Business Nation - October 2007

"THE TRI-BORDER"

The area in South America where Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina meet -- known as the Tri-Border region – is home to what may be the world's largest illicit economy, rife with smuggling, money laundering, and product counterfeiting.  The Tri-Border has become a distribution point for illegal knockoffs of major American brands like Motorola and Mattel’s Barbie, making the region a major concern to American companies. 

As CNBC's Trish Regan reports, there's also growing evidence that some of the money made from these illegal operations is being funneled to the Middle Eastern terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

"THE WOLF OF WALL STREET"

Jordan Belfort was the multi-millionaire head of a New York brokerage house.  With gated mansions, a helicopter and a yacht, Belfort symbolized Wall Street success – and excess.  It turns out his fortune was built on an illegal empire fueled by brazen boiler room tactics and pump-and-dump schemes, which eventually landed him in federal prison.  Today, he's a paroled felon trying to turn his life around. 

If it sounds like it was made for Hollywood, it is:  Belfort’s story has been optioned by a movie studio, but he tells it first to CNBC's Jane Wells and Business Nation.

"SUPERMODEL"

Business Nation takes to the countryside outside Bologna to tell the story of one of the world's most iconic and exotic brands: Lamborghini.  For 44 years, the Italian road rocket, with its seductive blend of grace and muscle, has epitomized the height of unattainable luxury as an exclusive toy of the super-rich. Now, under parent company Audi, Lamborghini is undergoing a transformation.  Despite sticker prices that can top a million dollars, the company is expanding beyond its rarefied niche, increasing production tenfold, and marketing its Italian supermodels as vehicles fit not just for the racetrack, but the morning commute. 


CNBC's Phil LeBeau visits the factory floor where each car is custom made, and hits with road with the company's new CEO, who is pinning his hopes on Lamborghini's biggest market:  the U.S.

"HOW I MADE MY MILLIONS"

A philosophy major at the University of Michigan wasn't planning on a business career -- until he acted on his passion and made a bundle in this months, "How I Made My Millions."