GM to Sell Opel to Magna; U.S. Foreclosures Improve in August; Bank of England Holds Rates Steady; Emerging Market Stocks at Expensive Levels; U.K. Housing Prices Rise 0.8% in August; Turkey GDP Down 7% in 2Q; Suntory in Talks to Buy Drinkmaker Orangina.

Kraft Foods Inc.’s (NYSE: KFT) $16.7 billion unsolicited takeover attempt of Cadbury PLC (NYSE ADR: CBY) is the latest sign of consolidation in the highly competitive food industry, and will likely lead to two things: A bidding war for Cadbury and further consolidation in the sector.

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.

Francisco Madero was a revolutionary Mexican leader in the fight for property rights in the early part of the 20th century. Madero, a longtime politician, upset the very powerful seven-time Mexican President Porfirio Diaz by running against him in the 1910 election.

The price of water is starting to rise in a big way, at least in China. I’ve expected this for a few years.