Other than lithium – "the next oil," which will skyrocket with pure electric car production starting next year – BHP has leading positions in key low-cost mineral deposits around the world.

The company's highly disciplined management has afforded it consistent profitability and a very strong balance sheet.  That has allowed BHP to take advantage of the economic downturn by cherry-picking mining properties around the world. 

In June, for example, BHP reached a $116 billion deal with Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE ADR: RTP) that will allow the two mining giants to merge their Western Australia iron-ore operations.  Also, they are in a friendly $200 million takeover of United Minerals, which has deposits adjacent to a large BHP mine. 

Deals like these create strong long-term value for shareholders and deliver results. And, in BHP's case, they also help the company to fulfill it's long-term mandate of capitalizing on booming demand in the emerging markets, which account for 15% of the global economy and which are growing much faster than the rest of the world.

China, in particular, needs to grow its economy at 8% in order to employ the 18 million people that join its labor force each year.  And with international reserves of  $2.3 trillion and no debt, Beijing can dial up its own growth number. 

China's vast international reserves and solid balance sheet gives it what I love to see when analyzing countries: varying degrees of freedom.  That is, China has many economic and policy options to control its own destiny, instead of being dependent, as Warren Buffet likes to say, "on the kindness of strangers."

And these policies have been so effective that China is already starting to consider reining in some of the stimuli that the central government deployed just after the crisis began.

But do not be alarmed.