During the Great Depression, a spike in protectionism deepened the global crisis for many countries. Sara Nunnally says greater co-operation between Asian and Latin American states should prevent a similar mistake being made this year. It should also help keep some of these nations out of recession.

China has established itself as an emerging market powerhouse in the last decade. It continues to post double-digit growth rates, even as the US and Europe slip into recession. But Irwin Greenstein says it could be about to hit a Great Wall. Conventional wisdom has it that China is relatively immune from a global slowdown because of its growing domestic market. The problem with this theory is that many Chinese consumers have lost their shirt on the tanking domestic stock market.

Bailout fever is spreading. China is now considering a bailout of exporters. According to China Daily, Chinese exporters are suffering mightily as the global economy weakens. This is a clear indicator that the Chinese economy could be heading for trouble, says Irwin Greenstein, writing for Contrarian Profits.

Although the EU and the US are in recession territory, prospects for growth in Asia remain strong, says Profit Hunter’s Manraaj Singh. This will be vital in sustaining global energy demand. It will also keep coal, the biggest source of energy for electricity production, in a long-term bull market.

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.

That’s right: the long-awaited Mania stage in gold may be nigh. How can I make such a claim? After all, some have been screaming “It’s here! It’s here!” for months or even years. So I propose that instead of simply declaring that Mania time is near, I lay out the facts and see if you come to the same conclusion.

Asian markets look set for a rebound: here’s how you could profit from it.

The price of oil is at near-record highs. And that’s driving the biggest transfer of wealth in human history, says Profit Watch editor Manraaj Singh. Manraaj says that in the next five years oil exporting countries are going to buy-up foreign assets worth three times as much as the entire British economy.

The machinations of the US Federal Reserve are uppermost in the minds of investors — and the media. The Fed is in a jam. On the one side slowing growth and the specter of the credit crisis. Rising inflation on the other.