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Posted by BradyNet ( Friday, May 7, '04 )

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GLOBAL MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

ECB holds rates on signs of eurozone recovery 05-07-04 (Yahoo) The European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold for the eleventh-straight month on Thursday, disappointing those who believe lower rates are needed to allow the eurozone to keep pace with the global recovery.

Greenspan Says Globalization Reduces Trade Risks 05-07-04 (Yahoo) Continued globalization and innovation are helping reduce the dangers of a disruptive correction of the U.S. international trade imbalance, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Thursday.

Small Biz Owners Cope With Rising Prices 05-07-04 (Yahoo) With inflation rising, especially when it comes to gasoline prices, and interest rates also on the way up, many small business owners are becoming more creative about cutting costs.

Retailers Growth Slows in April 05-07-04 (Yahoo) Higher prices for gasoline and food are cutting into consumers' spending on clothes and other non-necessities in April,

Dollar rallies on US employment hopes 05-07-04 (Yahoo) The dollar managed to steal the show with a rare rally on Thursday, shrugging off a pair of European interest rate announcements, and concentrating on US labour data.

Greenspan Warns on Trade, Budget Gap 05-07-04 (Yahoo) Trade protectionism and a rising U.S. budget deficit both pose risks to the economic recovery, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Thursday.

For Many in U.S., Money Talks Even as Jobs Walk 05-06-04 (Yahoo) Over the last three months, more than 12,000 people have voted to send Gina Hellegers' job offshore. She tries not to take it personally.

LATIN AMERICA

An underpowered economy 05-07-04 (Yahoo) Lula's government is trying to remove obstacles to investment�but not fast enough

Tensions simmer over Chavez vote 05-06-04 (BBC) The protests have been scaled back Protests against President Hugo Chavez have begun to ebb in Venezuela but government and opposition remain in a tense stand-off over a referendum.

U.S. Looking at Citigroups Accounting in Argentina 05-06-04 (NY Times) itigroup said yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating possible accounting irregularities related to its banking business in Argentina from 2001 to 2003,

Brazil to send troops into Rios favelas 05-06-04 (Yahoo) The Brazilian government is preparing to send troops on to the streets of Rio de Janeiro following a sharp increase in violent crime involving drugs gangs in the city's sprawling favelas.

ASIA

Philippines on Alert for Election Terror Attack 05-07-04 (Yahoo) The Philippines is on high alert for terror attacks ahead of Monday's election after security forces arrested several suspected Muslim militants, seized explosives and uncovered a cell linked to al Qaeda.

Ex-president pulling election strings from Philippine prison 05-06-04 (Yahoo) Ex-president Joseph Estrada (news - web sites) looms large over next week's Philippine elections as he plots to bring down Gloria Arroyo, the woman he blames for driving him from the presidency and sending him to jail.

Opinion poll puts Arroyo ahead 05-06-04 (BBC) Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has pulled ahead of her main rival in Monday's election, the latest opinion poll has suggested.

Town Hopes Chinese Will Stir Manufacturing 05-06-04 (Yahoo) About 35 years ago, Harold J. Resweber, at the time the mayor of St. Martinville, went to Fruit of the Loom in search of manufacturing jobs for his Cajun community. He found thousands of them as the textile giant built one of its largest plants just outside of town.

OIL PRICES

Shell Accused of Closing Refinery to Raise Gas Prices 05-07-04 (Yahoo) Limited refining capacity is one of the reasons for the recent run-up in gasoline prices. In California, Shell is closing one of its three refineries in the state.

Price of Crude Oil at Highest Level Since 1990 05-07-04 (Yahoo) The price of crude oil is at its highest level since just after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in October 1990.

Gasoline Hits Another High at Pumps 05-06-04 (Yahoo) The price of gasoline keeps going up, and U.S. car drivers will be digging even deeper into their pockets at the pumps in the coming weeks.

Newest messages appear on top.

05-07-04 apagonazo: For retirement and change of citizenship the DR

05-07-04 apagonazo: On Cuba RE. Should eventually, after Castro, be a great market but better to wait due to the legal complications that were pointed out. information can be obtained at Public Registry and it is frequently done. Melia built a hotel in Cuba on property that belonged (pre revolution)to the Sanchez family. These in turn had registered in the US their Cuban property rights. A US court filed in their favor and Melia had to pay. There exists in the US, a Cuban claims commission where any amount of property is registered.

