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

To: MGV who wrote (6896)	8/20/1998 2:33:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22640

Brazil's Cardoso Extends Lead Over Lula To 23 Points:Poll Dow Jones Newswires SAO PAULO -- Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, seeking his second term in office, has extended his lead over his primary opponent to 23 percentage points from 17 points just a week earlier, according to a poll by Ibope-TV Globo-Estado published Thursday. In a survey taken Aug. 16, Cardoso's share of the vote rose to 44% from 40% Aug. 8, while leftist candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's share dropped to 21% from 23%. Brazil will hold presidential elections Oct. 4. The Ibope poll and other recent polls signal that Cardoso will win in the first round and avoid a run-off election. To do so, Cardoso needs to win more than half of the valid votes, which are total votes cast minus the blank ones. The Ibope poll showed that 15% of voters are still undecided, while 11% would cast blank votes. Voting is obligatory in Brazil. Among the other candidates, former finance minister Ciro Gomes has 5% of the vote and Eneas Carneiro, whose platform centers on the development of a nuclear bomb, is in fourth place with 3%.

To: MGV who wrote (6896)	8/20/1998 2:35:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brasileira De Distribuicao July Same-Store Sales Rose 9.5% Dow Jones Newswires SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Brasileira de Distribuicao (CBD) July same-store sales increased 9.5% from last year. In a press release Thursday, the company said total sales for July increased 48.3% from a year ago. Total sales for the year-to-date increased 24.1%. Actual sales amounts for July and year-to-date periods were not released. Brasileira De Distribuicao operates 284 stores in five formats in 12 Brazilian states.

To: MGV who wrote (6896)	8/20/1998 2:37:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Emerging Mkts ADRs: Venezuela Nosedives On Devaluation Fear Dow Jones Newswires NEW YORK -- Venezuelan shares trading as American depositary receipts opened significantly weaker as rumors of devaluation of the bolivar mount, causing its debt paper to plunge in international markets. Within 20 minutes of trading, CANTV had shed 10% to $15 3/8. Meanwhile its benchmark debt paper, DCBs, had racked a loss of over 23 points, to 44 1/4 between Wednesday and early Thursday. At 1415 GMT CANTV had fallen further, shedding 11% to $15 1/8, while DCBs had slightly recovered to 45 1/2, a 14 point loss for the session. Robert Radcliffe, chief Latin America economist with SG Cowen, said that Venezuela is being hit simultaneously by low oil prices, substantial foreign debt payments coming due soon, an election that makes devaluation a tough political choice, and to top it all, Russia's devaluation making money more expensive for emerging market countries seeking to raise debt. "They're in a very difficult situation, and certainly options have closed off, with Russia making things worse, he said. A trader said that markets are trying to dictate Venezuela's economic policy. "Well, the market is trying to force a devaluation. They have a confidence crisis, which lends an extremely negative outlook," he said. "They have enough reserves and from the point of view of their economy, it's not typically a devaluation scenario, but it's confidence driven." He added that Venezuelan debt is trading 2,500 basis points over U.S. Treasurys. Traders said that Latin American ADRs are all suffering the consequences of Russia's devaluation and forced debt restructuring, as foreign investors fear copycat actions around the continent. "People are focusing on Russian debt restructuring on Monday, and that's why (debt) spreads are just blowing out," an ADR dealer said. "Another trader said that Brazilian trading has entered "doom and gloom" territory. "There's only one direction in this market, and that's wealth destruction," he said, adding that foreign investors have become much more pessimistic than locals, "who think they can muddle through these markets." The county's bellwether, Telebras, had lost 3.3% to $88 13/16 at 1557 GMT, with the Telebras HOLDR down 3.3% to $89 1/4. Mexican ADRs also headed lower, with Telmex falling 1 3/8 to $42 1/16 at 1505 GMT, and bottler Pepsi-Gemex 5% lower at $10 1/4. Traders said that Asian trading was influenced Thursday by monetary authorities' interventions or the threat thereof. "The Japanese are jawboning the yen, threatening to intervene in market," a trader said, adding that the expectation had bolstered the yen against the dollar, and helped prices of Chinese, Hong Kong and Korean shares. China Telekom had lost 1/16 at 1515 GMT, while Hong Kong advanced 1/4 to $18 13/16. "Hong Kong (authorities) intervened in the equity markets for the fourth day," a trader said. "The only difference was that today they also acted on the sell side, to confuse things a bit." -By Margarita Palatnik; 201-938-2226; margarita.palatnik@cor.dowjones.com

