Latin America

[winston]

Argentina


This Is Where I'll Go to Escape America By Tom Dyson

"Tom!". My wife screamed. I turned around. She was clasping her backpack. The pocket was open. "He took my purse!" she said.

The thief had followed us, waited until we reached a major street crossing, unzipped the backpack, and pulled the purse out. The thief disappeared into the crowd and we never saw him. It was the perfect crime. We lost $125 and the camera with all our pictures on it.

My wife and I have come to South America to look at property. We're not planning to move here... We just want an escape pod in case we ever need to flee from the United States. Our first stop was Punta del Este in Uruguay. Then we went to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina...

Buenos Aires has great restaurants, museums, parks, and shops. It's also noisy, polluted, and crawling with thieves. Fun to visit, but it's not a place we'd ever want to live...

So I came to Cafayate.

Cafayate is a small town in northern Argentina. It's set in the most spectacular scenery I've seen since I crossed the Canadian Rockies in a railroad boxcar three years ago. The town is small, but sophisticated. It reminds me of an art community in the Colorado Rockies. There's a large plaza in the center of town with world-class restaurants and outdoor cafes around it. You can get a full steak dinner and a bottle of wine for $5 in these restaurants.

The weather is perfect... warm air with a mild breeze... all year round. The mountains get snow on them, but Cafayate is in a valley and so close to the equator, it's always warm.

But here's the real reason I'm so excited about this town: Doug Casey is building a world-class resort here. He says it's going to be the world's finest community on the face of the globe. Doug is a brilliant guy who has traveled the world 100 times, so it's an extraordinary claim. If anyone can pull it off, it's Doug and his partners.

Here's how Doug described some of Cafayte's choice aspects:

The centerpiece is an 18-hole golf course designed by Bob Cupp, whose last project was the $140 million Statue of Liberty course in New York. Bob says this may be the best course in South America and one of the top 100 in the world.

...We're growing every type of fruit, berry, and vegetable that you can imagine, organically right on site. So the food is a far cry from what you're used to getting at McDonald's. If you get tired of the fantastic beef, you can fish in either of our two lakes. We're in the middle of a wine region with thousands of acres of grapes planted around us.

What gets me even more excited than the location, however, is the people behind the project. There just aren't a lot of people out there who still believe in 100% personal responsibility, small government, and minding your own business. I know Doug and his partners believe in these things.

I'm playing golf on Doug's development this afternoon... and touring it tomorrow. I can't wait to see this place. It's going to be a libertarian Shangri-la for American expats. More in my next column.

Source: Daily Wealth

[winston]

Mexico was downgraded overnight.

[winston]

Three powerful investment trends will separate the winners from the losers in the new year.

Global commodities prices will continue to move higher.

Emerging economies will outgrow their richer, more-mature counterparts.

And the countries that were stingy with their monetary and fiscal bailout plans will now reap the benefits; they will outpace the countries that slashed their interest rates to zero and allowed their deficits to soar.

One country is poised to profit from all three of those trends. What's more, the political worries that always seem to diminish its allure to investors are poised to recede, making this emerging southern hemisphere heavyweight one of the premiere profit opportunities for 2010.

I'm talking about Chile.

http://moneymorning.com/2009/12/22/investing-in-chile/

[kennynah]

Chile earthquake

[winston]

Chile's Post-Earthquake Economic Strength
Nouriel Roubini, Bertrand Delgado and Juan Lorenzo Maldonado, 03.04.10, 12:01 AM EST

The outlook for South America.

Despite a major earthquake and electoral squabbles, the financial picture is looking bright in South America. Here's our outlook for the continent's biggest economies.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/03/chile- ... ellighttop

[winston]

????

Venezuela annual inflation rate hits 30 percent

Venezuela's annual inflation rate surpasses 30 percent; prices jump 5.2 percent in April

Staff
AP News

May 07, 2010 23:19 EDT

Venezuela's annual inflation rate has surpassed 30 percent after consumer prices surged in April.

The Central Bank and National Statistics Institute on Friday reported a 5.2 percent increase in consumer prices during April, driving up the annual rate to 30.4 percent.

President Hugo Chavez's government has been struggling against the highest inflation rate in Latin America and a weakening economy in general.

Prices increased 11.3 percent from January to April, up from 6.7 percent inflation in the same 2009 period.

Venezuela's economy shrank by 3.3 percent last year amid a downturn in its all-important oil industry. It's the nation's first recession since 2003.

