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Brazilian stocks went up, but Latin American markets ended mixed to higher, amid declining oil prices and mixed to positive U.S. job data. Traders and corporations also continued to assess the impact of Hurricane Katrina.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa Index rose 356.92 points, or 1.28%, while Mexico's benchmark Bolsa Index climbed 286.11 points, or 1.98%. Argentina's Merval Index fell 20.26 points, or 1.26%.
Brazilian shares rose strongly, as investors remained upbeat in light of positive economic data released earlier in the week. Overseas funds also flowed ahead of a U.S. holiday and Brazil's independence day next week.
Political shenanigans were relegated to the back burner ahead of the weekend, although late yesterday, Juscelino Dourado, a top aide to Finance Minister Antonio Palocci, presented his resignation a day after denying any knowledge of an alleged kickback scheme.
On the corporate front, Bradespar announced that Portuguese bank Banco Espírito Santo plans to sell 8.28 million of preferred shares it owns in Bradespar, which could raise more than 410 million reais.
In other deals, InBev SA agreed to buy the remaining 30% stake in K.K.'s brewing activities in China in order to strengthen its position in that country.
Separately, steelmaker Usiminas expects steel prices to stay at historically high levels for at least the next two years due to robust demand from China and high production costs. The firm is also looking to boost its foreign trade, especially to the U.S. auto industry, according to news services.
On the research front, an investment bank raised its price target on waterworks company Sabesp to US$ 20.62 from US$ 18.15 for year-end 2006, citing a strong recovery in sales volume in the first half of this year.
Mexican issues, meanwhile, advanced strongly. Economic data from the U.S., its key trading partner, was mixed. The unemployment rate eased to 4.9% in August from 5.0% the prior month, while non-farm payrolls climbed by 169,000, versus a stronger 242,000 in July.
Wall Street had predicted a jobless rate of 5.0% and payroll growth of 190,000. Payroll data was revised higher for June and July.
In company news, Cemex will expand its joint venture with Ready Mix USA, adding 27 concrete plants and four cement block plants to the partnership and receiving US$ 91.6 million and unspecified additional resources.
Also of note, workers at the Sicartsa steel plant in southern Mexico rejected a company proposal aimed at ending a month-long strike.
In addition, Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos said that 311,000 barrels a day of its crude exports have been shut in because of Hurricane Katrina.
Argentine stocks declined, on profit-taking after hitting a record yesterday. On the economic front, local analysts downwardly revised their August inflation forecast from a 0.7% gain to an increase of $0.6%, according to the central bank's weekly survey.
In other news, Telecom Argentina expects to book a gain of 1.584 billion pesos in the third quarter from its just-completed US$ 2.63 billion debt restructuring, according to a filing.
On the M&A front, Spanish-Argentine oil firm Repsol stated it would not present an offer for Turkish Oil Refinery Co., saying, "The price was overvalued and the synergies didn't quiet match."
Thomson Financial Corporate Group - 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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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. 
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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.