To: MGV who wrote (6896)	8/20/1998 2:44:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil shares seen opening flat lacking liquidity Reuters, Thursday, August 20, 1998 at 09:16 SAO PAULO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Brazilian shares on Thursday are seen opening near their previous closing levels mainly on an absence of big foreign buyers and local incentives to attract them, brokers said. "Prices are now driven by foreign inflows into Brazilian bourses and volatility in overseas markets," said a trader at Indusval brokerage. Brokers said foreigners have stayed away from Brazilian stocks since earlier this month amid nervousness in Asian and Russian economies. The local Bovespa index (INDEX:$BVSP.X) of 58 bluechip shares ended down 1.17 percent at 8,542 points on Wednesday. The Bovespa was down 20 percent so far this month and 16 percent on the year. Some brokers expected bargain hunters to enter the market at current levels, but many investors still preferred to wait until the recent financial turbulence in emerging markets cleared away, they said. The Indusval trader said however that some investors may cheer a Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper report on Thursday quoting Brazilian Finance Minister Pedro Malan as saying, "Brazil will have a fiscal package after the general elections if President Fernando Henrique Cardoso is re-elected." In the local currency market, the real opened down 0.04 percent at 1.1745 to the dollar. Forex traders described early sentiment in the market as "overall calm". Brazil's dollar denominated C-bonds, traded overseas, were down 1.125 points at 63.50 at 0950 local/1250 gmt. Bluechip activity Wednesday: Telebras (SAO:TELB4) down 3.04 pct at 108.30 reais Petrobras (SAO:PETR4) down 1.81 pct at 189.01 reais Eletrobras (SAO:ELET6) down 1.02 pct at 29.20 reais Vale do Rio Doce (SAO:VALE5) down 2.59 pct at 18.80 reais SELIC (open): 2.085 pct Dollar/Real (open): 1.1745 per dollar YESTERDAY'S STORIES 1/8 1/4SUR 3/8 ***** SPOT REAL QUOTES <BRBY> BOVESPA STOCK INDEX (INDEX:$BVSP.X) ELECTRICAL ENERGY INDEX <.IEE> BRAZILIAN ADR PRICES <BR/ADR> BRAZILIAN BRADY BOND PRICES <2LDO> BRAZILIAN DOLLAR FLOW HISTORY <BRFLOW> Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: MGV who wrote (6896)	8/20/1998 2:46:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil shares tumble on renewed emerging mkt fears Reuters, Thursday, August 20, 1998 at 11:18 SAO PAULO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Brazilian stocks tumbled in early trade on Thursday as investors dumped their positions on fears that financial turmoil in Russia may have more side-effects in Latin America, brokers said. The Bovespa index of 58 blue chips (INDEX:$BVSP.X) plunged 3.41 percent at 8,249 points at 1127 local time/1027 EDT/1427 GMT. "The entire mood is inclined towards absorbing more negative news than positive," said one local trader. "The atmosphere became very delicate after rumors spread that there were currency devaluation fears in Venezuela," he added. The Bovespa opened flat, but suddenly turned south in thin volume. Brokers said the decline in the Bovespa was made steeper due to a lack of players, especially foreigners. Brokers said rumors about instability in Venezuela's currency market fueled volatility in Brazil also as it became a focus in the Mexican bourse. Venezuela's Planning Minister Teodoro Petkoff on Wednesday denied that the government planned to devalue the currency and said market rumors were part of a financial conspiracy to undercut the bolivar. Brazil's dollar-denominated C bonds, widely considered an emerging market benchmark due to its liquidity, were down 3.875 points at 60.750 points in early trade. But the local currency market was weathering the equity turmoil. The real was up 0.05 percent at 1.1734 to the dollar on reported dollar inflows. Forex dealers said players started betting on dollar inflows after Central Bank foreign operations director Demosthenes Madureira Pinho Neto said Wednesday foreign inflows worth $4.5 billion were due linked to proceeds from last month's privatization auction of Telebras (SAO:TELB4). Pinho Neto's comments came one day after the Brazilian forex market posted a huge dollar outflow of $963.8 million mainly due to maturing agricultural loans. The dollar drain was the largest since Oct. 28 at the height of last year's Asian crisis. At 1127 local/1027 EDT/1427 GMT on Thursday, stock bellwether Telebras preferred (SAO:TELB4) slid 4.34 percent at 103.60 reais. Petrobras preferred (SAO:PETR4) dropped 3.71 percent at 182 reais, while Eletrobras preferred B (SAO:ELET6) slumped 4.79 percent at 27.80 reais. Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: MGV who wrote (6896)	8/20/1998 2:47:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil's Malan says to launch fiscal package in 99 Reuters, Thursday, August 20, 1998 at 13:14 SAO PAULO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Brazil will launch a fiscal package next year aimed at trimming Brazil's gaping budget deficit if President Fernando Henrique Cardoso is re-elected on Oct. 4, Finance Minister Pedro Malan said in a local report. "The objective is to generate a continuous primary suplus to balance out public sector debt and GDP," Malan was quoted as saying in the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo. Brazil's primary accounts, which do not include debt costs, now stand at a surplus of 0.84 percent of GDP but often dip into the red. Malan, who was speaking to executives in Montevideo, Uruguay on Wednesday, said Brazil would reduce its nominal budged deficit to between 3 and 3.5 percent by 2001 from 7 percent currently. Malan did not mention any specific measures he would take to achieve these goals, Folha de Sao Paulo reported. Economists say Brazil's nominal budget deficit, which includes interest rates on government debt, makes its currency vulnerable to speculative attacks. The Asian crisis last October forced Brazil to nearly double interest rates to an annualized 43 percent and spend between $7 billion and $10 billion to defend its domestic currency, the real. The subsequent slowdown lowered tax receipts and trimmed industrial sales. Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service