The country imports most of its food, and Chavez on Friday announced the government will create an import-export corporation aiming to break with the private sector's "hegemony." It wasn't immediately clear how the new state entity would operate.

Chavez said wealthy Venezuelans involved in the import business "buy abroad, come here and ask for more than it really costs."

Source: AP News

[winston]

Roubini Global Economics: Things Are Looking Up In LatAm By Prieur du Plessis

The report below comes courtesy of Nouriel Roubini’s team of analysts at RGE.

In our 2011 Outlook, we revised up our growth forecasts for Latin America, in anticipation of resilient domestic demand, improved external conditions and elevated commodity prices.

We now envision annual growth rates of 4.7% in 2011 (compared to the forecast of 4.1% we set in September) and 6.1% in 2010 from 5.7% previously.

If we are correct, 2010 will mark Latin America’s strongest economic performance of the last decade and its fastest growth since 1980.

http://www.dailymarkets.com/stock/2011/ ... -in-latam/

[winston]

And Bolivia .....


Bolivia

Thousands protest in Bolivia over food prices

A national protest over rising food prices in Bolivia paralyzed several cities and sectors of the economy Friday in South America's poorest country.

It was the second national protest in less than two months, led by labor unions, in the latest sign that socialist President Evo Morales faces growing unrest.

Schools closed, hospitals handled only emergencies, and public transportation was greatly reduced. Streets in the central city of Cochabamba were blocked by barricades and thousands of people marched in the capital city La Paz.

Demonstrations also took place in Santa Cruz, Oruro, Potosi, Sucre, in response to calls for action by the powerful Bolivian labor federation (COB).

Protesters called for Morales to increase salaries, and reverse the rising prices of food and services.

The protests, however, showed renewed anger over the inability of many Bolivians to keep up with the price rises, especially for sugar.

Last month, violent protests broke out in the nation even after the government backed off an attempt to halt hefty fuel subsidies, which ease the cost of food transport and cooking.

Source: AFP Global Edition

[winston]

Chavez in Hospital for Emergency Care: Report

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has been fighting cancer, was rushed to a military hospital for emergency care following kidney failure, according to El Nuevo Herald newspaper.

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?a ... &buid=3281

[winston]

Fears of China Slowdown a Buying Opportunity: Asset Manager
By: Natalie Erlich

As investors flee Latin American markets on fears that commodity-hungry China will slow down, now could be the time to pick up bargains, Will Landers, who manages BlackRock’s [BLK 155.91 2.26 (+1.47%) ] Latin American portfolio, told CNBC.com.

“[Latin American] stock markets are trading at their lowest levels since 2008,” he said. “Companies have strong balance sheets. Two-thirds of assets to companies are tied to domestic areas of the equation rather than global trade plays.”

Plus, China’s economic slowdown is not as bad as the market is currently pricing in, Landers went on to say.

“There’s something not right in the market right now. You usually don’t get to buy a stock that gets you growth and value," he said. "They’re trading at discounted multiples.”

Although China's appetite for commodities is cooling, the supply-demand balance will remain in favor of commodity suppliers in Latin America, as long as China grows in the high single digits. For example, Landers is bullish on Brazilian iron ore supplier Vale [VALE 25.42 0.30 (+1.19%) ].

"I'm not that concerned about my Vale positions," he said. "Prices may come down, but they're not coming down to levels that I think will be an issue for where companies are trading right now."

Landers also likes Brazilian banks Itau [ITUB 18.11 0.34 (+1.91%) ] and Bradesco [BBD 16.90 0.28 (+1.68%) ], and InBev [BUD 55.37 0.88 (+1.61%) ].

If China's economy does make a hard landing, Latin America would be affected, pointed out Antonio Alves, head of short-term finance for Latin America at the International Finance Corp. For the emerging markets investor, however, it's the least risky region right now.

“A lot of governments in Latin America are trying to diversify the drivers of the economy — invest in the manufacturing industry to become less dependent on exports of raw material,” he said.

Brazil, for one, is exporting aircrafts and developing its auto industry, he pointed out.

"I'm excited that Latin America is trading at slow multiples," said BlackRock's Landers. "It actually underperformed the world in the last year, despite the fact that it doesn't have any of the [debt] problems we're dealing with in Europe and the U.S."

He added: "It has strong reserves; banks are well funded and capitalized."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44894923