Highlighted is Cosan Limited (CZZ).This weekend Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva was in Washington D.C. meeting with President Barack Obama. Among many different issues, they talked about biofuels and the use of ethanol. There were some tensions concerning the ethanol trade, as the U.S. continues to subsidize local production and block Brazilian exports. President Obama said "It's not going to change overnight, but I do think that as we continue bold exchanges of ideas, commerce (and) trade around the issue of biodiesel that, over time, this source of tension can get resolved."As we have been saying, it is hard to expect that ethanol barriers would be lifted overnight. Even if they were, there would be not enough production in Brazil to supply the North American demand. Nevertheless, we continue to believe in a negotiated agreement in the following years, including investments to ...

Highlights include Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP), Vale (RIO), Cosan Limited (CZZ) and Gerdau SA (GGB).China Continues to Pursue Long-Term Investments in CommoditiesYesterday, leading Japanese business newspaper Nikkei informed that China is considering a plan to use part of its US$2 trillion reserves to buy oil reserves and diversify its international investments, reducing the exposure to U.S. bonds. Currently 2/3 of the Chinese reserves are denominated in U.S. dollars.If this plan is approved, we foresee two direct consequences: (i) Oil prices should recover, leading the way to other commodity price increases, and (ii) the U.S. dollar should fall against international currencies like the Yen and the Euro, a development that would also be positive for commodities prices in general, since they are all negotiated in U.S. dollars -- thus a lower dollar would ...

We are changing our recommendation on Cosan Limited (CZZ) from Hold to Buy. The devaluation of the Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar has helped the company in posting better operating results in the 2nd quarter.Moreover, better sugar and ethanol prices are very encouraging. The decrease in supply by India, the 2nd largest producer of sugar, will certainly boost Brazil's sugar exports to the Middle East, where it has faced strong competition.Cosan is also benefiting from the increasing demand of ethanol worldwide. We believe some kind of deal to boost exports of ethanol to the U.S. is more likely during the Obama administration.All told, we are upgrading our recommendation on Cosan from Hold to Buy with a target price of $4.50, which is based on price/sales 0.5x 2009 sales. This incorporates expected output growth of around 15% in the following years....

We are upgrading our recommendation on Cosan Limited (CZZ) from Sell to Hold based on the fact that India, the world's 2nd-largest producer of sugar, is cutting down its supply to increase the prices of sugar in the market and the recent devaluation of the Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar.Cosan is also benefiting from the increasing demand of ethanol worldwide; however, this environment will be negatively impacted by the economic crisis in the U.S. Cosan is well positioned to lead the industry consolidation in Brazil. The company posted weak first-quarter 2009 results. The short-term outlook remains uncertain due to the difficult international economic environment, particularly the recent credit crisis in U.S.Read the full analyst report on CZZ "CZZ" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research