In the last few months we have seen a very strong stock market rally. The market has recovered from highly distressed levels and posted exorbitant gains.  In addition the “wall of money” from the U.S. Federal Reserve has pushed risk-prone investors back into the market, pushing its general level up. 

You see, the massive fiscal stimuli and ultra-easy money from the Fed does indeed have real effects on the economy.  Whether you want to call them artificial or real, the stimuli have moved and will continue to move profits, until it is withdrawn.  And the timing of the deployment of the fiscal and monetary stimuli, the timing of its positive effects and the timing of its eventual removal are uncertain.

In addition, we have many short-term uncertainties. The upcoming Group of 20 (G20) meeting has potentially important ramifications for the global financial system and for global currencies. We also will get more

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“First Ounce Bounce” Set to Pay 1,100% Government filing NI 43-101 is mandatory in Canada. It shows the proven reserves of any company intending to mine gold. The latest filing from a small renegade company we’ve just uncovered lists their reserves at an astounding 10.1 million ounces. It’s the biggest gold strike in Canadian history – and one of the biggest in the world. Yet few investors have seen or heard of NI 43-101 yet. Getting in before the “first ounce bounce” – when the first ounce comes out of the ground – is likely to yield an initial return of 1,100%. Go here for the full report.

Brazilians used to joke that their country was the country of the future – and always would be because a new crisis seemed to crop up every time the economy came close to fulfilling its potential.

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Wall Street has been quick to dismiss the whole idea of the emerging markets decoupling from the developed world, especially the United States. Perhaps the whole idea was dismissed too quickly, giving investors an opportunity for profit.

Even if America’s economy remains weak, there are signs that some of the larger emerging economies could see decent economic growth. Exhibit A of this new decoupling is China. Most economists agree that output will grow faster than seemed plausible only a few months ago. Economists now believe that growth could be close to 8% this year.

India’s growth estimates have also been ratcheted higher. This optimism about economic growth has fueled a rally in commodity prices which in turn has brightened the outlook for Brazil and other commodity producing countries. Brazil is under review to have its credit rating upgraded to ‘investment grade’ because of its resilience to the current global financial crisis.

That

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Back on Feb. 17, as the market was on sell-off mode, I recommended buying The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO). The stock is up some 16% from our entry point.  That’s because Coca-Cola recently reported a near-20% jump in profit, which soared to 67 cents a share, excluding restructuring charges.

Coca-Cola beat earnings, increased guidance, increased dividends and reinstated its stock buyback program.  The company plans to repurchase $1 billion in shares of stock in the second half of 2009.  What more do we need?  The answer is: Consistent performance.

As I tracked the developments in Coca Cola and their global markets, I ascertained that my original view remains unchanged and Coca Cola should keep growing profits consistently, which should keep propelling its stock up.

Remember, on March 9, a few of weeks after our Coca Cola recommendation, I called the U.S. market turn by recommending a pro-cyclical energy play with Diamond Offshore

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Upbeat headlines have been everywhere in recent weeks, and they all seem to point to a single conclusion: The U.S. economy is in the early stages of a very rapid recovery.

In fact, when you peruse the news it’s difficult to come to any other conclusion. For instance:

A number of key earnings reports have been much better than expected, and company executives buttressed those profit figures with positive comments about the next 18 months. The trading operations of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) both just reported record profits. U.S. housing prices rose in May for the first time in three years. Initial jobless claims have plunged 15% since their April peak. The Conference Board’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 0.7% in June, its third successive positive reading. And just ...

Many investors rarely think about Brazil as a place to put their investment dollars. They think Brazil is just a country that goes crazy over soccer and has a wild ‘Carnival’ every year in Rio. But Brazil is so much more. They may have the best economy in the Americas.

Brazil has made great strides under current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula. Lula took office on January 1, 2003 and he has, since being in office, run a very orthodox fiscal policy. The country has maintained fiscal and trade surpluses for the better part of his presidency.

Brazil’s highly capable central bank has followed a very strong monetary policy. They have maintained high levels of real interest rates, which prevented the economy from overheating and creating an over-expansion of credit – unlike the policies of others like the Federal Reserve.

In late April, the Brazilian central bank

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There has been a lot of chatter lately—since John Bogle dropped his "investors are getting fleeced in ETFs" bomb two weeks ago—that the average Joe just isn't going to do very well in ETFs because he'll be getting in when he should get out, and vice versa.

Well, let's see how the "average" ETF investor did in the month of June. We don't have numbers on how asset flows changed during the last 30 days yet, although our friends at the National Stock Exchange are sure to get us that soon. But what we do know is the bets investors, as a mass of men and women leading lives of quiet desperation, made at the beginning of the month.

As a refresher, here were the assets of leading ETFs at the end of May (in billions of dollars):

 

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Keep an eye on the Chinese and Brazilian stock markets on Monday.

The two emerging market nations - both members of the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) - will each welcome a major new IPO to their respective stock markets.

The fact that they’re debuting on the same day is purely coincidental, but the story here is that both are very significant not only to their own countries, but could also underpin the emerging market area.

Let’s take a look at these IPOs in the context of the broader emerging market topic… the effect this often volatile but flourishing pack of nations is having on the global economy - and how you can hitch a ride…

Emerging Markets Rebuilding Momentum

In the excellent movie “Wall Street,” Michael Douglas’s slimy Gordon Gekko character famously proclaims, “Greed is good. Greed works.”

Some equally unscrupulous Wall Street characters lived by this mantra. But they became so fat

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Best Economy in the Americas – Brazil

Tony Daltorio, The Investment U Research Team

Wall Street tends to take a very myopic view of the world – the view that the entire financial universe revolves around them and the United States. And that what goes on in other countries is unimportant.

It’s why many Wall Streeters have missed one of the greatest rags-to-riches stories in global economic history – Brazil. Brazil’s economy has gone from a “basket case” to being as solid as a Brick.

Brazil has made huge strides from the very debt-ridden, bureaucratic country of the past. Years ago, the country restructured its finances and has resisted the temptation to use economic crises, such as in neighboring Argentina, as an excuse to default on its obligations.

Yet, many on Wall Street still think of Brazil as a backwards “third-world” country that goes crazy

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On Monday March 9, barely three months ago, I strongly recommended buying Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) as part of Money Morning’s “Buy, Sell, or Hold” feature.  Both the stock and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index had both hit 52-week lows the Friday before.  But oil had already bottomed three weeks prior, and the lax fiscal and monetary policies of governments around the world seemed almost certain to promote reflation.

Additionally, since the earlier oil bottom, Diamond Offshore stock had been outperforming the market.

Diamond not only had compelling fundamentals, it sported an incredibly high dividend yield, particularly if you combined both the regular and the special dividend payouts. That made the stock a compelling buy.

Not only has Diamond Offshore’s stock turned around since that early-March recommendation, the U.S. stock market as a whole turned around.

Making an investment at a market bottom is a rare opportunity. It

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