Somali Pirate: Stock Market

Like some sort of weird take-off from Catch-22's Milo Minderbinder, it appears that now "everyone can own a share" of one of the Somali pirate groups, as set out here.:

As for the pirate stock exchange, it seems like just another natural step for Somali communities that increasingly depend on illegal activities for economic subsistence. Somali pirates put a percentage of their ransom money back into their communities to pay for hospitals and public schools. Reuters quotes a woman who contributed a rocket-propelled grenade to one group of pirates and eagerly anticipates the dividends.

Spokesmen for the pirates assert that the demands of investors have caused them to raise ransom rates.

Bet those "margin calls" will be a little tough, though.