CSA – Related News Links of the Day

Ecopetrol (of Colombia) targets Asian Oil Sales – Bloomberg

Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETL), the Colombian oil producer which expects to more than double output this decade, said it plans to ship a greater share of its crude to Asia as growing demand in China competes for supplies with the U.S.

The company may no longer ship the majority of its crude to the U.S. in 10 years because Asia sales will be more profitable, Chief Executive Officer Javier Gutierrez said yesterday in an interview in Bogota. A pipeline the company is weighing that would carry oil to a new port on the Pacific coast to supply Asian refineries may also attract Chinese investment, he said.  Click the link above to access to the full article direct from Blooomberg

Tycoon Clash Means Less Money for Mexico Billionaires as Consumers Benefit – Bloomberg

An escalating confrontation between Carlos Slim and two fellow billionaires is driving prices lower for phone, Internet and TV services in Mexico, a boon for consumers that could boost the nation’s economy.

TV and mobile-phone carriers controlled by Ricardo Salinas and Emilio Azcarraga are pushing into Slim’s turf, and he is responding with better deals for consumers. Slim’s Telefonos de Mexico SAB teamed up in April with a satellite carrier to offer services for a discount, and his America Movil SAB doubled the amount of numbers wireless users can call at no extra charge. Click the link above to access to the full article direct from Blooomberg

Factbox: Chinese banks’ acquisitions over the past five years - Reuters

This is scary… and not for the obvious reasons

This is scary because when all is said and done, it instills fear in the minds of the average American when it comes to China.  Meanwhile, the average Chinese person I speak to on the streets of China love and respect US-Americans.  Instead of focusing on what the US as a country needs to do to revitalize itself, we are instilling fear and placing blame on a country we are inherently linked to the hip with economically. Silly and sad.

We should be fostering friendship, cooperation, exchange… yes on a equal footing, and one which America stands its ground and shows it a benevolent and humble world power.  Not a desperate, bitter, power in demise.

Here are a collection of links to other videos, just as bad if not worse.

Moved

His own words

Made in China

A Foreign Worker’s Best Friend

South American Cocaine??? Spain continues to “deal gold,” as it has since the 16th century

To realize why I titled this post the way I did, you must for your own good watch this Reuters video which gives a good outline of the gold market to the very end.  Anyone who has ever walked the streets of Madrid or Barcelona between 1995-2010, knows the image of a Peruvian/ Bolivian/ other South Americans with big card board signs which say : “we buy and sell gold/silver.”

Well, like the Japanese, Spain is also inventing machines/ robots to do the work– the work being, the exchange/ commerce of gold bars.

For the record I know very little about the machine and welcome clarification from any reader.  However, the fact that Reuters mentions Spain as the first country to do this, makes me think back to the Spanish history lessons I learned from my mother and grandmother growing up as a Peruvian-American in NYC–which are of the same yolk as the history lessons taught to US-Americans about the British/ French in North American schools.

I had to learn this “Iberian” history from my family, because the US public school system gives two $h!ts about the fact that more than half the American CONTINENT (singular) was not actually colonized by English speakers.

Good evening to all from Shanghai.

Colombia says “NO” to the U.S. armed forces

Bloomberg News reports that Colombia’s Constitutional Court blocked an accord that grants U.S. armed forces access to several military bases in the country because it wasn’t approved by the legislature.

The court, in a 6 to 3 ruling last night, said the agreement is not covered by any international treaty, as former President Alvaro Uribe had argued. The year-old agreement to allow U.S. personnel and equipment inside seven bases prompted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to freeze trade ties with Colombia and order troops to their shared border.

Click here to read the entire article from Bloomberg

Must read article about Sino-Latin American relations

A must read article for anyone interested in Sino-Latin American relations was published today on SeekingAlpha’s website.  It is written by Erik Bethel, one of the four founders and CEO of Sino-Latin Capital.  I highly recommend it to anyone even mildly interested in the growth of Sino-Latin American relations.

Click here to access the full article direct from SeekingAlpha.

Travel to any country in Latin America and you will see the visible hand of China at work: a computer manufacturing plant in Mexico, a copper mine in Peru, a football stadium in Costa Rica. In the year 2007, the thought of China in Latin America would have appeared, at best, improbable. But in a three-year stretch, China signed free trade agreements with Chile, Peru and Costa Rica, inked billions of dollars worth of deals in oil and mining projects throughout the region, and supplanted the US as Brazil’s biggest trading partner. Once almost unseen in Latin America, China’s bilateral trade has risen from $12bn in 2000 to well over $150bn today.

Given the importance of its new Asian friend, Latin Americans are rolling out the red carpets to Chinese business delegations and jumping on planes not only to Beijing but also to Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Tianjin.

Rationale Behind Chinese Investments in Latin America [...]

Please visit SeekingAlpha to read the full article

The growth of stock markets in Latin America

The Latin Business Chronicle published a story today which technically, was supposed to focus on the growth of Colombia’s stock exchange and explain why it was the regions best performer last year.

