Bill Bonner says there are still some great investment plays in emerging markets. Yes, inflation is rearing its ugly head in all corners of the globe. Yes, emerging markets are volatile and unpredictable. But capital investment is high, and growth is way above that in the developed world.

You won’t see really exciting market growth anywhere in the developed world right now. There’s not even much to be found in emerging market economies.

But there are still countries with over 6% growth, says Andrew Gordon in Investor’s Daily Edge. Some of them, such as Afghanistan and Angola, aren’t the safest places in the world, however. And they are difficult to invest in directly.

A way around this is to find an American company doing business in these high-growth economies or a foreign company listed on a US stock exchange.

Last week, we reported that the Taipan Emerging Market Index was up a healthy 9.3% for the week. Those gains were wiped out on Friday, says Taipan Emerging Markets blog editor Irwin Greenstein. The only consolation being that major US markets took a beating too.

US stocks haven’t exactly been putting in stellar performances lately. But that’s not the case for emerging market stocks. Taipan Emerging Markets blog editor Irwin Greenstien’s Emerging Market Index is up 9.3%. That’s after 5% gains last week…

Welcome to the latest offshoot of the subprime-mortgage debacle: A burgeoning U.S. pension-fund crisis. Since the global financial crisis struck last fall, the largest 1,500 U.S. public companies have lost a combined $280 billion from their pension funds.

In the energy market Monday, crude for August delivery vacillated through a $4 range between high and low, settling at a nervous $145.18, up 10 cents. August reformulated was essentially unchanged, at $3.558/gallon.

At Contrarian Profits we’re always on the lookout for hidden value opportunities. That’s why the following piece by Taipan Daily’s emerging markets expert Irwin Greenstein has got us really excited.

Irwin says the decision by China Investment Corp (CIC), the country’s $200-billion sovereign wealth fund (SWF) to allocate $250 million in emerging markets means Latin ETFs could receive a big boost.

Irwin says China needs to diversify out the diving dollar and gain greater control of energy reserves – and Latin America serves both purposes best…

Back in the middle 1980s, income investing for U.S. investors was pretty simple. Inflation was around 5% – roughly the same as now – but U.S. government bonds were paying close to 8%, and without going into high-risk debt issues you could find 9% with very little difficulty.

Heavy rains and floods in the Midwest will cut the U.S. soybean harvest by 3 percent and push the farm-gate price to a record $12.75 a bushel, $2.60 more than the 2007 crop, reports Reuters.

This is good news for Brazil.

Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of soybeans. It is also fast becoming the world’s agriculture superpower, says Tom Dyson in DailyWealth. But Brazil’s soy business is heavily reliant on fertilizer – and this opens up a huge profit play…

Crude oil prices fell today as the greenback strengthened on Washington’s support for ailing mortgage firms Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE).

Light sweet curde oil futures on the Nymex fell $1.19 dollars to $143.30 dollars a barrel. The contract is down from $147.27 dollars on Friday.

What if oil drops even further? Say back down to the $100 mark. Justice Litle says smart investors should condsider Asian stocks and Asian ETFs…