The BRIC nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China -- basically the powerhouses of the developing world, recently met to discuss, among other things, the possibility of forming an effort to move away from the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

Among options for consideration: a) a shift to another hard currency, b) a shift to a basket of currencies, and c) the possibility of the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights unit of account serving as the new reserve currency.

There is a disturbing trend that is taking shape across the international financial markets. It involves primarily Russia, Brazil and China. Just what are these countries up to? They may be tipping the balance of international finance into uncharted waters.

Specifically, they are buying smaller quantities of U.S. treasuries and using their excess reserves to buy other non-dollar denominated assets. For example, in April total net purchases of long-term equities, notes and bonds rose a net $11.2 billion compared with a gain of $55.4 billion in March. International holdings increased $41.9 billion in April, compared with $55.3 billion in March.

U.S. stock futures advanced Tuesday morning following Monday's sharp sell-off that had stocks return to negative territory for the year as commodity prices fell. The question, ahead of the barrage of data investors await to be released this morning, whether this is the beginning of a new down cycle as some subscribe to the second dip recession school of thought, or a one-day profit-taking, healthy correction.

A slew of economic indicators might help investors get a better idea of where the economy is headed and direct markets more clearly:

• At 8:30 AM, May housing starts and building permits are due out, both expected to be higher than April's rates
• At the same time, inflation at the wholesale level, or PPI is expected to have risen 0.6% in May, according to Briefing.com, compared to an increase of 0.3% in April. Core CPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy prices, is expected to edge up 0.1%, same as in April. Inflation has been in focus lately as some fear it could spike.
• Finally, at 9:15 AM, two manufacturing indicators are due out: May industrial production and capacity utilization.

"The steel stocks tend to go through boom and bust cycles depending on global economic activity; they have been pummeled over the last year, as the global economy slowed," notes turnaround expert George Putnam.

In his The Turnaround Letter, he explains, "But the news about steel is not all bad." Indeed, he believes some steel companies are poised for a turnaround. Here's his review of 6 leading steel production companies.

"Weakness in two big steel consuming industries, autos and construction, has been particularly troublesome for the steelmakers.

"However, there is evidence that steel inventories are gradually being worked off to low levels. There are also signs that economic activity in China, which is a huge consumer of steel, will not fall off as far as some economists initially feared.

If you're 401(k) statement has got you down, just be glad you're not one of the 100 richest people in Russia.

According to Forbes, the net worth of Russia's wealthiest elite fell an astounding 73% in 2008. Not a single business leader in the Golden Hundred increased his fortune in the past year," according to Forbes. The story hasn't appeared on Forbes.com yet, but Blomberg reports that "Deripaska, the first of the billionaires to cede secured assets to banks, dropped to 10th from first place after losing an estimated $25 billion in the past year. Forbes put his fortune at $3.5 billion now."

There's trouble in the oil patch for OPEC. Over the past year, OPEC has cut production at least three times to bring oil production down and keep prices from falling below $40 per barrel. In fact, OPEC wants to bring the price of oil back up to $70-$75 per barrel. The big question is whether it is working.

Well, part of the plan is successful. U.S. imports from OPEC fell 818,000 barrels per day or 14% to 5.02 million barrels per day in January from a year earlier. But if you remember the old adage, "While the cat is away, the mice will play," OPEC's plan is not holding up too well. When OPEC cut production, Russia and Brazil jumped in and did the opposite, namely increase exports to the US.

International expert Yiannis Mostrous has long been a fan of global telecom stocks as ways US investors to access emerging markets. In his The Silk Road Investor, he looks at favorite plays on Russia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

"Philippine Long Distance Telephone (NYSE: PHI) reported solid 2008 results, with revenue rising 7% from 2007 levels to USD800 million. Profits were up 13% to US $200 million.

While in the United States our presses are running full throttle printing money, in Russia just the opposite is happening. In a herculean effort to defend the ruble, which has fallen 35% since autumn, Russia raised its one-day repurchase rate to 10% from 9%. The central bank has already engineered six such increases last year.

Russia has spent over $200 billion in recent months supporting its currency at a level of 41 rubles against a basket of 55% dollars and 45% euros. So far this week, the ruble has held steady at these levels. In addition, the central bank has lent rubles short-term for the equivalent sum of $13 billion, thus sharply reducing the supply of rubles.

