Slovenia's concern, beside a fear of re-colonisation by neighbours after only ten years as an independent country, was the stability of its currency in the face of large capital inflows or outflows.

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Despite the fact that EBAY has lost ground in six of the past seven weeks, one options trader placed a rather large bet that stability would soon enter the picture.

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But there are political obstacles, particularly in America, where a large and vocal contingent in Congress accuses the Fed itself of being a threat to stability, pointing to loose monetary policy as a cause of the housing mania.

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With its large population of Pakistani origin, it has much at stake in helping to maintain the stability of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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