Investopedia: Can Ternium Regain Its Good Name?

What a difference one deal can make. The management of Ternium (NYSE:TX) had been considered one of the best in the Latin American steel sector, and the company was generally well thought of with its mix of cost integration in Mexico and near-monopoly in Argentina. Recently, though, the company paid a huge premium to take a major position in a Brazilian steel company and analysts have put the company in the penalty box as a result.

Familiar Conditions in Core Markets  
The global slowdown in the steel market has not been helping Ternium sentiment lately. As Mexico's economy is so tied to the U.S., conditions in the U.S. seem to inevitably spill over into Mexico and this has been true for the steel market as well. Argentina, too, has seen some sequential slowing in shipments and pricing - a trend repeated broadly through the world.

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Investopedia: The Vale Between Two Peaks

Whether it's the anticipated end of QE2, ongoing growth in emerging markets, the economic recovery in North America and parts of Europe, or the fact that hundreds of companies are furiously digging new holes around the world, there are a lot of crosscurrents in the commodity space. 


Although commodities have pulled back in early May, it seems early to call an absolute end to the secular rally. With that in mind, maybe Brazil's Vale (Nasdaq:VALE) is still worth a look for value-oriented investors who want some commodity exposure. (For more, see Investing In The Metals Markets.)


A Disappointing Start to the Year
The first quarter is virtually always the weakest for this huge iron ore and nickel producer, but this quarter was even weaker than analysts had in mind. All of that said, "weak" is a relative notion. Revenue was still almost double the year-ago level, while adjusted EBITDA climbed over 3.5 times from last year's first quarter. So although that EBITDA figure was about 10% below the consensus, clearly it is not as though Vale is scraping bottom. 



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Building A Portfolio Around Brazil's Building

The next six years are going to busy ones for Brazil. The World Cup is coming in 2014, with the Olympics following two years after. Suffice to say, like virtually every country that has hosted one of those events (let alone both in succession), Brazil has a great deal of infrastructure to build in the intervening years. Brazil is also a large country with a sizable population and a growing economy; all of which takes money to support in its own right.  


If You Build It, They Will ComeIn order to support the demands of these two major sporting events, Brazil is looking at wide-ranging projects including upgrading roads and power grids, building hotels, improving airports, and generally just adding "more" to country. Even granting that the sporting events will be concentrated in or near major cities, there will need to be infrastructure stretching into the hinterlands to bring in supplies. All told, the bill just for Rio's Olympics is looking like it will be at least $14 billion.  

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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Building-a-Portfolio-Around-Brazils-Building-BRXX-VIV-UGP-ERJ-VALE-ITUB-PBR0721.aspx