05-07-04 danni: <<Emerging-Market Debt Little Changed After Worst Drop Since 1999>> May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market bonds were little changed in Europe after plunging yesterday amid heightened speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise its benchmark lending rate, luring money away from developing nations.

05-07-04 savonarola: pillz...mail for you.....

05-07-04 Glutt: amigo latino: An effective tool to improve welfare of children <``If these children are in poverty because these guys are not paying their child support, I have no qualms about it,'' he said of his policy. ``I don't think these men deserve to have any more children.'.'' > you may not like it but IMHO it is an effective tool to make parents aware of that they have kids as some of them seem not to understand it� parents should feel responsible for wealth being of kids, otherwise this is disaster. Or do you approve those who cannot afford feeding themselves but decide to have 3� 5� 10 kids? Never thought of how those kids feel?

05-07-04 ozymiani: < Patient-Trader: Drjgb, as it happens the term "trailer-park trash" was spot on. >: oh, the good old times when America dispatched to war zones only <prominent physicists of pure aryan descent>! They didn't commit any less than polite gesture...

05-07-04 spurs: <see that the CIA is even employing torture contractors. The US is breaking systematically the Geneva convention in respect to the treatment of prisoners of war. >

Im not sure the US classifies prisoners as "prisoners of war". The people they are picking up are probably being termed "illegal combatants". I have no idea what an illegal combatant is, but apparently it is much worse than a mass murderer, as even mass murderers have access to legal representation and must be charged with a specific crime.

Never mind. Im sure what goes around comes around.

05-07-04 Patient-Trader: Victor, <isn't george bush making a big mistake > Sacking Rumsfeld would be an admission that torture is systematically employed by the US and did not just happen in isolated instances done deranged individuals.

The crimes in that prison are just one of the more harmless instances. Ome just needs to read the article below to see that the CIA is even employing torture contractors. The US is breaking systematically the Geneva convention in respect to the treatment of prisoners of war. The International Red Cross announced yesterday that they had complained about the conditions in the Iraqi prisons months ago to the US military to no avail.

"The third death under investigation at the C.I.A. occurred in Afghanistan in June 2003. The dead man was named Abdul Wali, a former local commander who had fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980's and turned himself in to American forces last June in Asadabad, the capital of Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan. He died while being interrogated by an independent contract employee of the C.I.A." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/07/p...

05-07-04 leo: 90 % of the Bonds of Bradynet's real time prices database have disappeared???!!!!!!!!!Please fix the problem....

05-07-04 victorn: (CNN) -- General Vo Nguyen Giap, the architect of Vietnam's victory over French forces at Dien Bien Phu 50 years ago, has warned the United States it faces defeat in Iraq.

Asked for his thoughts on Iraq, Giap told CNN's Stan Grant that no matter how modern a country's weapons were or how much money it had, it had no right to invade another country.

He said a nation that ignored this "moral teaching" would be defeated.

Giap said a country that stands up and knows how to unite will always defeat a foreign invader.

Giap, now 94, led the Vietnminh army of communist leader Ho Chi Minh in a historic 55-day siege of French forces at Dien Bien Phu, in the north of the country.

The siege ended when the French troops, worn down by constant artillery barrages and unable to resupply by air, surrendered on May 7, 1954.

That defeat saw the French colonial power withdraw, followed by the partitioning of Vietnam into north and south, and the gradual involvement of the United States into what became a bloody 20-year war.

That conflict cost about 2 million Vietnamese military and civilian lives, the deaths of more than 55,000 U.S. servicemen and women, and about 6,000 service personnel from South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.

The bulk of U.S. forces withdrew after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973.

But fighting between the north and south continued and did not finally end until April 1975 when north Vietnamese forces took over the southern capital of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City.

Giap, in Dien Bien Phu to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic battle, evoked Ho Chi Minh's description of the battle as a "golden milestone," and told CNN that Vietnamese people could never be slaves to anyone else.

"Nothing is more precious than freedom," Giap said. "It was a victory for Vietnam and the world at large".

Vietnam later fought border battles with China and invaded Cambodia in 1978 to overthrow Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime.

