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Brazilian and other Latin American stocks retreated, in line with the U.S. market, as disappointing productivity and labor cost data fueled concerns about U.S. inflation. Shares were also pressured by profit taking following recent strong gains.
Brazil's Bovespa Index tumbled 1180.65 points, or 3.07%. Mexico's benchmark Bolsa Index slipped 102.00 points, or 0.53%, while Argentina's Merval Index dropped 47.80 points, or 2.74%. Brazilian stocks plunged, as investors locked in profits following the Bovespa's record high close yesterday on continued optimism about the local economy's prospects in 2006. The bout of profit taking was sparked in part by heightened concerns that rising U.S. inflation could force the Federal Reserve to extend its monetary tightening cycle longer than expected. Fueling inflation jitters, data released today showed that U.S. productivity slowed unexpectedly in the fourth quarter while labor costs rose. To the extent price pressures lead to higher U.S. interest rates, some investors fear that funds will be diverted away from Brazilian bonds and stocks into U.S. treasuries. In corporate news, an influential investment bank downgraded telecom firm Tim Participações to "peer perform" from "overperform," citing valuation. "Given its impressive run in the last six months, we believe investors should take this opportunity to take profits and consider cheaper alternatives such as (Brazil's largest mobile operator) Telesp Celular (TCP)," the bank said. Petrobras said it expects the value of its exports of oil and oil products to exceed that of its imports by US$ 3 billion in 2006. In 2005, Petrobras was still a net importer of oil and oil products combined. The company anticipates becoming a net oil exporter this year, as several new offshore oil rigs are scheduled to go on stream. Cable TV and Internet provider Net said its fourth-quarter net profit rose 21% from a year earlier to US$ 59.23 million, helped by organic growth in cable and broadband demand. Results also benefited from the approval of certain tax credits. Shares Banco do Brasil were active amid speculation the government will sell part of its stake in the banking giant in a bid to list it on the Brazilian Stock Exchange's Novo Mercado. Elsewhere, Mexico's bolsa slumped, in line with Wall Street, as disappointing U.S. productivity and cost data fueled concerns about higher inflation in the world's biggest economy. Mexico's economic health is tied closely to that of the U.S. since Mexico sends nearly 90% of its exports to its northern neighbor. However, some upbeat analyst actions on local companies helped to limit the market's losses. An investment bank raised its investment rating on financial group Banorte to "buy" from "neutral," citing attractive valuation and a solid earnings outlook. The bank also raised its price target on the shares. Meanwhile, retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico's share price target was boosted by another firm to US$ 68 from US$ 60. "We continue to believe that Walmex's true advantage is its high sales productivity and, though hard to predict, we see positive indicators for 2006," the firm said. Also, a major investment bank raised its price target for beverage company Femsa to US$ 88 from US$ 73, saying, "Valuation of the brewery is now more reasonable." Argentine issues dropped for a second straight day as investors continued to cash in recent strong gains. The Merval hit a record high in peso terms on Tuesday. Shares were also pressured by investor caution ahead of tomorrow's release of January inflation data. Among individual shares, Petrobras Energia Participaciones fell after saying yesterday that it will take a charge of 420 million pesos on contracts related to Venezuela. Thomson Financial - 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). 
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