BZF: WisdomTree Brazilian Real ETF Instablogs

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Monday, June 17, 10:27 AM Brazil is facing a ratings downgrade in early 2014, says Barclays, thanks to a combination of weak growth and fiscal deterioration. The central bank's hawkish rhetoric is nice, but only a major change in fiscal policy will prevent the downgrade and "rekindle positive investor sentiment." As a result, the real (BZF) should remain under pressure. Stocks (EWZ, BRF) continue to underperform. They failed to get a boost from easy monetary policy in 2012 and now must deal with a rate hike cycle. Comment! [Global & FX]
Wednesday, March 27, 11:29 AM Brazil puts in a sharp reversal after a gauge of inflation slows and President Rousseff - speaking in South Africa - says anti-inflation policies are outdated. The two combine to give hope the central bank will refrain from what was thought to be an imminent hike in rates. EWZ +0.6%. The real (BZF) declines for a 7th straight day. 1 Comment [Global & FX]
Monday, March 11, 9:40 AM The Brazil ETF (EWZ) weakens 0.8% out of the gate after the central bank moves to weaken the real by setting an auction of up to 30K reverse FX swap contracts. The action may ultimately juice stocks, but the EWZ is not currency hedged. Real ETF: BZF -0.5%. Comment! [Global & FX]
Wednesday, February 13, 10:46 AM Guggenheim's CurrencyShares Singapore Dollar Trust (FXSG) is the 1st ETF tracking the Singapore dollar. The ETF holds foreign currency deposits rather than derivatives, rising when the U.S. dollar weakens relative to the Singapore dollar. FXSG comes with an expense ratio of 0.40% - standard for CurrencyShares ETFs, but cheaper than other currency ETFs UUP (0.50%), CEW (0.55%), INR (0.55%), BZF (0.45%), CNY (0.55%), ERO (0.40%) and ICI (0.65%). (pdf) Comment! [Global & FX]
Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 8:14 AM Time flies. Wasn't it just a matter of weeks ago when Brazilian finmin Mantega - frustrated over the strength of the real - warned of currency wars? Now dealing with a sliding currency, Brazil reduces reserve requirements on short greenback positions, effectively lowering the cost for local banks to sell dollars. BZF -5.3% YTD. Comment! [Global & FX]
Friday, November 30, 2012, 7:39 AM Brazil's GDP grows just 0.6% in Q3, far less than forecasts for 1.2%. The punk print is lead by a steep 2% decline in investment. "If investment doesn't rebound then we are in trouble in 2013," says an economist. Interest rate futures - which had baked in no policy changes for more than a year - are sharply higher, now beginning to price in further rate cuts. EWZ +0.4% premarket. 1 Comment [Global & FX]
Monday, July 2, 2012, 9:31 AM Brazil's June PMI falls to 48.5 from 49.3 previously, the lowest read since October. The Q2 average of 49 is below Q1 of 51 and 2011 Q2 of 50.1, notes HSBC. "This also reinforces the perception that the manufacturing sector kept struggling with competitiveness issues," i.e., the real is too strong. 1 Comment [Global & FX]
Tuesday, June 5, 2012, 9:50 AM Brazil's May services PMI dives to 49.7 from 54.4 previously. It's the lowest level since July 2009 and follows the manufacturing PMI also sliding below the 50 level. "Sluggishness in the industrial sector is spreading to services," says HSBC's Andres Loes. Comment! [Global & FX]
Friday, June 1, 2012, 9:14 AM Brazil's May PMI at 49.3 is unchanged from April, but remains in contraction territory, with export orders falling to their lowest level of 2012. "(The) manufacturing sector is going through a particularly difficult time, squeezed between rising costs on one side, and competition from imports on the other," says HSBC. Comment! [Global & FX, Breaking News]
Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 7:29 AM Brazil's central bank is set to cut rates for the 7th consecutive time tonight to deal with a still-slowing economy. Consensus is for a 50 basis point reduction to 8.5%. At its last policy meeting, the bank surprised with a 75 bp cut. Brazilian shares have performed about as badly as Spain's of late. EWZ -24% in the last 90 days. Comment! [Global & FX]
Friday, May 18, 2012, 3:32 PM Brazil's economic activity index fell 0.35% in March and rose just 0.91% Y/Y, well below expectations for a 2.4% gain. The news prompted yields on interest rate futures contracts to fall to record lows as traders place bets on more policy ease from the central bank. The Bovespa outperforms today, +1.5%. Comment! [Global & FX]
Friday, May 18, 2012, 12:35 PM It's time to remove the 'B' in BRIC and create BANC - a group of commodity-driven currencies (Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Canada), writes Vince Cignarella. The real has a far stronger correlation with these than it does with than with other emerging market currencies. BZF -5.1% YTD. 1 Comment [Global & FX]
Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 12:04 PM Brazilian inflation gains 0.64% in April, the biggest jump in a year, and ahead of estimates for 0.59%. The speedy move was helped by a 12.3% decline in the real over the last 3 months, but is unlikely to push the central bank off a course of further rate cuts, especially as the annual inflation rate fell to 5.1% from 5.24%. EWZ -1.6%. Comment! [Global & FX]
Thursday, May 3, 2012, 8:26 AM The real (BZF) was the worst performing emerging market currency last month, losing 4.3% vs. the dollar to about its weakest level in 3 years. Some expect the central bank to continue its aggressive ease and cut the Selic below 8.75% this month (8.75% in Brazil is like 2% in the U.S. - unimaginable, until recently). The weakened real isn't yet doing holders of EWZ any favors. Comment! [Global & FX]
Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 12:06 PM Brazil's April PMI declines to 49.3 from 51.1 previously, the first contraction in 2012. The only sub-indices above 50 were (what else) input and output prices, with output prices hitting their highest level since May. Better Brazil than Spain, where input prices are on the rise, but output prices are falling. Brazil ETF: EWZ -0.7%. Comment! [Global & FX]
Friday, April 27, 2012, 3:24 PM Brazil's Bovespa continues to drop, -0.8% today as VALE, already stung by diving earnings, has its $5.9B potash project in Argentina threatened by Kirchner's shenanigans. Brazil's banks are also booking losses as the country enters the "not fun" part of a consumer credit boom. On the plus side, the central bank is aggressively cutting rates. The divergence between Brazil and the S&P. 2 Comments [Global & FX, On the Move, Quick Ideas]

BZF WisdomTree Brazilian Real ETF

BZF

WisdomTree Brazilian Real ETF