The world's emerging markets are falling with amazing speed. This has caught everyone off guard. Let's look at some statistics that show the severity of this plunge:

• Taiwan's exports plunged 44% from the same month last year.
• Brazil's industrial production plunged 12.4% in December from the previous month.
• The Russian ruble and the Hungarian forint have dropped about 14% against the dollar.
• The South Korean currency, the won, has shed 8% of its value against the dollar and South Korea's industrial output dropped to its lowest level on record.
• The Mexican peso is at an all time low against the dollar.
• South Korea's exports fell more that 30% in January.

The manager of the world's largest bond fund, PIMCO, has laid-out in unambiguous terms the problem facing the global economy in the quarters ahead: The U.S. and global recession will worsen -- with a "second wave" of turmoil -- unless governments increase fiscal stimulus and spending plans.

"The economic setback is still in its early stages," Koyo Ozeki, head of Asia-Pacific credit research at Pimco's Tokyo office, wrote in a report published on PIMCO's web site. "Any further decline in housing prices could accelerate the downturn, intensifying the pernicious feedback loop and possibly leading to a second wave in the financial crisis in the next six to 12 months."

It's as if every major economy in the world's emerging markets structured its economy to take advantage of U.S. consumption, and only U.S. consumption.

Of course, we know this isn't the case. Asia-to-Europe and Latin America-to-Asia trade, etc. expanded during the past decade, but then why is it that the end of the housing boom in the United States, and its accompanying slowdown in consumer spending, slowed demand seemingly everywhere -- in China, Brazil, Russia and in Europe?

Similarly, how is it that a banking crisis primarily rooted in the United States was able to propel a global financial crisis, in a multi-polar financial world? Economists and others speak of the great financial centers of the world -- London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Tokyo -- in addition to New York. How is it, then, that when New York has a problem -- admittedly its biggest financial crisis in generations -- the global financial system nearly freezes up, as we saw in the credit markets last fall? What ever happened to decoupling?

Fitch's rating service has cut Russia's local and foreign currency rating to BBB --two ratings above junk. The ruble held steady in trading but is trading near the lower level set by the central bank.

Russia is facing the worst economic crisis in a decade. Thousands of people are being laid off and there is fear of social unrest. Fitch said it was concerned by Russia's weakening sovereign balance which plunged to $210 billion from $386.5 billion just 6 months ago.

First deputy minister Shuvalov said that the country is facing drastic budget cuts but he emphasized the need to support the banks. Shuvalov also said that the state would suspend the release of $50 billion to help firms repay foreign debts.

The government will still support the military complex, the gas monopoly, railway monopoly and power firms.

What is your comment on Russia's BBB rating?

Which country's currency is the tenge? You guessed right, it's Kazakhstan.

Falling oil revenues are hitting Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan allowed its currency, the tenge, to fall by a whopping 20%. The new rate set by the Kazakh central bank is 150 tenges to the U.S. dollar. In one day, the currency tumbled to 149 from the previous day's level of 122-24.

Oil exports account for 60% of Kazakhstan's foreign exchange, and now, with oil prices dropping sharply, so too did the value of the tenge on world markets.

Banks that are speculating in the currency markets are betting against the rubles's future. As a result the ruble has dropped to new lows, indicating that Russia is suffering widely from the worldwide economic downturn.

The Russian Central Bank uses a basket of currencies to determine its currency's value.The basket is made up of 55% dollars and 45% euros.On Tuesday the ruble closed at 36.0562 rubles against the basket. This has caused concern in currency circles so the central bank said it was ending its policy of gradual devaluation and setting the lower ceiling of the currency's fluctuation at 41 rubles. To halt the rubles slide, the central bank stepped in and sold dollars.

An almost incomprehensible destruction of wealth has taken place. Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman of The Blackstone Group said that "40% of the world's wealth was destroyed in the last five quarters". Let me repeat that: "40% of the world's wealth has been destroyed in the last five quarters."

At a meeting in Davos, Switzerland, world leaders met to discuss the condition of the world. Putin of Russia said: "the existing financial system has failed." Growth was based on greed. One partner printed money and consumed wealth while the other manufactured cheap goods and saved money. These comments were swipes at the United States and China.