Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, nor too close to the sea. Overcome by the giddiness that flying lent him, Icarus soared through the sky curiously, but in the process he came too close to the sun, which melted the wax. Icarus kept flapping his wings but soon realized that he had no feathers left and that he was only flapping his bare arms. And so, Icarus fell into the sea. - Wikipedia entry on Icarus

Whether it is merely temporary or a sign of something more durable it is hard to escape the fact that as the discourse on green shoots and second derivatives linger we might be entering a new leg of this crisis. Thus, there should be no mistake. We are very much still stuck in the mire and especially so in the context of the so-called developed OECD economies

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Highlights include Copel (ELP), Cemig (CIG), CPFL (CPL), Oi Participacoes (TNE) and Brasil Telecom (BRP). Yesterday, Mr. Henrique Meirelles, Chairman of the Brazilian Central Bank, showed some optimism stating that Brazil will be out of the crisis before other countries and that "it is important to guarantee lower domestic interest rates in the near future, so that Brazil can enjoy sustained growth without the imbalances of the recent past."This statement is in line with our outlook for Brazilian domestic rates for the near future, and is also not very different from our view that Brazil, and other Latin American countries like Peru and Chile, will outperform more developed economies in the very short-term. However, the optimistic accent of Mr. Meirelles speech could be somewhat exaggerated.According to the focus survey, a weekly survey in Brazil with banks, brokers and ...

For the week, the Dow gained 1.8% (down 13.9% y-t-d) and the S&P500 increased 0.8% (down 14.8%). The Utilities rose 2.6% (down 14.8%), and the Morgan Stanley Consumer index gained 2.2% (down 5.1%). The Transports jumped 3.8% (up 11%), and the Morgan Stanley Cyclical index advanced 3.3% (down 13.2%). The small cap Russell 2000 added 0.2% (down 5.1%), and the S&P400 Mid-Caps increased 0.4% (down 8.1%). The NASDAQ100 was about unchanged (down 15.2%), while the Morgan Stanley High Tech index slipped 0.4% (down 15.6%). The Semiconductors lost 2.9% (down 21.2%). The Street.com Internet Index declined 0.3% (down 11%), while the NASDAQ Telecommunications index gained 1.7% (down 10.2%). The Biotechs gained 1.0% (up 3%). The financial stocks were mixed. With Lehman collapsing, the Broker/Dealers sank 11.6% (down 35.9%). Meanwhile, the Banks gained 3.2% (down 19.9%). With Bullion sinking $37, the ...

Brazil's broadest measure of inflation fell in August for the first time in more than two years, led by a larger-than-forecast drop in food prices. Consumer, construction and wholesale prices, as measured by the IGP-M price index, decreased 0.32 percent when compared with July. The country's benchmark index for consumer prices showed a 6.23 percent increase for the 12 months through mid-August, the central bank said last week. Today's report obviously doesn't mean that the central bank should ease up on its bid to contain inflation by raising interest rates, but it is, nonetheless, welcome news. Policy makers have raised interest rates three times since April, to 13 percent from a record low 11.25 percent, to slow inflation running near the 6.5 percent upper limit of its target range. Policy makers, led by bank President Henrique Meirelles, are still expected to raise the ...

Claus Vistesen: CopenhagenBrazil is a resource rich country in transition towards a much more diiversified economy where industry and high value services will begin to play an increasing role. Brazil has ample supplies of energy and agricultural products, and is currently hitting that “sweet spot” where a demographically driven growth dividend becomes available. Thus we can increasingly expect to see above trend “catch up” growth as the Brazillian economy benefits from the new wealth which accrues from the rapid global rise in commodity prices while the strong supply of young labour underpins the labour market and significant productivity improvements become available as the economy generally moves towards ever higher-value-added sectors of activity.Perhaps the most telling sign of Brazil's rising status as a new global force to be reckoned with was the recent announcement by the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) of the discovery of a new offshore ...

Claus Vistesen: CopenhagenBrazil is a resource rich country in transition towards a much more diiversified economy where industry and high value services will begin to play an increasing role. Brazil has ample supplies of energy and agricultural products, and is currently hitting that “sweet spot” where a demographically driven growth dividend becomes available. Thus we can increasingly expect to see above trend “catch up” growth as the Brazillian economy benefits from the new wealth which accrues from the rapid global rise in commodity prices while the strong supply of young labour underpins the labour market and significant productivity improvements become available as the economy generally moves towards ever higher-value-added sectors of activity.Perhaps the most telling sign of Brazil's rising status as a new global force to be reckoned with was the recent announcement by the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) of the discovery of a new offshore ...

Brazil's central bank, raising interest rates more than expected for the second time in three meetings yesterday, wrong footing a lot of analysts (myself included) and justifying the nickname the "Bundesbank of Latin America" as it showed it is ready to push up lending costs as fast as it feels necessary to fight inflation. The real rose to a nine-year high on the back of the news. Policy makers led by President Henrique Meirelles raised the overnight rate by three quarters of a percentage point to 13 percent in a bid - as they put it - to bring inflation back to target in a "timely fashion".The increase aims to slow domestic spending as food and energy costs continue to rise. Consumer prices rose 0.63 percent in the month through mid-July, pushing annual inflation to a 32-month high, according to ...

Brazil's monthly inflation rate slowed slightly in June from May, though prices still registered their second-biggest rise of 2008. On an annual basis inflation rose at the fastest pace since November 2005, underscoring central bank concern about price pressures.The benchmark IPCA consumer price index was up 0.74 percent in June, down slightly from the 0.79 percent increase registered in May, according to the statistics agency IBGE. Annual inflation in June rose to a 31-month high of 6.06 percent.Slowing inflation may give the the central bank - which the Economist wryly refers to as the new Bundesbank - room to pause on the current pace of rate increases which have seen policy makers push up the so-called Selic rate from a record low 11.25 percent to 12.25 percent this year.Food ...

Brazilian consumer prices rose more than expected in May, led by higher food costs, adding pressure on the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate again. Consumer prices as measured by the benchmark IPCA index increased 0.79 percent month on month. This was the biggest monthly jump in prices since April 2005. The increase pushed the annual inflation rate to 5.58 percent, the fastest since January 2006, from 5.04 percent in April. Accelerating inflation may prompt central bank President Henrique Meirelles to raise the benchmark rate for a third time next month. The central bank targets inflation of 4.5 percent, plus or minus 2 percentage points. The central bank has raised interest rates twice in recent months, by half a percentage point each time, in April and in May, taking the rate to 12.25 percent from the earlier 11.25 ...

Brazil's broadest price index rose at the highest monthly rate in five months in May, increasing speculation that the central bank will raise interest rates for a second straight time at its meeting next week. Wholesale, consumer and construction prices, as measured by the IGP-M price index, rose 1.61 percent in May, the Rio de Janeiro-based Getulio Vargas Foundation said today on its Web site.Consumer price increases, as measured by the government's IPCA, quickened to 5.25 percent in the 12-month period to mid- May, the fastest pace in more than two years, the national statistics agency said yesterday.Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles, in testimony to the Brazilian Congress yesterday, said wholesale prices were rising faster than overall inflation and that policy makers have acted preemptively to prevent the increases from spreading to other parts of the economy. . ...