Regulators around the world are tightening the noose around the scapegoat de jour, short sellers, with Hong Kong now ready to kick out the chair from under them. The Standard reported today that Hong Kong is ready to impose the ban, which could take effect immediately.

The turmoil in US stock markets is making all the headlines. But BRIC nations are facing a much deeper crisis in their stock markets. Despite recent setbacks, however, Andrew Gordon reckons Brazil is the most likely of the pack to weather the current financial storm.

Emerging markets expert Irwin Greenstein says there are nine major potash players worth a look. Depending on the outcome of the Communist Party of China's Beijing meeting next month, Potash could become one of the best indirect China plays out there.

For many emerging market investors, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) serves is a barometer for economic activity, says Irwin Greenstein. By watching the FDI, investors can gauge the interest of foreign money in a growing economy. FDI statistics can also reveal where the money is going - pointing to opportunities that may be overlooked in the markets.

The news that Washington is fast becoming the world’s biggest slumlord through the buyout of distressed mortgages helped send international markets skyward. The biggest gains were in Russian stocks. And this could be the situation for quite some time, says emerging markets expert Irwin Greenstein, writing for Contrarian Profits.

Chris Mayer says power-grid builder ABB (NYSE:ABB) and road-building equipment maker Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) are stocks to watch…

Andrew Snyder recommends three stocks that have been dramatically oversold in the crash. They are Vimpel-Communications (NYSE:VIP), Rostelecom (NYSE:ROS) and Mechel OAO (NYSE:MTL).

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.