Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Box-By-The-Riviera™ who wrote (98169)	4/26/2001 2:08:46 PM
From: patron_anejo_por_favor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Forget the rummy Euro..all hail...KING PESO?! quote.bloomberg.com 04/26 13:21 Mexican Peso, World's Best Performer, Rises as Argentina Slips By Eduardo Garcia Mexico City, April 26 (Bloomberg) -- The Mexican peso is the best-performing currency against the U.S. dollar this year, as investors fleeing financial crises elsewhere in the region turn to Latin America's second-biggest economy as a haven. Battered during a 1994 currency crisis that cut its value in half, the peso is now seen as a refuge from Argentina's three-year- old recession and growing concern the slowdown will spread to other nations in South America, especially Brazil. The peso has gained 4 percent since January, more than any other currency. Mexico's export capacity, close ties to the U.S. economy and peaceful presidential transition last year are prompting investors for the first time to consider Mexico's fortunes more closely tied to North America than to what happens to its Latin American peers. ``All the fears that people had about the Mexican economy have been put to rest,'' as the U.S. slowdown hasn't hurt exports as much as predicted, said Emily Alejos, head of Latin American equities with Credit Suisse Asset Management. She moved $4 million of the $130 million Latin American fund out of Brazil and into Mexico this year, boosting its Mexican exposure to 41 percent. Other investors making the same shift have pushed Brazil's currency, the real, down 14 percent this year against the dollar, making it the third-worst performer. The Colombian peso, Peruvian sol and Brazilian real all touched record lows in recent weeks as the Mexican peso rose, defying the conventional view that Latin American currencies rise and fall in tandem. Italy Analogy Mexico is also benefiting from its growing trade ties to the U.S., in much the same way as Italy's economy was expected to benefit from its participation in the European Union. ``There are plenty of people out there who are beginning to position Mexico very much in the same way they positioned Italy in Europe in the early nineties,'' said Christopher Palmer, who helps manage about $100 million in Latin American stocks for Gartmore Investment Management in London. Gartmore has been adding Mexican holdings to its Latin American investments since 1999, and now has half of its portfolio invested in Mexican securities. It's not just foreign investors who are bullish about Mexico's economic future. Local investors, sometimes the first to run from their own currency at the slightest sign of trouble, have so far remained confident. ``There is no noise whatsoever about locals buying dollars,'' said Pablo Mancera, managing director of asset management at Santander Investment in Mexico City, which manages about 4.5 billion pesos ($483.4 million) in Mexican securities. Mancera said that while his funds in pesos had grown 40 percent so far this year, foreign-denominated investments had only risen 10 percent. Repatriations Mexico's growth prospects have even enticed local investors who had fled their own country to bring home about $2 billion in funds during the first quarter, further bolstering the currency against the U.S. dollar. Capital is returning to Mexico, ``due to the favorable conditions investors are seeing and to the solidity of the Mexican economy and the government's economic program,'' said Luis Ernesto Derbez, Mexico's Economic Minister, at a recent press conference. High interest rates have made it very attractive to foreign and local investors to either invest in Mexican bonds or stop them from looking elsewhere for higher returns. Mexico's 91-day Treasury bill this week yielded 14.79 percent, or almost 11 percentage points more than comparable U.S. government securities. ``There is a high-interest-rate environment that has attracted investors,'' said Palmer. Some fund managers remained concerned about investing in Mexico, citing the possibility of a prolonged U.S. economic slowdown, a drop in oil prices or a defeat of a government initiative to overhaul the nation's tax laws. ``At this point I believe Brazil has a much bigger upside potential than Mexico,'' said Stan Dejak, who manages $400 million in Latin American equities for Aberdeen Fund Managers in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. ``Mexico has been among the best performers worldwide and certainly the troubles in Argentina and Brazil contributed to that, though I can't see prices in Mexico climbing much further.''

To: Box-By-The-Riviera™ who wrote (98169)	4/26/2001 5:25:38 PM
From: pater tenebrarum	Respond to of 436258

f... them...this Mussa dude is incredibly arrogant <<``Here, in the IMF, we don't call that interference, we call that surveillance.''>>. the ECB doesn't need surveillance by the moral hazard agency...someone formulated it quite nicely on CNBS Europe today: "the ECB's job is not to save the world, its job is to ensure price stability in the Euro zone". i repeat, if one has to have a central bank at all, then better a responsible one. printing a lot of money is not the solution, it's what brought about the problem.