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 Brazil's state-controlled oil multinational Petrobras has overcome Microsoft to become the third largest company by market value in the Americas, according to a report by Economática, a consultancy company, which has just listed the region's 50 most valuable concerns.
As of Friday, May 16, Petrobras stocks were estimated at US$ 287.17 billion while Microsoft shares were valued at US$ 279.3 billion. Exxon Mobil comes first in the ranking with a US$ 489.64 billion value followed by General Electric worth US$ 320.25 billion.
Another Brazilian firm, the mining company Vale, also got a place among the ten biggest coming in 9th place and estimated to be worth US$ 196.49 billion. Another Brazilian firm in the 50-biggest list is Banco Bradesco, which appears in 43th place with a value of US$ 67.2 billion.
On Friday, Petrobras' preferential share was being sold at 48.15 Brazilian reais, (US$ 29.21) while the ordinary one was worth 57.90 reais (US$ 35.13), compared to Microsoft's US$ 29.99 per share.
In the last 12 months, Petrobras shares went up 110%, while the Microsoft stocks suffered a 3.5% devaluation. Petrobras's increased value followed the announcement of a series of oil field discoveries.
On November 7, right before Petrobras announced that its Tupi oil field had reserves estimated in 5 to 8 billion barrels, the oil company's shares were selling for 34.90 reais (US$ 21.17). They have gone up 38% since then. Petrobras stocks grew 68% in the last 12 months.
The only Latin American company to appear in the Economática list besides the Brazilian ones is Mexican firm America Móvil, which shows up in 29th position with a US$ 99 billion value.
According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Petrobras passed Microsoft Corp. and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. becoming the world's sixth-largest company by market value.
Americas' 10 most valued companies:
1st - Exxon Mobil - US$ 489.640 billion
2nd - General Electric - US$ 320.253 billion
3rd - Petrobras, US$ 287.171 billion
4th - Microsoft - US$ 279.306 billion
5th - AT&T Telecommunications - US$ 238.056 billion
6th - Wal Mart Stores - US$ 225.562 billion
7th - Chevron Texaco - US$ 207.625 billion
8th - Procter & Gamble - US$ 203.787 billion
9th - Vale - US$ 196.495 billion
10th - Berkshire Hathaway - US$ 189.580 billion
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The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
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On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
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Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose. 
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Indeed our President has been a great leader in bringing about a quiet revolution in several areas like free software,alternative fuel, zero hunger, etc; Never before the history of our Republic have so many changes taken in such a short span of time.It is all very good.
After reading this article, I am of the opinion that Petrobras should buy Microsoft as well as Yahoo. Our President can easily negotiate the deal. Can you imagine a merged company that consists of Petrobras-Microsoft-Yahoo?