Thursday , 28 March 2024

Economy

Will Brazil Win Another Economic Gold Medal This Year?

With the Olympic Games underway, many eyes are on Rio...[and, as such,] investors...are...directing more attention to Brazil. While its stock market has had one of the world's best performances to date this year with the MSCI Brazil 25/50 Index up more than 50%...[and] the MSCI Brazil Small Cap Index...[up] over 60%, the question now is, can the rally continue? My take is that it could potentially, but investors need to be willing to accept significant risk. [Let me explain.]

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A Look At the 14% of U.S. Households With More Debts Than Assets (i.e. Negative Wealth)

According to the New York Federal Reserve, 14% of the U.S. population lives in households that have “negative” wealth. In other words, these are households that have more debts piled up than assets, which puts their net worth in minus territory. In today’s chart, we compare the data on negative wealth households with the data on their positive counterparts. There are some obvious and stark contrasts.

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Italy Overtakes Spain As Weakest Link In EU

Italy has overtaken Spain to become the weakest link among the Eurozone’s largest economies, with a banking sector desperately in need of a bailout and, if Italy’s banking crisis is a rerun of Spain’s, we can certainly expect some troubles in the Eurozone and, consequently, for the Euro.

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A Modern Day Parable: GM (America) vs. Toyota (Japan) – +2K Views

What follows is a modern day parable which, if it wasn't so true, would actually be funny. A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. Below are the results.

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Venezuela Default Looms: Will China Save It?

Economic activity in Venezuela will fall 10% in 2016 – not 8% as previously stated - according to the IMF. General Mills, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Kimberly-Clark, Aeromexico, Lufthansa and LATAM Airlines have all suspended operations there in the past year. Upcoming debt payments are significant, and the country will most likely default as early as November of this year and no later than April of next year. International reserves are simply insufficient at a time when oil production declines and the economy contracts. Two questions in the air: Will China save Venezuela? Will it demand Maduro step down?

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An Unsettling Look At the Unprecedented Risks the World Is Facing

Investors globally have never faced risk of the magnitude that the we are now exposed to but, sadly, very few are aware of the unprecedented risks the world is facing. For the ones who understand risk and take the right decisions, it will “lead to fortune”. Only very few will choose that route, though. Instead most investors will continue to...

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Desperate Venezuela: The Moment Of Financial Reckoning Looms Larger

It’s somewhat understandable - but highly regrettable - that Venezuela is parting with its gold so readily in the midst of this economic turmoil. Gold has traditionally been a source of security for countries looking to hedge against currency volatility; and heaven knows Venezuela has had more than its share of that. The bottom line? They’re giving up the only security they have left.

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