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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: THE ANT who wrote (36625)	7/5/2008 2:24:15 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 217661

DNA being tested. Were this the US we'd sue China for faulty balloons. :-)

To: THE ANT who wrote (36625)	7/14/2008 8:33:13 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 217661

Brazil Studies Measures to Avoid Trade Deficit (Update1) By Andre Soliani and Carla Simoes July 14 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's government is studying additional measures to boost exports on concern a growing economy and an appreciating currency may turn the current trade surplus into a deficit, Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretary Welber Barral said. ``We don't want a deficit,'' Barral said today in an interview in Brasilia. ``At the current pace, who knows, we could have a deficit by 2010.'' Brazil's imports jumped almost 50 percent in the first half of the year, while higher commodity prices helped increase exports by 23 percent. Brazil's trade surplus narrowed to $30.8 billion in the 12 months through June from $47.5 billion a year earlier. The trade surplus has been dwindling since May 2007, when it reached a record $47.8 billion. The government is considering incentives for exporters to add more value to their products and to increase shipments to Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, Barral said. He declined to elaborate. ``Currently what we are discussing are tools to encourage exporters to add value,'' Barral said. He also spoke in Bloomberg Television interview today. The new measures to boost exports would follow 21.4 billion reais ($13.4 billion) in tax cuts announced by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva May 12 for 25 favored industries. Brazil's currency has gained 17 percent against the U.S. dollar in the past 12 months, the second best performer after the Swiss franc among the 16 most traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg. `Miracle' Latin America's biggest economy is concerned about sustaining its trade surplus because it helps finance its balance of payments, Barral said. Brazil posted its first current account deficit in almost five years in the 12 months ended in January as the trade surplus narrowed and companies stepped up profit remittances abroad. Brazil may post its first trade deficit since 2000 as early as next year, said Jose Augusto de Castro, vice president of the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association, based in Rio de Janeiro. ``It would take miracle to avoid a deficit given the currency rate,'' Castro said. ``Brazil has been able to sustain a surplus only thanks to record high commodity prices.'' Castro said 65 percent of the country's exports are commodities. The country's 12-month current account deficit, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, widened to $15.2 billion in May, compared with a $1.46 billion surplus in December.

To: THE ANT who wrote (36625)	7/29/2008 9:57:49 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 217661

Body confirmed as balloon chair priest's AUTHORITIES in Brazil have confirmed that a body found off the coast is that of a priest who went missing after tying himself to hundreds of helium-filled party balloons to raise money for charity. Reverend Adelir Antonio de Carli set off from the port city of Paranagua on April 20 strapped to 1000 balloons in a cross-country trip to raise money for a truckers' rest stop and worship centre. The 41-year-old Catholic priest disappeared after he called friends from his mobile phone to say he was about to crash into the ocean. The balloons were found in the water a day later. Tugboat crew found a body early this month which authorities believed belonged to the priest. Medical examiner Rosane Alves said today that DNA tests had confirmed the body was that of Father de Carli, the Associated Press reported. "We were almost certain that it was the priest due to various elements, such as the clothes and material used in the balloon trip," Macae's chief of police Daniel Bandeira said. "The DNA only confirmed our suspicions."