mechel tumbled 38% on Thursday after Russia “Prime Minister” (more like ex–KGB autocrat) Vladimir Putin said that the Russian Anti Monopoly Service should pay special attention to the fact that Mechel (MTL) has been selling its raw materials for twice as much domestically. This is bad news for the company’s chief executive and main shareholder, billionaire Igor Zyuzin. Last time a billionaire who ran a “strategic” company (like Mechel) crossed Putin was in 2003. The guy was Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and he is now serving an 8 year sentence in Siberia for tax evasion. Burr.

I know what you are t

• Net r

"Global steel producers are thriving, and their stocks are hitting new highs," note Yiannis Mostrous and Roger�Conrad, who add, "But the best is yet to come."

In the industry-leading Personal Finance, the two advisors explain, "We�re still in the early stage of a truly global bull market cycle for steel, and the companies best positioned to take advantage are headed a lot higher." Here, they look at their "Iron Five."

"As is the case with other building blocks of economic growth, steel is enjoying explosive demand from the developing world. And with the world expanding as never before, steel

• Mechel (MTL), Russia's largest coking coal miner, could raise over $2 billion in a preferred share placement in Frankfurt and Moscow that will price by July 22, a source close to the placement said on Thursday.
• New York-listed Mechel, also Russia's sixth-largest steel maker, will launch a roadshow on July 2 after announcing the placement on June 23 or June 24
• The source s

Perhaps it�s time to put on the contrarian hat and revisit metals and mining stocks. Aside from the macro tide that could be turning against the sector in the long-run, the near term is looking more and more like a blow-off top could be�underway. The group has had the wind at its back with a declining dollar and surging demand in emerging markets, but with a coordinated defense from further declines in the Dollar underway by the Treasury and Fed, that tailwind has been neutralized.

Furthermore, record breaking prices after a parabolic run in these stocks since the start of 2008 is leading to