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

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (9705)	11/15/1998 8:28:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil's anti-govt blackmail documents proven fake Reuters, Sunday, November 15, 1998 at 18:40 SAO PAULO, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Documents that supposedly showed President Fernando Henrique Cardoso was stashing away millions in a secret Caribbean bank account were proven fakes, according to handwriting experts and Brazilian police. The documents were filled with blatant errors, including photocopied signatures and erroneous titles attached to a government official's name, experts said in local media reports. Brazil's most senior military aid, Gen. Alberto Cardoso said that the documents were merely "a smear campaign." "There were inconsistencies, gross errors in dates. There were indications of a blackmail attempt," Cardoso, who bears no relations to the president, was quoted as saying in O Globo newspaper Sunday. The other bullet in the dual-barreled blackmail scheme was a set of taped phone conversations which were turned over to police and reported on by news magazine Veja this weekend. Veja said the cassettes detailed a failed bid by top government officials to influence part of July's $19 billion privatization of state telephone giant Telebras. According to Veja's report, the tapes detailed a plan by Brazil's Communications Minister Luiz Carlos Mendonca de Barros and by the head of the National Development Bank to help a consortium led by Opportunity Bank to win units stretching from Rio de Janeiro to the Amazon region, most apparently through financing assistance. The article also insinuated, but provided only vague supporting transcriptions, an attempt to feed the competing Telemar consortium false information on other potential bids. Magazine Epoca, which broke the story on the suspected blackmail plot last weekend, said the plan ultimately fell apart because of a communication error within the Opportunity bank's consortium. President Cardoso rarely appeared in Veja's transcription of the tapes and was not obviously involved in the plan. The tapes and documents were allegedly peddled ahead of the country's October general elections to opposition leaders, who said they declined to go public with them because they appeared false. But attention to scandal last week rattled Brazil's financial markets, which fell 3.76 percent on Thursday amid fears the political implications of the blackmail plot could slow voting on crucial austerity measures in Congress. A visibly upset Cardoso blasted media interest in the charges on Friday, telling reporters it showed "a lack of respect for the presidency." "It's a pity (that these charges occurred) in the moment Brazil is fighting, and that I am personally fighting, to defend our currency," Cardoso said. "Brazil needs credibility." Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (9705)	11/15/1998 8:31:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22640

WEEKAHEAD-LatAm stocks seen up on IMF, Brazil deal Reuters, Sunday, November 15, 1998 at 18:01 SAO PAULO, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Latin American stock markets should post gains this week after the International Monetary Fund announced a $41 billion-plus support package for Brazil, the region's biggest economy, last Friday, traders said. The package, combined with a tough austerity plan that Brazil announced last month, are expected to help Brazil fend off a financial crisis that threatened to explode in the region and sent bourses plunging to two and a half year lows in September. "The success of Brazil's efforts will greatly brighten the economic prospects for the region as a whole," IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus said on Friday. A huge wave of capital flight from emerging markets after Russia defaulted on its debt threatened to force Brazil to devalue its currency, a move that would have thrown Latin America into a recession, economists said. The loan is expected to help Brazil shore up reserves and roll over its debt, as well as restore investor confidence in the country. "This will help the region as a whole," Roberto Lavagna, an economist at Ecolatina in Buenos Aires, said Friday after the announcement. The Argentine bourse was to take its cues from Tuesday's Federal Reserve meeting after a topsy-turvy week marked by profit-taking and selective buying on quarterly earnings results. "Everything is going to be conditioned by the Federal Reserve's meeting on the 17th," said trader Marcelo Cobas at Cohen brokerage. "The market's already discounted a cut, so if they leave rates untouched, we could see a downward correction." Regardless of a fundamentally optimistic view by traders, the MerVal <.MERV> index of most traded shares closed 4.4 percent lower at 472.08 points for the week. It is now down 31 percent in the year. In Brazil, enthusiasm could be tempered. Now markets will wait to see if the package has the hoped-for effect of luring investors back to Brazil. "If nothing bad happens, the Bolsa should rise as a function of a probable inflow of capital," one trader said. "Foreign investors should come back, even if just to ride the short-term surge and check out what's going to happen in Brazil." Sao Paulo's key Bovespa (INDEX:$BVSP.X) index gained 1.93 percent to 7,615 points on Friday, resuming its upward trend after three days of losses. The Bovespa fell 7.3 percent last week. In Chile, stocks are expected to focus on the power shortage in the central electric grid (SIC) over the weekend, traders said. The powerful electric sector brought down the market on Thursday and Friday on the government's decision to authorize electricity rationing and also on a breakdown in the SIC, which resulted in blackouts throughout the country. Scarce water for hydroelectric generators and operational problems among natural gas generators have caused the shortage. Power producer Endesa (NYSE:EOC) (SAN:END) said its San Isidro natural gas generator was operating at full capacity on Friday after Wednesday's technical glitch. Consequently, it could inject needed energy into the grid and ease some of the burden on electric companies, traders said. The IPSA <.IPSA> index of the leading 40 stocks inched up 0.15 percent to 79.47 points on the week. In Mexico, domestic issues such as a likely hike in gasoline and diesel prices and budget discussions in Congress should also weigh heavily on markets, traders said. "The market's performance will turn on national events, basically the budget discussions in Congress," said Carlos Castaneda, director of research at Inverlat brokerage. The benchmark stock index <.MXX> closed down 0.52 percent at 4,007.62 on Friday. In Venezuela, stocks should be cautious ahead of December 6 elections. "The bolsa's attention is fixed on the presidential election, and as it is still not clear who will win, investors prefer to wait," a trader at a local brokerage said. On Friday, the benchmark stock index <.IBC> edged 0.05 percent higher to 3,614.2 points. shasta.darlington@reuters.com)) Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service