Chalco (NYSE:ACH), which is by far the largest domestic producer of finished aluminum, holds a national monopoly on alumina. It runs a national network of 34 subsidiary operations and has a 26.6% stake in Yunnan Copper, the second largest copper producer in China.

Abroad, Chalco has been very active on the acquisition front. In 2007 it acquired development rights in the Aurukun project in Australia, which will be coming online in 2011, and which is slated to provide 6.4 mtpa of bauxite and 2.1 mtpa of refined alumina. 2008 saw it acquiring the Peru Copper Company for a snip at $860 million and along with it

As we saw in last weeks eye bullish approach regarding Nigerian oil, China is looking a little further afield and it's all seeing eye has settled upon Africa. In what is quickly becoming a replay of the late Victorian era "Scramble for Africa", the latest country to be courted is the Republic of Guinea as China seeks to gain access to the West African nation's large mineral deposits. Instead of glass beads, whiskey and cowrie shells, Chinese negotiators are offering eye watering amounts of money to be invested in infrastructure projects.

The impoverished nation possesses more than 25 billion tonnes of bauxite ore, with more than 150 mineable deposits having been prospected to date. Additionally, Guinea's mineral wealth includes more than 4 billion tonnes of

Revenues for the period were $1.15Bn, down 5.1% on the same period in 2008 but a solid 2.9% increase on the first quarter. Infosys now anticipates revenues for this fiscal year to be $4.6 billion to $4.62 billion, a much more optimistic forecast than made in July.

Earlier this year, Infoysys had stated that it would look to retrench in its domestic market and Asia, as business conditions in Europe & the US continued to deteriorate. So the upbeat quarter & CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan's bullishness have come as quite a surprise.

In the second quarter, the overall business climate has improved. Clients are now looking to invest in a few strategic initiatives and relationships to maximize value

iShares MSCI Brazil Index: EWZ

Moody's sovereign ratings team put Brazil's government debt rating on review for a possible upgrade in July. In late August, the country's finance minister Guido Mantega said that the announcement that Moody's would join Fitch and S&P in giving Brazil an investment grade should come in September.

The finance sector in particular is set to benefit from any upgrade, as they have suffered from the country ceiling on foreign currency debt & deposit ratings. As soon as the country rating is adjusted, the major banks will automatically climb the ratings ladder.

Timing is crucial here, as Banco do Brasil and the local affiliate

In August Millicom offloaded its Cambodian operations to local partner The Royal Group in a cash deal that saw Millicom receiving $346m in return for its 58.4% holdings in CamGSM, a premium that valued the operator at 7 x times 2009 EBITDA. The deal is expected to close before the end of 2009. This followed the company's statement in July that it wanted to exit the Asian market.

With CamGSM gone, Millicom continues to hold interest in Sri Lanka & Laos. Tigo Sri Lanka, a 100% owned entity, is now