While the discoveries may not push oil prices back to $50 a barrel, they could help to keep crude from hitting that predicted $200. One of the oil fields appears to contain eight billion barrels of crude. The other has 33 billion, which would make it the third largest oil deposit in the world.

The Brazilian claim becomes even more spectacular. Petrobras, the country’s big oil company, says the field can product enough oil to “supply every refinery on the U.S. Gulf Coast for 15 years.”

The oil fields are far out in the ocean, so drilling them will be difficult, but certainly not impossible.

It maybe hard to separate fact from fiction in terms of how large the new discoveries actually are, but all expert agree that they are mammoth.

The news should come as some great relief. It may give the West some leverage with OPEC. The Brazilians could certainly undercut the cartel to pick up business. Even at $80 a barrel, the South American country would be making tens of billions of dollars a year.

Now, all that remains is for Brazil to create its own sovereign fund with the money it makes from the oil. Then it can buy some American banks.

Asian market recap- Asia Markets 4/25/2008
Markets in Asia were mixed.

The Nikkei rose 2.4% to 13,863. Sony (SNE) rose 5.3% to 4780. Toyota (TM) rose 3.1% to 5290.

The Hang Seng fell .6% to 25,518. China Netcom (CN) fell 2.3% to 23.10. China Petroleum (SNP) dropped 2% to 5.26.

The Shanghai Composite fell 7% to 3,558.

BIDU had earnings last night.
BIDU reports Q1 EPS 67c vs. consensus of 60c
Reports Q1 revenue $81.9M vs. consensus of $75.39M. Sees Q2 revenue $111M-$114M vs. consensus of $100.6M.
BIDU upgraded to Buy from Hold@SBSH
Citigroup upgraded BIDU following Q1 results and guidance. Target to $415 from $350.

POT: Estimates raised on higher Potash prices@JPMS
JP Morgan expects potash prices to increase to 250/mt in 2008 and $280/mt in 2009. The firm raised POT’s 2008 EPS to $10.50 from $8.95 and 2009 EPS to $18.50 from $11.75. Shares are Overweight rated.

SOHU: Believe SOHU & SINA should discuss a merger@SUSQ
Susquehanna believes SOHU and SINA should discuss a potential merger and prepare for the next three years. The firm said SINA’s and SOHU’s portal model faces a lot of challenges from Web 2.0 sites and vertical players. The firm said a combined entity would be very competitive given SINA’s management’s media background and SOHU’s management’s IT background. The firm expects SOHU to report a strong Q1/Q2 and has raised its price target to $68 from $61. Shares of SOHU are Positive rated.

MSFT had earnings last night that were inline.
MSFT reports Q3 EPS 47c vs. consensus of 44c
Reports Q4 revenue $14.45B. vs consensus $14.5B
MSFT expects Q4 EPS 45c-48c vs. consensus 48c
Expects Q2 revenue $15.5B-$15.8B vs. consensus $15.56B. Expects FY08 EPS and revenue $2.13-$2.19 vs. consensus $1.87 and $66.9B-$68B vs consensus $60.18B, respectively.

AXP: Reports better than expected Q1@BEST
Bear said Q1 results were a pleasant surprise and that the company has not experienced any difficulties funding its business. Shares are Outperform rated.
MA and V are already moving premarket…here is the pre earnings run.

Now upping their use of the Fed’s discount window: Commercial banks-WSJ
A shift appears to be on as investment banks slow the use of a Fed direct lending program, while U.S. commercial banks use it more, according to the Wall Street Journal. Lending to commercial banks as of Wednesday was $13.46B, strongly up from $8.83B for the previous week. The average daily borrowings were the highest since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. On March 16, the Fed began to lend to investment banks from the discount window, which is typically reserved for commercial banks, which are more stringently regulated.

UPL upgraded to Overweight from Market Weight@TWPT
Thomas Weisel upgraded DNR citing higher oil and gas price forecasts. Target to $108 from $89.

GTXI May volatility Elevated at 131 into data
GTXI, Biopharmaceutical Company, is recently up $1.36 to $16.68.