|
Latin American markets were mixed to higher on the day, as strength in Brazil contended with a downturn in Mexico. Argentine shares were also robust. Investors' main focus for the day was Hurricane Katrina and its potential impact on oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
Oil prices briefly topped US$ 70 a barrel in overnight trading, before pulling back as the hurricane was downgraded to a Category 1 storm. U.S. markets enjoyed a positive session, as crude oil prices receded from their earlier highs. Brazil's benchmark Bovespa Index leapt 290.22 points, or 1.07%, while Mexico's benchmark Bolsa Index tumbled 117.64 points, or 0.81%. Argentina's Merval Index jumped 19.24 points, or 1.23%. Brazilian shares turned higher, following weakness last Friday. Positively impacting stocks was the central bank's weekly survey that showed economists lowering their 2005 inflation expectations for the 15th-consecutive week. Analysts also maintained their targets for the reference Selic interest rate to fall to 18.0% by the end of 2005 from its current stance at 19.75%. Petrobras announced that it did not believe that Hurricane Katrina caused any major damage to the oil industry. Separately, according to Portuguese reports, Portugal's GalpEnergia identified Petrobras as a strong candidate to buy a stake in the firm. Within the financial group, Banco Bradesco signed agreements to provide consumer credit services to clients of EletroZema, Grupo Ponte Irmãos and Dismar. Separately, a major investment bank upgraded Unibanco to "hold" from "sell." Elsewhere, a federal labor court in Rio de Janeiro suspended the sale of Varig's cargo unit, VarigLog, to a U.S. private equity firm at the request of the National Federation of Civil Aviation Workers, or Fentac. The group believes that the sale would hurt workers. Mexican issues, meanwhile, added to recent losses. Bouts of profit taking have ensued recently, since the IPC index reached a record high close in mid August. Cement manufacturer Cemex was active, after the Wall Street Journal said the U.S. and Mexico may soon reach an agreement on import duties on cement from Mexico, as a cement shortage threatens U.S. supplies. Elsewhere, Grupo Industrial Maseca, a corn miller, announced its intentions to delist its American Depositary Receipts from the New York Stock Exchange, as the benefits of maintaining the listing no longer outweigh the costs. Argentine stocks enjoyed a positive session, as investors brushed aside concerns over Hurricane Katrina. In corporate reports, Alpargatas SAIC, a textiles manufacturer, received a November 18 deadline from a local judge to get creditor approval for its US$600 million debt restructuring offer. Thomson Financial Corporate Group - www.thomsonfinancial.com
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
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. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
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.