By the early 1990s, communist Vietnam began to embrace market reforms, and started a period of rapid economic development.

In February 1994, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton lifted the U.S. trade embargo on Vietnam, and normalized relations with the country in July 1995.

In the same month Vietnam became a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

05-07-04 victorn: isn't george bush making a big mistake in his decision of keeping rumsfeld after what happened? he gives the impression of someone who doesn't care about what happened to those prisoners.

05-07-04 Patient-Trader: Drjgb, as it happens the term "trailer-park trash" was spot on.

"Private England is perhaps the most prominently displayed person in a series of photographs taken in the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad that show members of the 372nd Military Police Company abusing prisoners.....The photographs have left her family and friends aghast and searching for answers." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/07/n...

05-07-04 danni: cheetah:OPPORTUNITY to BUY... better get on it quickly... CHEE CHEE nice to have you back on the buying of lula .

05-07-04 danni: Brz 34 69.10 n/a ....i will load today 1m if i can it but i think that the that capitano lula CB bot it all

05-07-04 danni: i wold like to no what lula CB bot back @ the market ,i think alot of alot

05-07-04 danni: panasonic: <danni> cash-itching syndrome? what makes you think we are touching bottom? ...... PANA i dont but i bot back what i sold 1 month ago for 310k less so i bot it .

05-07-04 carib: Victorn: i do not buy in communist countries. period.

05-07-04 victorn: amigo, that's what i thought. i think cuba is going to be a dream come true for lawyers. :-)

05-07-04 dooper: <<<<>>>WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - Argentina's President Nestor Kirchner said on Thursday he hoped the new IMF head Rodrigo Rato will support Argentina's decision to keep its fiscal targets unchanged in 2005.

The statement came as the top official of the Inter-American Development Bank, Enrique Iglesias, supported Argentina's tough stance on debt talks with creditors.>

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/040506/econ...

I assume the IADB is not one of the creditors getting stiffed.

05-07-04 amigo latino: <victorn: amigo do you totally trust the property register in dr? i bet it makes you uncomfortable at least to some degree��.>

No, apparently a couple of years ago even the commercial section of the US was advising the US citizens of the unreliability of property title register. The owner of the apt complex where I live, has a 6000 Sq meter housing site bought 5-6 yrs ago at about a price of � million dollars from a dominican woman(who lives in US). Apparently the same religious lady sold the same site to a Colombian also. Now there is a legal dispute underway between the two buyers while the seller is quietly and happily living in US. (I have only a limite inf about the matter)

05-06-04 victorn: btw, i haven't read any comments about the statements made by luis ernesto derbez, fox, fidel, etc on cuba-mexico relations.

05-06-04 victorn: carib if you buy a property in china, you buy it from the govt. so what's the difference with cuba?

05-06-04 victorn: one of the things i do know is that politicians like to take away resources from people. they usually do not like to give back these resources to people once they take them away. if i were a cuban politician i would consider all of cuba to belong to the state, and i would see little reason to give it back to some exiled people just because miami says so.

05-06-04 victorn: dooper, us jurisdiction for the usd external debt bonds we buy. but veni jurisdiction for vebonos, etc. there is an established jurisdiction in these instruments. i can't assume that cuban courts and politicians will go along with what miami decides.

05-06-04 victorn: carib in theory you are not a thief, you would be "purchasing" from the legitimate owner (as of today): the cuban govt.

05-06-04 dooper: <<EMB> at least have an established jurisdiction > ???

If there is one, Frankenstein doesn't seem to recognise it...

05-06-04 victorn: dooper, i think it's different. <EMB> at least have an established jurisdiction. can't say the same about cuba.

05-06-04 carib: 50 pages of Brasil CB figures (march 2004) mailed to Coloresfiles

05-06-04 carib: Victorn: <squatting laws>. I know, I was referring to lands under her majesty the queen.. :-)

05-06-04 dooper: < victorn: dooper in some countries there are rules and procedures that protect property owners. it would be nice if i could say the same for cuba, but i can't. >

Cuba is a different ball game, no question about. However there has been significant foreign investment in Cuban RE during the past 10 years. Like EMB investing, it would not be for the strongly risk averse....

05-06-04 victorn: amigo do you totally trust the property register in dr? i bet it makes you uncomfortable at least to some degree.

