If seeing is believing, natural resources and infrastructure opportunities abound in Brazil. The above photo was snapped by our global strategist Jack Dzierwa at Satilde;o Paulorsquo;s Guarulhos International Airport as he spent hours trying to board a domestic flight to Rio de Janeiro. Not surprisingly, he didnrsquo;t make the flight. Jack has traveled extensively around the world, and he says hersquo;s never seen anything like the hectic scene at Guarulhos, which just canrsquo;t service the rapidly growing number of Brazilians who can now afford to travel by air. Scenes like this are important for investment managers to experience in order to grasp the significance of whatrsquo;s taking place in emerging countries like Brazil. You just canrsquo;t get the full flavor of the chaos at Guarulhos from an economic data spreadsheet or a research report. Jack traveled to Brazil to collect some insight on the countryrsquo;s infrastructure development and the best prospects for investment. His ...

This analysis is from Romeo Dator, co-manager of the China Region Fund (USCOX). A year ago, nobody thought China could manage 8 percent GDP growth in 2009. With year-to-date growth coming in at 7.7 percent through the first three quarters and getting stronger, China is poised to break that 8 percent mark rather easily. The success of the stimulus and the lofty economic numbers China has managed to produce amidst a global crisis has led many to claim China is the next great bubble. We see five reasons China is not a bubble and believe that its prospects remain strong for at least the next 20 years. 1) Consumption Continues to be Strong China is transitioning to a consumption-based workforce. Retail sales rose 16.2 percent in nominal terms during October and have been accelerating. The retail sales figure isnrsquo;t a perfect proxy, but it is the best available indicator of overall consumption because it does ...

With President Obama scheduled to make his first presidential trip to Beijing this weekend, China Region Fund (USCOX) co-manager Romeo Dator appeared on CNBCrsquo;s ldquo;Power Lunchrdquo; today to discuss the U.S.-China relationship. The other guest in the segment was former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, who stressed that the U.S. relationship isnrsquo;t the only one thatrsquo;s important to China. [Obama] wonrsquo;t be able to give them a public lecture. Hersquo;s going to find a more assertive, a more confident China. The only thing playing in our favor this time is that the whole of Asia is up in arms about the dollar. Since the Chinese peg their currency to the dollar, itrsquo;s giving them a benefit versus the rest of Asia. The only real chance we have here is for Asia to convince China (to let the yuan appreciate). Romeo predicted that Asia on the whole will grow in importance for investors. I think ...

Twenty years ago this week, the Berlin Wall fell and in doing so, set off a string of momentous events that in short order saw the reunification of Germany, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and freedoms and democracy spread across a long-oppressed part of the world. Few events in modern history have had such a significant impact on the lives of so many people, but momentum for the wallrsquo;s fall began years earlier. A member of our investment team who grew up in Poland points out the important role played by Polish leader Lech Walesa, the shipyard electrician who led the Solidarity labor movement that drew support from around the world. Solidarityrsquo;s success in creating the first free trade union behind the Iron Curtain weakened the regionrsquo;s Communist governments and won Walesa the Nobel Peace Prize. Walesa, later Polandrsquo;s first post-Communist president, was in Berlin this week to tip over the first ...

This analysis is from Evan Smith and Brian Hicks, co-managers of the Global Resources Fund (PSPFX). Oil prices have bounced more than 150 percent off of December 2008 lows but inventory levels remain at historically high levels despite a healing global economy. However, Goldman Sachs says robust 2010 oil demand growth will deplete these inventories over the next 12-to-18 months and diminishing production rates in key areas around the world will create a supply/demand imbalance. The above chart shows the decline in production from the worldrsquo;s top 230 projects. After peaking in 2009, production from these projects is set to fall for the next several years. Excluding OPEC countries (right chart), the decline rates quadruple from 2007 to 2012 (est). Over that time period, non-OPEC production is expected to fall by 2.5 million barrels per day. Only Brazil, Canada and the former countries of the Soviet Union are expected to see production growth. One of ...

We donrsquo;t often talk about the U.S. Global Investors mutual funds in this blog, but this time itrsquo;s warranted because we believe wersquo;re at the front end of a wider trend. BusinessWeekrsquo;s web site has posted a good story today about how infrastructure investment is being redefined ndash; as the world grows and technology changes, no longer is this sector limited to the traditional plays of construction and engineering companies, utilities and the like. Jack Dzierwa, one of the managers of our Global MegaTrends Fund (MEGAX), was among the fund managers interviewed for this informative story. Jack discussed how the fundrsquo;s management team takes a wide view of what constitutes global infrastructure ndash; privatized airports, alternative energy, water and telecommunications are among the investment possibilities. He also focused on the U.S. Global view that the infrastructure opportunity is especially attractive in emerging markets, given their higher growth rates and their need to build out ...

We donrsquo;t often talk about the U.S. Global Investors mutual funds in this blog, but this time itrsquo;s warranted because we believe wersquo;re at the front end of a wider trend. BusinessWeekrsquo;s web site has posted a good story today about how infrastructure investment is being redefined ndash; as the world grows and technology changes, no longer is this sector limited to the traditional plays of construction and engineering companies, utilities and the like. Jack Dzierwa, one of the managers of our Global MegaTrends Fund (MEGAX), was among the fund managers interviewed for this informative story. Jack discussed how the fundrsquo;s management team takes a wide view of what constitutes global infrastructure ndash; privatized airports, alternative energy, water and telecommunications are among the investment possibilities. He also focused on the U.S. Global view that the infrastructure opportunity is especially attractive in emerging markets, given their higher growth rates and their need to build out ...

Brian Hicks, co-manager of our Global Resources Fund (PSPFX), is in London this week for the London Metal Exchangersquo;s 2009 Metals Seminar, which kicked off the annual LME Week gathering of leading commodities analysts from around the world. Here are Brianrsquo;s notes from the seminar: Danny Quah, professor at the London School of Economics, gave a compelling presentation that centered on China and the global recovery.nbsp; His main theme focused on the global economys shifting center of gravity, which has been steadily moving eastward to China over the past decade.nbsp;nbsp; He also mentioned that China isnt dependent upon U.S. consumption to create growth ndash; that notion is an old paradigm from the 1970s. Exports to the U.S. only make up approximately 15 percent of total exports, versus the 40 percent of total exports going to Southeast Asia.nbsp; Michael Jansen, director of commodities at JP Morgan, is one of a few who see ...

Evan Smith, co-manager of the Global Resources Fund (PSPFX), appeared on Bloomberg News today to discuss his outlook for natural gas with host Mark Crumpton. Evan explained what concerns are giving him pause. The commercial and industrial component of natural gas demand is still trending down roughly 12 percent year-on-year. Thatrsquo;s at a time when wersquo;ve had a pretty big response over the past year in reducing natural gas production. That being said wersquo;re 23 percent above where we were a year ago for storage levels. A lot of gas is in storage but wersquo;re coming up on the end of the storage season. I think very near term wersquo;re going to see some volatility, maybe lower gas prices but if you look past the next several weeks or maybe even month or so, Irsquo;m actually quite constructive on natural gas once we get beyond this weak period and things ...