The Spanish newswire EFE is carrying a small story about how Russia has become the second-largest destination for exports from Uruguay after Brazil. From the Russia side of things, this will likely remain below the radar, but it is worth noting from a South American perspective for a few reasons.

One, following China's ascent to being Brazil's top trade partner, it alters just a little bit more the trade profile for the continent.

Two, with Brazil remaining far and away Uruguay's top destination for exports and Argentina now falling into third place, it brings trade with Russia closer into the Mercosur bloc, which could have additional interesting implications should Venezuela be approved to enter Mercosur.

Finally, it recalls a certain similarly

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America Movil (AMX) reported results for third-quarter 2009 with earnings per ADS of 86 cents edging past the Zacks Consensus Estimates of 85 cents while increasing 22.6% from the year-ago earnings per ADS of 70 cents. Net profit surged 50.6% year over year to 18.7 billion pesos (US$1.4 billion) or 0.57 pesos per share. This healthy growth was fuelled by higher revenue and lower financing costs which fell 82.5% year over year due to gains stemming from favorable exchange rate swings.  Revenue & EBITDA Latin America’s largest wireless carrier continues to register a double-digit revenue growth as evident from the 16.9% year over year increase in consolidated revenue in the quarter to 99.8 billion pesos (US$7.5 billion), driven by 19.5% growth in service revenue. Revenue growth was supported by healthy business momentum across 3G wireless and broadband Internet businesses.  Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter was 40.4 ...

Chile-based LAN Airlines S.A. (LFL) yesterday reported discouraging results for the third quarter 2009. Net income of US$52.1 million was 37.3% lower than  net income of US$83.0 million in the third quarter of 2008. Excluding non-operating extraordinary items recognized in the third quarter 2008, net income decreased 58.3%. Consolidated revenues declined 19.1%, driven mainly by lower yields in both the cargo and passenger businesses. This was partially offset by a 14.3% decline in operating expenses, driven mainly by lower fuel costs. Operating income reached US$92.4 million a 46.1% decrease compared to US$171.3 million in the same quarter of previous year. Operating margin reached 10.1%, compared to 15.1% in the same period of 2008. Third quarter 2009 results continued to be impacted by fuel hedging losses, although to a much lesser extent than in previous quarters. The fuel hedging loss during the quarter amounted to US$14.4 million ...

Today, medical device company INVO Bioscience, Inc. announced the signing of three distribution contracts in South and Latin America. The company, focused on treatment options for patients diagnosed with infertility, is looking to the Daxley Group to distribute INVO Bioscience in Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, Mexico, Brazil, Chili, Argentina and Uruguay. Daxley also distributes for Medicult, Conception Technologies, Biogenics and Rocket Medical, all who offer infertility treatment products in said countries. INVO Bioscience’s patented product, the INVOcell, allows for vaginal incubation of eggs, sperm and early embryo development during the infertility treatment process.

Dr. Claude Ranoux has been invited to attend a meeting of the Association of Columbian Fertility and Sterility on August 22nd. Dr. Ranoux will lecture and hold a training seminar on the INVO procedure for over 17 OB/GYN’s and embryologists from South America. This training will allow them the capability of performing the INVO procedure in their facilities.

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 14, 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: America Movil (AMX), Apple Inc (AAPL), Telefonica (TEF), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX).

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 Monday’s Analyst Blog:

America Movil Battles Movistar

America Movil (AMX), the leading provider of wireless services in Latin America, has announced its plan to launch the highly anticipated iPhone 3GS, an upgraded version of Apple Inc’s (AAPL) iPhone 3G, in six countries across central and south America by

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America Movil (AMX), the leading provider of wireless services in Latin America, has announced its plan to launch the highly anticipated iPhone 3GS, an upgraded version of Apple Inc’s (AAPL) iPhone 3G, in six countries across central and south America by July 31, 2009. The company will initially commercialize the new device in Mexico, Columbia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic, which will be followed by expansion to other markets under its coverage universe. The latest iPhone model offers superior features and functionality compared to the iPhone 3G, including faster processor speed, improved battery life and a better camera. Through its largest subsidiary Telcel, America Movil currently dominates the Mexican wireless market facilitated by its well-known brand, extensive distribution network, nationwide coverage and the country’s benign regulatory environment. The company’s share of the Mexican wireless market was nearly 71% in 2008, with 65% ...

Repsol Subsidiary to Explore Offshore Uruguay

Last week, YPF SA, Spanish oil firm Repsol’s (REP) Argentine unit, together with other South American oil majors, won a bid to explore for oil in offshore blocks near the coast of Uruguay. YPF will have a 40% interest in the exploration consortium, the same as Petrobras Uruguay, a unit of Brazil ’s state-run oil giant Petrobras (PBR). Portugal’s Galp Energia will control the remaining 20% share.

YPF is the operator of ‘Block 3,’ while Petrobras will operate ‘Block 4,’ both located along the coast of Punta del Este. Situated around 150 kilometers off the coast of Uruguay, ‘Block 3’ is at a depth of 100 to 200 meters beneath the ocean surface. Block 4 is at a distance of 300 kilometers from the mainland at depths varying from 200 to 1,500 meters. The companies can conduct studies on the blocks for four years

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Andrei Illarionov: "Interest in Venezuela - this is part of the big strategy"

Grigory Pasko, journalist

President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev recently carried out visits to the countries of Africa. Before this we observed his voyage to the countries of Latin America. What is this intense interest of the Russian president in such faraway countries brought about by? Why not seek friends and partners in business closer to Russia? Medvedev himself said it this way: "...We did not devote that much attention to sufficiently faraway continents, ones such as Africa, Latin America, but now we are simply duty-bound to do this. This is our close-in-spirit neighbors, this is countries that we really have helped and which, on the

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Bernie Madoff and his Finacial Crime.

Let the punishment fit the crime!

Poor Bernie. The man has been ordered to spend 150 years in the hoosegow. What for? Who did he kill? A century-and-a-half seems a little excessive for a financial crime. You could hold up three liquor stores and rape a whole convent and still not get 150 years. With a little good lawyering, a history of child abuse in the family and good behavior in the big house, you’d be back on the street in 18 months.

But all the papers seem delighted. “Locked up for Life!” says one of today’s headlines. The judge “threw the book at him,” says another. His victims wanted him to get no mercy. The judge gave him none, imposing the maximum sentence. He is “extraordinarily evil,” said the man on the bench.

Justice has been done. Right?

Here in the building with the gold balls, we’re not

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For weeks now the liberal world media dutifully has been repeating dire threats against so-called “tax havens” from the big spending, high taxing, anti-tax competition likes of Germany’s Merkel and France’s Sarkosy.

Even President Obama allowed his less than impressive Secretary of the Treasury to make some noise against tax havens.

The orchestrated battle of words hurled at offshore financial centers got so heated that British PM Gordon Brown felt obliged to demand for “the end of tax havens.”

This belated anti-tax haven baloney comes from Her Majesty’s first minister whose government is in charge (and has been for a decade) of the United Kingdom’s many tax havens in its overseas territories (Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, the Turks & Caicos) and its Crown Dependencies (the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man), plus Gibraltar.

Does the Rt. Hon. Gordon believe that the

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