Vale

Big business in the Americas

What do Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Google all have in common?

Answer: All three companies had lower profits in the third quarter of 2009 than Petrobras and Vale.

Petrobras is Brazil’s massive energy company; you might have heard of it. But unless you live in Brazil or track big companies, you likely have never heard of Vale – the Brazilian mining company.

But both companies quietly are shoveling in huge profits. A representation of sort of Brazil’s quick exit from the global economic meltdown.