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 (1392)	4/1/1998 9:10:00 PM
From: md1derful	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22640

SF: She still seems to get riled when the Asian markets swoon...maybe thats the reason for the hang up....I'm trying to enter again with a leap play(still long the 105's) but would like to buy on a bit more of a dip. Incidently the only other stock I would even consider buying now in addition to tbr is big mo!!!

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (1392)	4/1/1998 11:04:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil delays reform votes until after Easter By William Schomberg BRASILIA, April 1 (Reuters) - The Brazilian government has given up trying to vote on amendments to its long-delayed social security reform bill before the Easter holiday and only expects further progress in mid-April, a congressional official said. biz.yahoo.com

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (1392)	4/1/1998 11:06:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil shares end off after Asian stocks drop SAO PAULO, April 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian shares ended down 0.92 percent on Wednesday after overnight drops in Asian markets, traders said. <snip> ''The Brazilian stock market has become less vulnerable to stock falls in Asia by now, but there was still room today for the overall mood to be dampened,'' said one local broker. <snip> biz.yahoo.com

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (1392)	4/1/1998 11:12:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Record dlr inflows favor sharp cut in Brazil rates Reuters, Wednesday, April 01, 1998 at 16:12 By John Miller SAO PAULO, April 1 (Reuters) - Record dollar inflows to Brazil are padding hard currency reserves and smoothing the way for a sharper-than-expected interest rate cut this month, economists said. The Central Bank said on Wednesday that dollar inflows via the commercial foreign exchange market reached a record $11.95 billion in March, nearly double the record set in February. Total reserves were also a record, at $65 billion. Much of the inflow is going into short-term government securities, which, even after taxes and exchange-rate depreciation, still pay foreign investors a significantly better return than U.S. and European fixed-income investments. The whopping influx, analysts say, should encourage policy-makers to cut rates on April 15 to an annualized 23 percent. That would bring rates close to where they were before being doubled last year to defend the local currency amid Asia's financial crisis. "Strong dollar inflows, high unemployment and growing consumer defaults all suggest that rates could fall to between 23 percent and 23.5 percent," said Odair Abate, chief economist for Lloyds Bank in Brazil. Central Bank policy-makers meet on April 15 to set Brazil's prime lending rate, now at an annualized 28 percent. The new rate will be in effect from April 16 to May 20. Finance Minister Pedro Malan told a London audience on Wednesday that rates would fall again in April, but he refused to say by how much. Rates have fallen steadily since October, when the Central Bank jacked them up to 43 percent. Just three months ago, most economists thought Brazil would not be able to lower rates to the 22-23 percent level until June or July. But a gush of dollars over the past two months has more than replenished foreign reserves -- which fell to $51 billion during the Asian crisis -- and given policy-makers more room to lower rates. The inflows support Brazil's over-valued exchange rate policy by boosting foreign reserves, which are used to defend the currency in rocky times. As reserves grow, there is less need to keep rates high to attract new money. In addition to speeding up Brazil's sluggish economy and lowering 13-year high unemployment, lower interest rates would save the government billions of dollars in debt financing costs, economists said. First, lower rates would reduce interest payments on Brazil's massive 306 billion reais ($270 billion) local currency debt. Also, lower rates would discourage further dollar inflows, which exact a huge fiscal cost as the Central Bank must issue local bonds to soak up the extra liquidity the inflows create in the money supply. The Central Bank is thus forced to strike a tricky balance on interest rates, analysts say. "A lack of dollars could kill this country, but an excess of dollars could kill it as well," said one forex trader. john.miller@reuters.com)) Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service