Stock markets in the developing world are not for sissies. Who can forget the scenes of late last decade, when financial contagion swept bourses from Bangkok to Buenos Aires, bringing traders to their knees? It was no different in Brazil, where in 1999 the overvalued real collapsed practically overnight, taking the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) with it. It wasn't long before the sages started dissing Latin America's biggest economy, calling for financial rainmakers to take the B out of BRICs, the acronym for the world's trendiest emerging markets - Brazil, Russia, India and China.

What a difference a decade makes. On October 26, the traders will be frantic again, this time clawing each other for a chance to get a piece of one of the world's hottest properties. Yes, Bovespa is going public. And if the market buzz is to be believed, by the closing bell on Friday, Brazil will have shepherded one of the largest IPOs of the year.