Let’s take a quick look at what’s happening in Brazil, over and above the 2016 Olympics being awarded to Rio de Janeiro.

The U.S.’ potential conflict with Iran might pale in comparison to a fight brewing between China and India, says Chris Mayer. “This one doesn’t seem to get much attention in the Western media, but I’ve read some dire stuff from the Eastern media. By their lights, the Sino-Indian border hasn’t been this tense since 1986-87, when the skirmishes broke out between Indian and Chinese troops.

There’s no question that the big “winner” in the global financial crisis has been China. While for the past two years developed economies have been scrambling to keep afloat China has taken a nuanced approach to achieving its economic and political goals.

Over the past year, Brazil has established itself as one of the most exciting markets in the world for investors. Its Bovespa stock index is up 55% this year. And the discovery of the huge new Tupi oil field off its east coast has led some investors to refer to Brazil as the “New Saudi Arabia.”

Every country needs a few basic ingredients in order to achieve healthy, sustained economic growth.

U.S. banks are going bad as quickly as a bunch of over-ripe peaches in the summer heat. On the heels of the Colonial Bank failure comes another sizable bank failure.

It wasn’t long ago that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s decision to nationalize state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) resulted in a failed coup that very nearly cost him his post.

With large purchases of iron ore, copper and oil, China has been taking full advantage of depressed commodities prices and excess production capacity. Now, the Red Dragon is making its presence felt in the natural gas market – landing two blockbuster deals in the past two weeks.

Beijing continued a delicate balancing act yesterday (Wednesday), vowing to keep stoking its economy with funding from its $787 billion stimulus program even as it implements new controls on bank lending.

It’s become widely accepted when talking about emerging economies to focus on the so-called BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China. But there is a very important region that gets lost in that discussion.