I’ve been writing about Central and Eastern Europe a little bit recently for Taipan Insider, and I decided to take a trip down memory lane.

As you know, on my trips, I take a lot of pictures. Sometimes it’s hard to share them all with you, so we’ve created a Flickr account to post them all… Well, most of them, anyway. I’ve still got some photos from my trip to Vietnam and Singapore, and from Spain and Morocco to post, but you can find my Eastern Europe trip and my South America trip already posted.

I’ll also be taking the video camera and digital camera to South Africa, which is my next trip early next month. Like trip South America trip I’ll be compiling an in-depth investment video for you, but don’t forget to check out any photos on the Flickr site.

And feel free to send along any comments or questions! Use the form on the blog, or email me at insider@taipanpublishinggroup.com.

I had lunch with the Taipan Publishing Group’s executive publisher, Sandy Franks, today. I collaborate with Sandy on my Taipan Insider articles that come out every Tuesday and Thursday.

We talked about my next trip… I’d been considering Australia, and contributing editor Archie Bayvel has offered to help me put together some great contacts, but he said I’d have to be nuts to come visit during “The Wet.” So I’ve pushed that trip back.

In the meantime, South Africa is on my radar.

In the past few days, I’ve seen a number of negative articles about Africa:

• Botswana Diamond Firm Shuts Mines
• South Africa Sees Economy Shrink
• Zambian Miners Hit by Copper Slump
• Wilting Flower Ecports Hit Zambia
• Economic Ill Winds Hitting Africa

So my goal will be to find out how South Africa, the economic hub and biggest market south of the Sahara, is fairing. South Africa is supposed to be hosting the World Cup in 2010. That means a lot of hotel construction and infrastructure investments. I have to say, there’s been a lot of discussion about whether or not the country will be ready in time, but tickets have already gone on sale, and there’s no turning back.

Continue Reading »

About a month ago, I told you all here that Rio Tinto (RTP:NYSE) was in dire straits… But that was only half the story. The rest I told to the exclusive membership of Taipan Insider. Now, as the mining industry continues to make the news, particularly with China Investment Corp,’s (CIC) announcement that it will focus on natural resource investments - rather than make more investments in the failing sectors of finance and real estate - I want to share the rest with you, because it will lead us up to the current situation.

So here’s your exclusive peek at Taipan Insider…

BHP Billiton (BHP:NYSE) is a leading miner in nearly every metal and mineral in the world, with global operations stretching from Mozambique to Peru… Just look at these statistics:

• 3rd largest copper producer
• 6th largest aluminum producer
• 3rd largest nickel producer
• 4th largest gold producer
• 2nd largest uranium producer
• 2nd largest zinc producer
• 4th largest coal producer

That’s a pretty stacked resume…

Continue Reading »

The first sentence of a Reuters article on Brazil’s Carinval is certainly… attention catching:

The 10 million extra government-provided condoms are poised, final touches being put on huge floats depicting Queen Cleopatra and Can-can dancers, and the Barack Obama masks are flying off the shelves.

Would have liked to have known the name of the company making those condoms, eh? That extra 10 million is on top of the 45 million already provided at Carnival.

But even “bigger” news to investors like yourselves is the fact that one float’s dancers were wearing costumes costing $13,000… A PIECE! And this in a massive global financial crisis that has caused even some of the mining towns in surrounding Brazilian states to cancel their parades.

By all estimates, though, folks are spending less money this year, and Brazil expects about a 10% drop in foreign tourists to Carnival.

You wouldn’t know it by the looks of Rio, though. I like to have fun, as you’ve read in these pages before (underground pubs in Slovakia, or crazy futbol matches in Argentina), but some of the videos from this year’s Carnival seem… whew… a bit excessive even for my tastes!

Currently Brazil is a little out of favor with investment analysts. Last week, I told Taipan Insider readers that Citigroup thinks Brazil’s market is in for a slide, and that investors shouldn’t buy in until the Bovespa hits 35,000.

I also told them that I didn’t necessarily agree with Citigroup.

Here’s the thing, though, that everybody does seems to agree on: Countries with strong commodity and cash reserves are going to be great markets on the far side of this financial crisis. The problem is, nobody can time when this crisis will end, or which companies will be around to reap the rewards.

For Brazil, there are a lot of choices, like Companhia Vale (RIO:NYSE), which was just downgraded today despite expanding its iron ore customer base in China…

That means RIO has secured more long-term supply contracts, and that’s a sign of longevity. Clearly something that investors should be looking at if they want to buy shares for the long run in this market.

If you are a member of any of Taipan Publishing Group’s publications, you can read my full article online.