Ford Motor (F) has revealed its plan to invest R$4 billion ($2.26 billion) in order to benefit from government tax incentives and lower interest rates in Brazil that are fueling record sales. Presently, Ford is the fourth-largest automaker in the country. Ford has decided to spend R$2.8 billion at the Camacari plant -- a state-of-the-art plant in the northeastern state of Bahiato -- with the aim of increasing output by 20% to 300,000 vehicles a year. The plant produces the sport utility vehicle EcoSport and the Fiesta subcompact. The investment is expected to generate 1,000 jobs in the region. The remaining R$1.2 billion will be invested at Ford's factories in Sao Paulo including its Sao Bernardo plant and a testing facility in Tatui. So far, car sales in Brazil have been significantly helped by government tax incentives that lowered car prices and lured consumers to showrooms. ...

Yesterday before market opened, Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo - SABESP (SBS), one of the largest water and sewage service providers in the world based on the number of customers, announced encouraging results for the third quarter of 2009.  During the quarter, net operating revenue totaled R$ 1.6 billion, a 2.3% increase compared to the same quarter in 2008. Costs and expenses stood at R$ 1.2 billion, 11.1% higher than the same period in the previous quarter.  EBITDA dropped 11.5% year over year to R$ 617.1 million from R$ 697.4 million in the third quarter of 2008. Earnings before financial expenses (EBIT) decreased 30.2% year over year, from R$ 662.5 million to R$ 462.6 million in the quarter. During the quarter, gross operating revenue grew R$ 31.9 million, or 1.9%, from R$ 1.72 billion in the same period of 2008 to R$ ...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

American Superconductor Corp (AMSC) AstraZeneca Plc (AZN) Balchem Corp (BCPC) Banco de Chile (BCH) RG Barry Corp (DFZ) Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc (BIO) CareFusion Corp (CFN) Chico's FAS Inc (CHS) China Green Agriculture Inc (CGA) Clearwater Paper Corp (CLW) CNinsure Inc (CISG) Conexant Systems Inc (CNXT) Corinthian Colleges Inc (COCO) Fossil Inc (FOSL) Genoptix Inc (GXDX) HSN Inc (HSNI) Information Services Group Inc (III) Keynote ...

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (UGP) reported its third quarter results yesterday after market close. The company reported earnings of R$1.00 per share for the third quarter of 2009, which was 9% up from last year’s earnings of R$0.91 per share. Quarterly revenue increased 25% to R$9.7 million from R$7.7 million in the third quarter of 2008. The company’s EBITDA was up 39% year-over-year at R$371 million. The double digit growth in sales and EBITDA were primarily a result of the consolidation of Texaco revenues from second quarter 2009. Also, the company said that it witnessed a gradual recovery in both the retail and the manufacturing sectors, particularly in segments linked to the domestic demand. Moreover, Ultrapar benefited from the continued IPI tax breaks on vehicles sales and increased credit availability in the region. Ultragaz's net sales in the quarter were R$929 million in 3Q09, up 1.3% ...

Sabesp (SBS) is seeing revenue growth as it expands its infrastructure. The stock is cheap. SBS is trading at just 6.8x forward earnings.

Company Description

Sabesp supplies water services and sewage collection services to 60% of the State of Sao Paulo in Brazil. It services 366 out of 645 cities.

Since 2007, Sabesp has been expanding into new services related to environmental sanitation and energy.

From 2009 to 2013, the company expects to spend R$ 8.6 billion to expand infrastructure to cover the entire population of cities it currently services. By 2013 it expects to be treating 100% of water in cities it services.

Zacks Consensus Estimates Rise

Sabesp is scheduled to report third quarter results on Nov 18. Analysts have been bullish about the third quarter and 2009.

The third quarter Zacks Consensus Estimate is up 22 cents to $1.73 in the last 30 days.

The

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Spain’s incumbent telecom carrier Telefonica SA (TEF) has reportedly made an all-cash bid to acquire Brazilian telecom operator GVT Holding SA in an effort to expand its presence in the lucrative Brazilian telecom market. The Spanish operator’s Brazilian fixed-line subsidiary Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo (Telesp) has offered BRL48 (US$27.2) per share of GVT to acquire atleast 51% of the company, equating to a total investment of €2.55 billion (US$3.75 billion). This offer, which is subject to regulatory and shareholders approvals, has outbid the BRL42 (US$23.8) per share offer made by France-based media company Vivendi SA in September 2009. Telefonica targets to eventually acquire 100% stake in GVT. Large telecom carriers across the US and Europe are increasingly focused on expanding their foothold in under-penetrated markets given the limited growth prospects in their matured domestic markets. With its vast population and relatively low wireless and broadband penetration, ...

Banco Santander, S.A. (STD) has raised $8.1 billion (14.1 billion Brazilian reals) in a record initial public offering (IPO) of its Brazilian operations as the bank seeks growth away from the ailing Spanish economy. The Brazilian arm sold 600 million shares for 23.50 reals ($13.43) per share, to the public through a concurrent offering in Brazil and New York. The price was in the middle of the expected range of 22 reals to 25 reals. Santander had initially filed to sell 525 million units, with each representing 55 common shares and 50 preferred shares, but the offering was increased by 75 million units to meet demand from investors. In the U.S., the new stock will trade on the Big Board under the ticker symbol "BSBR." Trading of the units will begin on the New York and Sao Paulo stock exchange begins today. The IPO ...

ArvinMeritor (ARM) completed the anticipated sale of its Wheels business, based in Limeira, Brazil and San Luis Potosi, Mexico, to Iochpe-Maxion SA for $180 million.

In the third quarter of fiscal 2009, ended Jun 30, the company entered a purchase and sale agreement to divest the business to Iochpe-Maxion – a Sao Paulo, Brazil-based manufacturer of wheels and frames for commercial vehicles, railway freight cars and castings.

ArvinMeritor intends to use the net proceeds of $169 million from the sale to reduce outstanding balances on its revolving credit facility in advance of its fiscal fourth-quarter end. The company reiterated that it expects to remain in compliance with its financial covenant in the fourth quarter.

As of the fiscal third quarter, ArvinMeritor has a $700 million revolving credit facility, which matures in June 2011. The company's usage of the revolving credit facility under its senior secured credit facility increased significantly throughout the

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Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (ITUB) and Porto Seguro have entered into an alliance aimed at the unification of residence and automobile insurance operations.   Itau Unibanco will transfer its residential and car insurance portfolio to a new company to be named Itau Unibanco Seguros de Automovel e Residencial SA. The new company will have equity of $520 million. Its business portfolio will hold 3.4 million cars and 1.2 million insured homes.   Earlier, Porto Seguro was in talk for merger with Banco Bradesco. However the talks failed due to disagreement over the control of the merged company.   Terms of the agreement

The new company Itau Unibanco Seguros de Automovel e Residencial SA will be transferred to Porto Seguro, which in turn will issue shares equal to 30% of its new capital to Itau Unibanco. A holding company named Porto Seguro Itau Unibanco Participacoes will be formed, which shall

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 26, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Equity Residential (EQR), Apartment Investors (AIV), Fannie (FNM), Freddie (FRE) and ArvinMeritor Inc. (ARM).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

House Prices Actually RISING

Most of the adjustment in home prices is behind us, but I am not totally sure we are out of the woods. With the soft economy and rising unemployment, median incomes are not going up and are probably falling.

Major apartment REITs like Equity Residential (

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