05-06-04 victorn: dooper in some countries there are rules and procedures that protect property owners. it would be nice if i could say the same for cuba, but i can't.

05-06-04 dooper: < carib: Thanks to Gaucho > and thank YOU... very interesting.

05-06-04 victorn: <squatting law> but this is a totally different situation, as fidel changed the rules and nobody knows what they will be in the future. one of the assumptions that are made is that the new cuban govt will go along with whatever the exiled community (via u.s. courts, i imagine) say. this is an assumption i would not want to make. there will probably be some pro-u.s. cuban politicians, but i am certain that there will also be those who are not, who would not be willing to accept the claims of exiled cubans. so the ownership uncertainty would not be settled once and for all. unchartered territory, as you like to say.

05-06-04 dooper: Vic: < buy, develop, and then have somebody claim your land.>

Anybody can make any kind of claim anywhere in the world. In Cuba, like anywhere else, its < CAVEAT EMPTOR >. If you're not 100% comfortable, don't buy.

05-06-04 carib: Again: 1) I would not buy in Cuba under Fidel: I am not a thief. 2) maybe Apagon knows better.

05-06-04 victorn: carib <is cuban property titles register from 1959 publicly available> even if there is, can you trust it? sometimes you can't even trust this register in latam countries that have not experienced anything close to cuba, now imagine in cuba. let's say there is one: would you trust it? i wouldn't. :-(

05-06-04 carib: ...but made easier by <squatting law>: if you occupy a property for 12 years without objections, it becomes yours, unless it belongs to the crown. Objecting later, for whatever reason, has no legal merit.

05-06-04 carib: Vic: no need to go to Cuba for such problems...happens everyday on my island.. :-)...but I have the story of the main titles dating back to 1776...

05-06-04 carib: Vic: 1) I am not suggesting buying in Cuba now...but many italian, spanish and canadian corp have been doing it big time. 2) There was the same problem in east germany, I guess, but the german legal system is better. Anyway, it was sorted out. 3) is cuban property titles register from 1959 publicly available, at least for large properties? Maybe Apagon can help with info.

05-06-04 victorn: or an exiled cuban, with "claims" to property, who dies and you "negotiate" with his fla son. later on you find out that he had a bastard son in cuba who also wants his share (after you have developed). :-(

05-06-04 carib: Thanks to Gaucho for leading me to an updated BC database on Brasil external debt. Total external debt (public+private) 216 bill. Total public (ext) 130 bill..of which 60 are bonds, and 50 multilaterals. Total foreign investments in Bra 400 bill. Total public debt (ext+int) about 300 bill. So, total external sov bonded debt =11% of GDP. service of such debt (interest+ principal) = 1,8% of GDP per year. interest alone 0,9% of GDP. Comparable figures for Argy 2001: Sov bonded debt =88 Bill, or 35% of GDP (before deval) and 66% of GDP (2 years after deval, incl IDU). Savings for Argy in case service of ext public bonded debt haircutted 75%: over 4% of GDP per year. Same figure for brasil ( savings with 75% haircut): less than 0,7% of GDP per year. All figures a bit rough, but put the problem in perspectve.

05-06-04 victorn: carib you "buy" a property in cuba after paying the supposed real owner and all that. then so many years later the "real" owner knocks on your door and threatens to take you to court. latamericans are quite good at scams. i bet that after fidel dies and the dust settles, there will be more than one case of 2+ parties claiming the same land. how can a biz afford to take this kind of risk? buy, develop, and then have somebody claim your land.

05-06-04 carib: ViC: because Cuba is 90 miles from Miami. I have been on the beach in Nica...quite different from Cuba, IMHO..

05-06-04 victorn: carib <Post-Castro Cuba is likely to become a hot RE place, IMHO> it could also be like nicaragua, with questionable ownership titles, which continues to harm them till this day. still an unsolved problem, affecting not only private interests but also institutions like the church and the govt itself. one of the catholic church's landholdings in managua belonged to tacho, given to the church by the fsln. the current sports ministry used to be one of tacho's coffee plantations. montelimar, currently a place for tourists, tacho's beach house. so many years later people still don't want to risk investing there because of the questionable ownership of properry. why should cuba be any different? claims here, claims there, judges, rulings, jurisdictions, etc.

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