Mexico’s central bank provided heart-warming news for consumers.

It sharply lowered its inflation expectations for the economy in the first quarter of 2011 to a manageable 3%-4% range (from 3.75%-4.25%, previously). Moreover, the central bank stated that it expects inflation to decline to the 3% annual inflation target rate by the third quarter of 2011. The rosy inflation outlook came on the back of a 3.78% gain in consumer prices in January 2011, which was narrower than the 4.40% rise in December 2010. The central bank further added the icing on the cake by lifting its growth expectations for the Mexican economy in 2011 to a 3.8%-4.8% range (from 3.2%-4.2%, previously).

With steady inflation and interest rates, a stable currency value and a healthy economic growth rate, Mexico is quite clearly the envy of its peers in the emerging markets in general and Latin America in particular.

Over the last week, the top performers in our newsletter service were:

• Banco Santander Brasil SA (BSBR) +2.8%
• MercadoLibre Inc. (NasdaqNM:MELI) +2.6%
• Industrias Bachoco, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:IBA) +2.5%
• Banco de Chile (NYSE:BCH) +2.5%
• Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA (NYSE:SQM) +2.4%