Daily Archives: August 27, 2010

Brazil’s comedians get the last laugh

August 27, 2010 11:30 pm by beyondbrics

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By Andrew Downie in São Paulo

If you didn’t laugh at Brazil’s politics, you’d cry.

As John-Paul Rathbone pointed out on FT.com earlier this week, the oft-repeated phrase ‘Brazil is not a serious country’ could have been coined precisely for its politicians, almost half of whom have been found guilty of one corruption-related crime or another, according to anti-graft NGO Transparency Brasil.

Laughing was the preferable option until congress enacted a ban ahead of the October elections on anything in the broadcast media that “degraded or ridiculed the candidates, parties or coalitions.” Continue reading »

Tags: elections, politics Posted in Brazil | Permalink

Curing Brazilians’ credit habit

August 27, 2010 10:55 pm by Jonathan Wheatley

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Inhabitants of Paraisópolis, one of São Paulo’s biggest favelas, will get a quick lesson in personal finance this weekend when Serasa Experian, a credit consultancy, takes a team of money managers to the favela’s fifth annual Culture Fair.

As beyondbrics reported recently (with the help of Serasa Experian) Brazilians are credit junkies, often preferring to buy on instalment plans even when they could pay up front at less than half the price. Continue reading »

Posted in Brazil | Permalink

Americas markets wrap: Commodities and Bernanke speech lift stocks

August 27, 2010 10:21 pm by Shannon Bond

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Latin American stocks posted strong gains on Friday, pairing weekly losses, as investors took a more optimistic view of the US economy.

Rising commodities prices boosted producer stocks, and financial shares rose in Brazil and Mexico. Continue reading »

Posted in Global, LatAm | Permalink

Peru sees ‘China-like’ growth in second quarter

August 27, 2010 9:47 pm by Shannon Bond

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Peru’s central bank is still walking a tightrope: using capital controls to cool off foreign deposits even as it looks likely to hike the interest rates that are so attractive to those same overseas investors.

Today’s news that the economy surged 10.1 per cent in the second quarter from a year ago won’t make that job easier. That “China-like growth rate”, as Neil Shearing and David Rees of Capital Economics call it, “opens the door for further monetary tightening”. Continue reading »

Tags: capital controls, central banks, monetary policy Posted in Peru | Permalink

CEE markets wrap: risk returns

August 27, 2010 6:34 pm by Henry Mance

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Better-than-expected US GDP figures reassured investors in central and eastern Europe on Friday, helping the region’s stocks and currencies to recover after falls earlier this week.

However, there were bearish comments late in the day from US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the American economy may require further monetary stimulus, and Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, who said Russia was “emerging from the crisis gradually”. Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

Why Africa won’t be the next Bric

August 27, 2010 5:26 pm by Barney Jopson

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Prompted by this week’s application from South Africa for Bric “membership”, the man who coined the acronym – Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs – asks in today’s FT whether Africa as a whole could become the next Bric.

On several measures he says the continent has a reasonably strong case, but he notes that its biggest economies would still need to raise their games on many fronts – and he misses some more profound weaknesses in the Africa-as-a-Bric idea. Continue reading »

Posted in Africa, Global | Permalink

[Hey Bric Spender] Beyond the frontier: war to beer

August 27, 2010 5:25 pm by Barney Jopson

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Over the past two weeks beyondbrics has run a series of posts looking at the rise of the emerging market consumer. To round it off it we head to the rawest end of Africa’s wilderness spectrum, where one multinational is trying to create a market for its product out of the dust.

The company is SABMiller, the South African brewer, and its venture is in south Sudan – a desolate region of parched scrub that could soon become the world’s newest country. It’s a branding gamble, and an extreme test of whether taking big risks in tough consumer markets really can yield bigger rewards. Continue reading »

Tags: bric spender, manufacturing Posted in Global | Permalink

Lenovo to build games console

August 27, 2010 4:28 pm by Josh Noble

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Chinese PC maker Lenovo isn’t content with being one of the world’s top PC makers – challenging the likes of Dell, HP, and Toshiba. Now it wants to pick a new fight: with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, if reports in the China Daily are correct.

Lenovo has announced plans to create a new video games console, imaginatively dubbed the ‘eBox’. Continue reading »

Tags: technology Posted in China | Permalink

[Hey Bric Spender] Chinese brands step up their game

August 27, 2010 4:00 pm by Patti Waldmeir

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From sneakers to skin cream, Chinese consumer goods companies are no longer willing to kowtow to the foreigners who taught them branding. What’s more, they are taking their game to the big leagues.

Take Li Ning, for example, the Chinese gymnast whose sportswear brand is going upmarket to challenge the likes of Nike and Adidas in China. The brand is neck and neck with Adidas for second place – suggesting that increasing numbers of Chinese feet are happy to be shod by compatriots. A Chinese cosmetics giant is now seeking to emulate Li Ning’s success. Continue reading »

Tags: bric spender Posted in China | Permalink

Deal of the day: Chinese car parts

August 27, 2010 3:47 pm by beyondbrics

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By Benaiah Moses and Edince Kun of mergermarket

China’s car sales are expected to grow by 11 per cent this year – five times the global rate. That could spur greater consolidation amongst domestic auto parts and services companies, says Kingston Lin of OSK Securities.

And there’s a first taste today, with New Focus Auto Tech agreeing to buy 51 per cent of Zhejiang Autoboom for Rmb 87.95m ($11.3m) in cash. Continue reading »

Tags: China car market, mergermarket, vehicles Posted in China | Permalink

China: iPad fakes foil mobile operators

August 27, 2010 1:09 pm by Alexandra Stevenson

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It’s official. For all those in China who were awaiting the launch of Apple’s iPad: the oversized gadget will hit mainland stores in a month, according to a state media report today.

China Unicom, the country’s second-largest phone operator, hopes that iPad sales will revive its flagging profits. So it won’t be pleased to see that a growing number of Chinese consumers are rushing to buy a knockoff version instead – the aPad, or China iPad. Continue reading »

Tags: Apple Posted in China | Permalink

New York headlines

August 27, 2010 11:57 am by beyondbrics

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* Reforms seek to create larger Chinese middle class

* L Capital Asia invests in China retailer

* Nigeria announces plan to end state power monopoly

* Banks back switch to renminbi for trade

* Air India to slash fares by up to 23 per cent Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

Asia markets wrap: Thailand beats general market malaise

August 27, 2010 11:56 am by Henry Mance

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Thailand’s SET index hit a new two-year high on Friday, with the Thai finance minister saying that the country’s stocks are “still very under held by international investors”.

EPFR data showed that investors are increasingly nervous about equities in emerging markets, with emerging markets funds seeing their lowest inflows for 13 weeks. Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

India’s bank shake-up raises questions

August 27, 2010 10:56 am by James Lamont

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India’s central bank is proposing new banking licenses to loosen the state’s grip on the financial sector.

Larsen & Toubro, India’s largest engineering and construction company, has become one of the first local corporate houses to express its interest publicly – and many others are likely to do so soon.

But the central bank’s exact plan is still unclear. Continue reading »

Tags: banking Posted in India | Permalink

India: from generics-maker to drug-developer?

August 27, 2010 8:13 am by beyondbrics

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By Girija Shivakumar and Amy Kazmin in New Delhi

Indian pharmaceutical companies are often touting their potential for innovative drug discovery.

Piramal, the Mumbai-based drug company which sold its generics drug business to Abbott for $3.7bn, recently said it expects to unveil India’s first domestically developed drug by 2012.

But not everyone is convinced India is ready for ground-breaking research. Continue reading »

Tags: education, pharmaceuticals Posted in India | Permalink

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beyondbrics

Daily Archives: August 27, 2010

Brazil’s comedians get the last laugh

Curing Brazilians’ credit habit

Americas markets wrap: Commodities and Bernanke speech lift stocks

Peru sees ‘China-like’ growth in second quarter

CEE markets wrap: risk returns

Why Africa won’t be the next Bric

[Hey Bric Spender] Beyond the frontier: war to beer

Lenovo to build games console

[Hey Bric Spender] Chinese brands step up their game

Deal of the day: Chinese car parts

China: iPad fakes foil mobile operators

New York headlines

Asia markets wrap: Thailand beats general market malaise

India’s bank shake-up raises questions

India: from generics-maker to drug-developer?

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