In addition to Colombia, the article also shares data complied by Economatica on the growth of the other major stock exchanges in the region, which is what CSA will be sharing with you today.  To read the full article from the Latin Business Chronicle click here.

Colombia – Best performer in Latam last year, IGBC (Colombia’s benchmark) stock index has grown in value by 927.9% during the past 10 years, and average decline in value of transactions in 2008 was 2.3%—lower than all other countries in the region

Brazil – Latin America’s largest stock market, Ibovespa (Brazil’s benchmark) stock index has grown 301.3% during the past 10 years, and the average decline of transitions in 2008 compared with 2009 was 13.6%.

Mexico – IPC (major benchmark index in Mexico) has grown 250.5% during the past 10 years, and the average decline in transactions last year was 13.9%

Venezuela – The Caracas stock index has grown by 916.5% during the past 10 years, and the average decline in transactions was 29.5% last year—the second worst in Latin America.

Argentina – The Merval inces has grown by 321.3% during the past ten years, and had the worst average decline in transactions last year, suffering a decline of 54.4%.

Peru – The Lima stock index (IGBVL) has been one of the regions best performing in the past few years.  Seeing growth of 671.1% during the past 10 years, and a decline in average transactions last year of 21%.

Chile – Last but not least, Chile’s IPSA index has grown by 218.8% over the past 10 years, and the average decline in transactions last year was a mere 3.6%-second best next to Colombia.

A valuable bridge between Latin America and China

[Source] - Andean Development Corporation

• The CAF President, accompanied by an official delegation, visited the Asian country to deepen trade and investment links between Latin America and China.

• The Corporation is playing its characteristic catalytic role attracting funds from other latitudes for the progress of the region.

CAF President & CEO Enrique Garcia visited Peking, accompanied by a delegation from the Corporation, with the objective of deepening trade and investment ties between Latin America and China.

The working agenda included CAF participation in the Latin America-China Investors Forum (LA-CIF), organized by Latin Finance Magazine, along with a series of meetings with China Development Bank (CDB), EximChina, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and Sinocapital, among others.

Promoting investment and trade between the two regions

At the LA-CIF Forum, CAF President Garcia, along with the president of HSBC China, Richard Yorke, and the deputy governor of the China Development Bank, Jian Gao, was one of the keynote speakers at the inaugural session which was attended by a large number of business leaders, bankers, investors, government representatives, academics and media.

During his remarks, Garcia spoke of the important role that China is playing in the current international economic and financial situation and its contributions to mitigating the effects of the global crisis. He emphasized the complementarity of the economies of the two regions and the positive impact which China’s accelerated growth has had on Latin American investments and exports.

He underlined the enormous potential of bi-regional relations and CAF’s interest in deepening them with a view to building a valuable bridge between Latin America and China. “The Corporation is committed to supporting Latin American countries in opening of new horizons in Asia and strengthening a long-term integrated development agenda. Its catalytic role will help attract new actors to channel additional resources, both economic and technological, in order to achieve sustained development and move toward stronger economies stimulated by competitive advantages.”

China Development Bank: a strategically

One of the most important high-level meetings held by the mission was with the China Development Bank Corporation (CDB), represented by its Governor Chen Yuan.

The two institutions, based on the excellent level of relations and successful joint work which has led to increased knowledge of China and of Latin America, agreed to sign a new cooperation agreement in the near future. The accord will define new lines of credit; move forward with cofinancing operations to benefit small, medium-sized and large enterprises; set up a trust fund; and promote exchange of personnel.

“Through CAF we have come to know more about Latin America,” Governor Yuan said. “We recognize the potential which the region represents and we have worked hard to make this into real cooperation. CAF is the best partner for us.”

Garcia said bilateral relations began in 2006, following identification of a series of common interests. He expressed his satisfaction that CAF had contributed to the important work which CDB is doing in Latin America, and the joint financing of projects in the region. “Our activities during this visit to China – the CAF president concluded – mean we are playing a catalytic role by contributing ideas and resources from other regions in favor of regional development.”

New steps in expanding relations with China Eximbank

As part of its strategy of deepening relations with Asia, the CAF mission also met with the Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) which has become an important source of financing for capital goods, technology and infrastructure projects around the world.

At the meeting, the two institutions reaffirmed their interest in working jointly in areas of common interest. They agreed to sign a framework cooperation agreement in the near future which will cover lines of credit and joint operations with a view to actively promoting trade and investment initiatives in the framework of horizontal cooperation between developing countries.

South American Stock Markets; weekly roundup

EPU (Peru’s ETF) now trading on Mexico’s stock exchange

Atención a todos los inversionistas mexicanos. ETF del Perú, ahora se cotiza en la Bolsa Mexicana de Valores!

Now lets compare the two ETF’s.

Mexico – EPU.mx (Bolsa)

EPU.mx - Mexican Stock Exchange

United States – EPU (NYSE)

EPU - New York Stock Exchange

The quest for energy resources — CNN Video

CNN Video — Militants agree to stop attacks. Nigeria’s oil minister tells CNN China and U.S. are vying for their oil.