Felix Salmon submits:

Complete Story »

The Oxen Group submits:

Did you know that in the past ten years, Honduras has seen over 70% growth in its GDP, increasing its GDP per capita from $1100 to $4175? This has helped Honduras move from a rank of 122 to 109th.

Historically, Honduras is one of the most prominent banana republics. The actual terminology of calling a nation a banana republic began in Honduras in the late 19th Century. In William Sydney Porter’s book Cabbage and Kings, Porter refers to Honduras as a banana repbulic while staying there. The nation was a major exporter to the European empire for banana and received very little in return for their abundant natural resource. Honduras has a long history of colonization

Complete Story »

The Oxen Group submits:

As part of my continuing World Cup Series, I will be investigating the South American country of Chile. The nation, located on the west side of South America, is a narrow long country that sits between the Andes on the East and the Pacfic Ocean on the West. The nation is only approx. 100 miles across, which is about the same width as the distance between New York City and Philadelphia. The country is also the most southern of the equator civilizations. Geography aside, Chile is one of today’s rising markets and often overshadowed by its northern colleague Brazil.

Chile leads the South America in many developmental indexes: Human Development Index (ranked 44th in world), Quality of LIfe (ranked 31st in the world), and economic freedom (ranked 10th in the world). Chile is second in South America in GDP per capita, at $14,241 – only $300 behind Argentina. The nation has the world’s 46th largest economy with a GDP at $169 billion, which has grown just over 130% in the past eight years as Chile has globalized itself very well.

Complete Story »

Michael Johnston submits:

To say that the current environment is a challenging one for investors is quite the understatement. With Europe teetering on the brink of a sovereign debt crisis, a “new normal” low growth environment in the U.S., and increasing anxiety over government policies in China, there are numerous potholes in the road ahead for many of the world’s largest economies.

Against this challenging backdrop, Latin America has emerged as an interesting investment opportunity. As home to many of the world’s most resource-rich nations, the region has a new-found importance to the global economy. A prediction from Spain’s Banco Santander last week that Brazil will account for the largest portion of the bank’s profit in the coming year highlighted the region’s emergence as a driver of global GDP growth.

Complete Story »

Marc Chandler submits:

Brazil is getting ready to play its first World Cup game and the real is trading firmly. For the last three days, the dollar has been flirting with its 100-day moving average, just above BRL1.80. Today’s break below that looks, well, for real.

The fundamental story looks fairly solid. The economy is enjoying robust growth, which by most accounts is probably above trend. It is one of the few countries to have recouped the output lost to the global crisis. The central bank has hiked rates twice by a combined 150 bp and more hikes are expected.

Complete Story »

The Wild Hog submits:

Over the past 2-3 months, Greece’s distress has been atop the headlines. We have read about how they are going to default in due time because of their huge unsustainable debt to GDP ratio. Credit Default Swap (CDS) rates for Greece, and spreads for yields on bonds to that of Germany have widened substantially. Germany is considered the benchmark in the eurozone. However, if we are considering CDS rates and yield spreads as two different points of reference, I think it may be worthwhile to look at other countries, such as Argentina and Venezuela, as well.

Below I have featured the CDS rates for Greece, Venezuela, and Argentina. As you can see, both the South American countries’ CDS rates have exploded recently. Greece’s rate has come down after the bailout was passed, meaning expectations of default decreased. In case you are unfamiliar with a CDS I will give a brief description of an example.

Complete Story »

Elliott R. Morss submits:

Complete Story »

David Hunkar submits:

The five biggest Mexican banks based on total assets are shown below:

click to enlarge

Complete Story »

Michael Johnston submits:

By Cathy Carlson

Over the last several years, the developing economies of the world have emerged as the leaders in the global recovery effort. With GDP growth rates in developed markets close to zero, interest in emerging markets has surged. Most US investors who have begun tilting the equity component of their portfolios towards emerging markets focus on the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). But there is another interesting emerging market economy just south of the border, one that is accessible through the iShares MSCI Mexico Investable Market Index Fund (EWW).

Complete Story »

Marc Chandler submits:

The risk is that the market’s euphoric reaction in Asia and Europe is not followed through. This is evident already not just in the euro, which has now briefly traded below Friday’s low, but also in copper prices. The September contract rallied to $305, but has subsequently backed up. A break of support near $300 could be an early warning sign of increased risk of profit-taking on these Latam currencies.

The US dollar see initial support near MXN12.40. Initial resistance is pegged at MXN12.50. A break signal the direction of the next 1% move.

Complete Story »