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.

Strategies & Market Trends : Telebras (TBH) & Brazil -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (712)	1/14/1998 2:36:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil's real closes up on dollar inflows SAO PAULO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's real closed up 0.01 percent at 1.1181 per greenback on dollar inflows in the commercial foreign exchange market, dealers said. biz.yahoo.com

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (712)	1/14/1998 2:58:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Six groups show interest in Brazil Inpacel sale Reuters, Tuesday, January 13, 1998 at 18:20 (If I post the story, I can't find it on Yahoo - sf) RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Six companies, including Canadian, New Zealand and local firms, have showed interest in Brazilian pulp and paper maker Inpacel, which is due to be auctioned on Friday, an adviser on the sale said. Brazil's Suzano (SAO:SUZ) and Industrias Klabin (SAO:KLA), U.S. Champion International Corp.'s (NYSE:CHA) Brazil unit Champion Papel e Celulose Ltda were the local firms which have visited the Inpacel's Data Room seeking information on the company, said Osiris Ribeiro, from N.M. Rotschild. New Zealand's Fletcher Challenge Ltd and Canada's Atibi-Consolidated Inc (TSE:A) and Donohue Inc (TSE:DHC.A) also have visited Inpacel's Data Room, he added. Investors interested in bidding for Inpacel are required to sign up for the auction by 1800 local/2000 GMT Tuesday, said a spokeswoman for the Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange. Inpacel, together with Bamerindus Agroflorestal, will be sold for a minimum price of 85 million reais at a closed-envelope auction on the Rio bolsa, she added. Inpacel and Bamerindus Agroflorestal are units of failed bank Banco Bamerindus which remained in central bank hands after HSBC Holdings Plc (HKSE:0005) took over control of selected assets and liabilities of Bamerindus last year. The debt-laden pulp and paper maker was one of the reasons for the bank's deep financial troubles. Ribeiro said Inpacel, the only producer of magazine paper in the South Hemisphere, has an output capacity of 160,000 tonnes and annual revenues of $160 million. He said the new owners of Inpacel will assume the firm's debts, estimated at 299 million reais, which are scheduled to be renegotiated with its main creditors. Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (712)	1/14/1998 3:09:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22640

Brazil president troubled by Asia financial crisis Reuters, Tuesday, January 13, 1998 at 18:21 SAO PAULO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, riding high in the public opinion polls, on Tuesday said dealing with the Asia's financial chaos and its unexpected side effects were his toughest challenges. "My biggest problem is the external crisis," Cardoso told Jornal do Brasil newspaper in an interview. The president faces re-election in October. Cardoso said the country had been successful so far in fending off an Asian-style speculative attack on its currency, and he reiterated the government would stand by its current monetary policy, according to the paper. "We've shown we have a good defense system, with the publication of the fiscal austerity package and foreign reserves," he said, referring to belt-tightening measures put in place last year to help bring the government's accounts closer to balance. "The increase in reserves at the end of last year was a surprise for us." Still, the turmoil in Southeast Asian markets has rattled Brazil's stock and currency markets since the middle of last year, part of a trend that has affected emerging markets from Budapest to Buenos Aires. Cardoso, who is an economist by training, said the Asian crisis troubling questions for both Brazil's and the world's economy. "Will there be a depression in Asia, and if so, how long will it last?" Cardoso said. "What is the effect on the world's economy? Chile is already suffering the consequences." The Chilean peso has fallen sharply in 1998 amid concern over the potential impact of the Asian crisis on the Pacific Rim country's exports. At present, a third of Chile's exports go to Asia. "And, here, would the government have trouble doing the same thing if things got worse,?" Cardoso asked, in a reference to Chile's devaluation of the peso. "What would the impact be on inflation?" Cardoso also said there "was no economic policy reason" that could lead the government to seek a bailout accord with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as some Asian nations have been forced to do, the paper said. Moreover, the IMF and other "lucid sectors" have recognized the differences between Brazil and Southeast Asian nations facing troubles that originated in their banking sectors, Cardoso was quoted as saying. 2485570, E-mail: james.craig@reuters.com)) Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (712)	1/14/1998 3:16:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil Senate passes bill to lower employer costs Reuters, Tuesday, January 13, 1998 at 20:38 BRASILIA, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The Brazilian Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would allow employers to offer cheaper labor contracts when hiring short-term workers, a reform that the government says is badly needed to combat unemployment. The bill, which has already been passed by the lower house of Congress, was approved by the Senate by 51 votes in favor and 23 against. It now requires the approval of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Government officials said contracts allowed under the bill would cut the cost of hiring temporary workers for a maximum of 18 months by an average of 36 percent. Brazilian labor legislation is widely considered outdated and among the world's costliest. Taxes and other contributions, which increase the cost of employing workers in Brazil by up to 70 percent, have helped nurture a flourishing informal economy in which workers are hired without any kind of benefits, social security or unemployment guarantees. The Cardoso administration has pushed to make short-term hirings more flexible with the financial crisis in Asia clouding Brazil's economic outlook for 1998. For the next 12 months, economists see slower growth and increased unemployment for the Brazilian economy, Latin America's largest. In a radio address on Tuesday Cardoso warned the effects of globalization and the recent turmoil in the Pacific Rim would mean a tougher and more competitive world economic environment. "Imported industrial goods are a constant threat to Brazilian jobs," he said. The government and labor organizations disagree over how recent economic reforms and the elimination of trade barriers have affected unemployment in Brazil. While government data show unemployment hovering at relatively low levels of between 5 and 6 percent, a leading labor economic institute recently measured joblessness in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil's economic heartland, at about 16 percent. adrian.dickson@reuters.com)) Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service