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Latin American markets endured a mixed session, but Brazil helped brighten the region with an impressive rebound late in the day. Brazil initially came under considerable pressure, as the ongoing political scandal threatened to ensnare the country's President.
Mexican issues endured a bout of profit-taking and felt the pressure of U.S. market weakness. U.S. stocks tumbled on surging oil prices, disappointing economic reports and a lackluster financial release from technology titan Dell. Argentina also declined on the day.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa Index rebounded 317.62 points, or 1.19%, while Mexico's benchmark Bolsa Index negated 95.73 points, or 0.65%. Argentina's Merval Index slumped 17.26 points, or 1.15%.
U.S. economic news disappointed. The trade deficit widened US$ 58.82 billion in June from US$ 55.4 billion in May. In addition, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index declined to 92.7 in August from 96.5 in July.
Brazilian shares posted an impressive turnaround, following steep declines earlier in the session that stemmed from investor concerns surrounding the ongoing campaign finance and cash-for-votes scandals.
Former congressman Waldemar da Costa Neto said in an interview with news magazine Época that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was aware of illegal donations made by the Workers Party during his 2002 presidential campaign.
Meanwhile, in an address to the nation today, President Lula denied knowledge of the illegal campaign funding and urged his cabinet to ensure that the investigation doesn't hinder economic growth.
Also, PT President Tarso Genro admitted that the Workers Party participated in undeclared funding activities, but pledged to rebuild the party. Genro also said that President Lula should not be impeached.
Folha de S. Paulo's polling institute, DataFolha, said that a public opinion poll showed that President Lula would lose the presidential election, if held now, to his main opponent in 2002, São Paulo Mayor José Serra, by a margin of 48% to 39%. Still, only 29% of those polled supported the impeachment of Lula, while 63% support the continuation of his administration.
On the corporate front, a major investment house upgraded Banco Bradesco to "buy" from "neutral," as the broker sees the bank improving further due to its recent upbeat earnings outlook.
Separately, another investment bank lowered its price targets for wireless firms Telemig Celular to US$ 45 from US$ 48 and Tele Norte Celular to US$ 10 from US$ 12.
Mexican shares followed the U.S. markets lower, after the IPC index reached another record high yesterday. As expected, the Bank of Mexico kept the daily money market liquidity restriction, or corto, unchanged at 79 million pesos. The move follows recent economic data that showed a rebound in the consumer price index.
Argentina fell on the day, as investors are somewhat disappointed that second-quarter earnings did not yield stronger-than-expected results. Markets will be closed on Monday for a national holiday.
On the deal front, Grupo Clarin SA acquired 25% of Cablevision SA for an undisclosed amount.
In earnings news, last night, Banco Frances said that it swung to a second-quarter net profit of 30.28 million pesos from a loss of 44.62 million pesos a year ago. Still, the firm's operating profit slipped to 87.9 million pesos from 106.2 million pesos a year ago.
Thomson Financial Corporate Group - http://www.thomsonfinancial.com
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The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
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Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose. 
The push of vigilante groups in Rio de Janeiro's favelas (shantytowns) in the last three years is the most important and alarming information of the just-released study by the Rio de Janeiro University's Violence Research Center (Nupev-Uerj). 
A dispute over drug trafficking territory in Rio de Janeiro has intensified lately, leaving in its wake unprecedented acts of violence, such as the downing of a police helicopter in the northern zone of the city on October 17. Three policemen died and another two were injured. This event has drawn the attention of the international media, who are raising the issue of public security for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio.