Daily Archives: November 16, 2010

Venezuela: socialism reaches the bond market

November 16, 2010 10:51 pm by Benedict Mander
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Hugo ChavezVenezuela’s capital markets have been something of an anomaly for a while now. When stock markets around the world were being ravaged after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, Venezuela’s ghostly exchange was actually rising slightly on days when historic losses were being recorded elsewhere.

Now, Hugo Chávez is taking things a step further, with the introduction next month of a “socialist” public bond market. Will this breathe new life into Venezuela’s emaciated capital markets? Continue reading »

Tags: Posted in Venezuela |

Americas markets wrap: Stocks fall on Chinese inflation and European debt woes

November 16, 2010 9:46 pm by Shannon Bond
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Brazil's BovespaLatin American stocks fell and currencies slumped against the dollar on Tuesday as commodity prices dropped sharply and investors worried over rising Chinese inflation and the ongoing eurozone debt crisis.

In Brazil, Vale, the world’s biggest iron ore miner, slumped on reports that China, Brazil’s leading trade partner, may impose price controls, and retailers fell after a central bank survey showed economists expect interest rate hikes in 2011. Mexican miners including Industrias Penoles and Grupo Mexico also followed commodity prices lower. Continue reading »

Posted in Global, LatAm |

Indian governor replies – this Thursday

November 16, 2010 7:35 pm by beyondbrics
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As part of our first readers’ interview, we’ve asked for questions to put to India’s central bank governor, Duvvuri Subbarao. We were deluged with responses – about hot money, house prices, a single Asian currency and much more.

Governor Subbarao’s answers will be posted here on beyondbrics on Thursday, in three separate posts. Please check back to read his views and post your reaction. In the meantime, we discuss Goldman Sachs’ warning to Indian policymakers.

Tags: Posted in India |

Argentina: still only half-open to China

November 16, 2010 7:15 pm by Jude Webber
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Argentina and China have had diplomatic and trade spats this year – but the two countries are too useful to each other not to settle their differences.

Last week, Argentina’s agriculture minister, Julián Domínguez, welcomed his Chinese counterpart Han Changfu to Buenos Aires – and heralded China as “a strategic partner for Argentina to consolidate its position as a large provider of food to the world”. The country is already Argentina’s second-largest trade partner and biggest buyer of Argentine agricultural products, worth some $4.4bn a year. But the bilateral relationship is still not quite flourishing. Continue reading »

Tags: , , Posted in Argentina, China, LatAm |
From FT Energy Source blog November 16, 2010

A fascinating (and ever so slightly gruesome) story from Leslie Hook, reporting from Beijing in today’s FT.

The Chinese government’s commitment reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 per cent from 2005 levels has led to power rationing, which in turn has fuelled a boom in diesel-powered electricity generators. Continue reading »

Posted in China |

Walmart turns lights on in EM stores

November 16, 2010 5:50 pm by Jonathan Birchall
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Walmart has made much of the performance of its emerging markets businesses during the third quarter – reporting sales growth of 12.4 per cent in Brazil, 10 per cent in Mexico and central America, and 15.2 per cent in China. And rightly so, because a good part of this growth is driven by new store construction, with the retailer adding 79 stores in Brazil over the past 12 months, 32 new stores in China, and a huge 256 new stores at Walmart de Mexico, which include scores of new small convenience stores.

Without these new stores, comparable growth is slower, with Brazil up 1.2 per cent, Mexico up 2.4 per cent and China up 6.9 per cent on a local currency basis. Continue reading »

Tags: Posted in Global |

CEE markets wrap: Russian stocks lead falls on Ireland’s woes

November 16, 2010 5:28 pm by Ranjit Lall
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Stocks in Russia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic all fell on Tuesday, as concerns about Ireland’s debt woes intensified. Most CEE currencies fell sharply against the dollar.

However, Simon Quijano-Evans of Cheuvreux said that Greece’s worsening debt problem should benefit markets in emerging Europe, “highlight[ing] yet again the better fiscal position of most of eastern Europe versus western peers.” Continue reading »

Posted in Global |
From Martin Wolf's Exchange: debates on economics November 16, 2010

I am writing this in Xi’an, ancient capital of the Chinese empire. This is where the famous terracotta warriors were found, mute witnesses to the scale, resources and organising capacity of the ancient Chinese state. Xi’an is a city of 8m, in the middle of the country. The road from the airport is surrounded with half-finished buildings, a sign of the construction boom of recent years. The economic changes are palpable, as they are elsewhere in this vast country. Continue reading »

Posted in China |

Deal of the day: Vallar invests $3bn in Indonesian coal boom

November 16, 2010 2:56 pm by beyondbrics
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By Paul Francis-Grey of mergermarket

Vallar, the mining investment vehicle of UK businessman Nathaniel Rothschild, has staked its future on Indonesia’s coal boom – in a deal which would create the first Indonesian-controlled company on the London Stock Exchange.

The company has paid $3bn for 75 per cent of Berau Coal Energy and 25 per cent of Bumi Resources – respectively Indonesia’s biggest and fifth-biggest coal miners. Part of the price will be paid in Vallar stock, with Bumi’s owners, the Bakrie Group, becoming the largest shareholder in the company. Continue reading »

Tags: , , Posted in Indonesia |

China Resources: increasingly convenient

November 16, 2010 2:00 pm by beyondbrics
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By Zach Coleman and Tracy Tu

China Resources Enterprise calls itself the biggest supermarket group in China. Though its hold on that title may not be secure yet, the state-owned company is already eyeing another retail sector: convenience stores.

Wang Weiyong, senior vice president of China Resources’ retail group, told beyondbrics that the company has its eye on the 11,000 petrol station convenience stores operated by PetroChina, many under the name uSmile. Continue reading »

Posted in China |

$1bn television coup for Polish tycoon

November 16, 2010 1:00 pm by Jan Cienski
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Poland’s largest digital-satellite provider, Cyfrowy Polsat, has joined the country’s wave of telecoms consolidation. The company has announced a 3.75bn zlotys ($961m) deal to acquire Polsat TV, Poland’s second largest station in terms of audience share.

The move turns Warsaw-listed Cyfrowy Polsat into an integrated media company. It’s also a coup for one of Poland’s wealthiest men, Zygmunt Solorz-Zak, who controls both companies, and appears to have his eye on the internet. Continue reading »

Tags: , Posted in Poland |

Video: Telenor in India

November 16, 2010 12:10 pm by beyondbrics
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Jon Fredrik Baksaas, chief executive of Telenor, talks to the FT’s Amy Kazmin about the telecoms sector in India and the difficulties of dealing with regulation.

Tags: Posted in India |

New York headlines

November 16, 2010 12:01 pm by beyondbrics
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* Argentina’s MATba to expand into new contracts

* China plans “one-two punch” against food inflation

* Revaluation pressures on emerging markets

* Militants kidnap 7 from Exxon platform off Nigeria

* S Africa uncovers mining license ‘irregularities’ Continue reading »

Posted in Global |

Goldman: watch India’s current account

November 16, 2010 11:21 am by Stefan Wagstyl
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With so much enthusiasm now surrounding the India investment story it is worth keeping an eye open for what might go wrong. Many point to inflation. But Goldman Sachs in a report on Tuesday warns that it is the growing current account deficit that needs watching.

India has been here before, of course, in the 1991 balance-of-payments crisis. But that was in a different era of its economic development. Today’s India is far stronger and better-protected from external shocks. But, as Goldman says, policymakers need to take care – as do investors. Continue reading »

Posted in India |

Further reading: Chinese princelings

November 16, 2010 11:20 am by beyondbrics
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From the FT:

From elsewhere:

Posted in Global |
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11% Quarter-on-quarter GDP growth in Thailand, as the economy bouces back after the 2011 floods.

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