Global investors need to “hit the BRICs” – literally. Back in 2003, the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), eager to push its clients towards global investing – especially in the emerging markets – invented the acronym “BRIC” (Brazil, Russia, India and China) to represent the four emerging markets it believed were destined to become dominant economies in the years to come.

US stocks haven’t exactly been putting in stellar performances lately. But that’s not the case for emerging market stocks. Taipan Emerging Markets blog editor Irwin Greenstien’s Emerging Market Index is up 9.3%. That’s after 5% gains last week…

“Two-hundred dollar oil would break the back of the global economy,” Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank AG (DB), told Bloomberg News in an interview yesterday (Wednesday) in Tokyo. “Next step after $200 would be global recession and bad news for everybody.”

So is Vietnam still a good buy, or is it a busted flush? Bill Bonner is not so sure. However, Profit Hunter editor Manraaj Singh still thinks this emerging market is a buy…

The Russian economy grew 8.5% in Q1, as the commodities boom continued to spur growth. Russia is the world’s top natural gas exporter and number two oil exporter.