Is Brazil the New Oil King?

With Exxon Mobil Corp.’s (XOM) new oil discovery off the coast of Brazil – the latest in a series of such offshore finds and potentially the largest Western Hemisphere discovery in three decades – the South American nation has taken another giant step in its quest to become a global energy superpower.

Exxon’s Azulao-1 well tapped a reservoir that reportedly contains as much as 8 billion barrels of recoverable oil, says Luiz Lemos, a partner at TozziniFreire Advogados, a Brazilian law firm that represents foreign energy companies.

“This is very huge,” Lemos told Bloomberg News.

So is the potential benefit for Brazil. If…

Four Brazilian Firms Poised to Profit from Two Powerful Spending Trends

Brazil is no longer just a tourist hot spot, but a solid profit play for savvy investors, too. And one of the best ways to profit from Brazil’s expected 4.8% growth in gross domestic product this year is to invest in one of the Latin American nation’s infrastructure-focused firms.

Business has been good in Brazil, with the government and consumers alike enjoying the benefits. That means everyone has money to spend for improvements, whether it’s for the nation’s infrastructure or personal lifestyles.

Brazil’s government is planning huge investments to improve Brazil’s highways and byways. At the same time, a growing…

Special Report: Six Ways to Profit From the One-Two Punch of Soaring Oil Prices and Zooming Inflation

Oil prices have resumed their northward climb. And inflation has returned to the American lexicon for the first time in decades.

For U.S. consumers, there’s no way to dodge the financial fallout of that economic one-two punch.

But for U.S investors willing to make some shrewd moves now, Money Morning can show you six ways to offset that high-priced pain with some profit plays that will continue to rise in value as oil prices and inflationary pressures continue to escalate.

Let’s first understand the battlefield we’re going to use for our profit-generating counterattack.

Escalating Energy and a Diving Dollar

Crude oil for July delivery traded as…

Is Brazil “Investment Grade” for Investor’s Money, Too?

Brazil is a lot like a person who gets a new job, pays off some of his debts, and has his credit score upgraded.

In pretty short order, all the charge-card companies boost his credit limits, cut the interest rates he’s paying on his outstanding balances, offer him new credit lines – and even make him eligible for various “rewards” programs that give him all sorts of freebies for spending money.

Brazil finds itself in that situation because uber-debt-rater Standard & Poor’s just boosted the country’s credit rating to “investment grade” in recent weeks, moving its rating from BB+ to BBB-. Why…