Goldman Sachs BRIC Strategy Is Getting Hot Again

John F. Wasik-Bloomberg, 03/30/2009
Want to rebuild your stock portfolio? Start with a BRIC strategy. As promoted by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2001, this approach focuses on Brazil, Russia, India and China. While their stock markets were as battered as those in North America and Europe in 2008, most of them may recover faster and [...]

Brazil’s Lula warns against “drug” of protectionism

Sophie Hardach-Reuters, 03/30/2009
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday the restoration of credit and the fight against the “drug” of protectionism were the most urgent problems facing G20 leaders meeting in London this week.
Rising protectionist sentiment around the world will also make it difficult to press on with the Doha round of world [...]

Trade promise lies at heart of communiqué

Guy Dinmore and Marco Pasqua-Financial Times, 03/30/2009
Leaders of the world’s 20 leading and emerging economies meeting in London this week are set to reiterate a pledge to avoid protectionism and complete stalled global trade talks but offer little to those calling for more economic stimulus.
A 24-point draft of the G20 meeting’s final communiqué, obtained by [...]

Currency bets go wrong for Brazil’s Aracruz

Jonathan Wheatley-Financial Times, 03/28/2009
Aracruz, one of Brazil’s biggest paper and pulp producers, yesterday announced a net loss of R$4.19bn ($1.8bn) in 2008 after bets on currency futures went badly wrong.
The group was the worst affected of several large Brazilian companies that bet on the continued appreciation of Brazil’s currency during 2008 before it underwent a [...]

London calling

The Economist, 03/26/2009
The first task for the leaders of the Group of 20, who will meet in London on April 2nd, will be to do no harm. Don’t fall out over whether Germany and China are spending enough public money to get the world economy going. Let’s not have a row over how to run [...]

The nuts and bolts come apart

The Economist, 03/26/2009
COMPARISONS to the Depression feature in almost every discussion of the global economic crisis. In world trade, such parallels are especially chilling. Trade declined alarmingly in the early 1930s as global demand imploded, prices collapsed and governments embarked on a destructive, protectionist spiral of higher tariffs and retaliation.
Trade is contracting again, at a [...]

Rio says its ready for 2016 Summer Games

Arnie Stapleton-Miami Herald, 03/26/2009
Rio de Janeiro organizers trying to lure the 2016 Olympics are trumpeting the Brazilian city as the sensible and sentimental choice. Rio is trying to bring the Summer Games to South America for the first time, competing against Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo, whose countries have hosted a combined 14 Olympics, including seven [...]

Argentina and Brazil push against protectionism

Jonathan Wheatley-Financial Times, 03/26/2009
Brazil and Argentina will be pushing at the G20 summit in London next week for developed countries to make strong commitments not to adopt protectionism in response to the global economic crisis, even though Argentina has recently raised non-tariff barriers against imports from its neighbours and Brazil has done little to prevent [...]

WTO Details Rising Protectionism, Pushes Countries to Reverse Course

John W. Miller-The Wall Street Journal, 03/26/2009
A steady buildup of protectionist measures could “slowly strangle” international trade and undercut the effectiveness of national stimulus plans, according to a report the World Trade Organization sent its 153 members on Thursday.
Since early this year, there has been “significant slippage” in the global commitment to free trade due [...]

Brazil Stocks Rise, Led by Vale, Gerdau; Bolsa, Ipsa

Allen Wan and Adriana Brasileiro-Bloomberg, 03/26/2009
Brazilian stocks rose, extending their best monthly gain in three years, on speculation a recovering global economy will revive demand for commodities.
Cia. Vale do Rio Doce and Gerdau SA gained more than 2 percent after industrial metals rallied and People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said the world’s [...]