Economics
Struggling Russians Turn to Day-Trading to Pay the Bills
- Four out of 10 families can't always afford food, clothing
- Disposable income only starting to recover from recession
Visitors walk through Red Square near Saint Basil's cathedral in Moscow, Russia.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
When Natalia Orlova isn’t working a $400-a-month job at a Moscow factory that makes Cold War-era space rockets, she’s glued to the trading app she uses to speculate on oil.
Lately, the 54-year-old has made a small fortune as crude jumped to 3-1/2 year highs, some of those gains linked to America’s latest sanctions on Russia. Like tens of thousands of Russians, Orlova says day trading is the key to surviving economic gloom: she just bought a new Infiniti and is saving up for an apartment for her two grandsons.