Monday bullets

• Mary O'Grady of the The Wall Street Journal caused some commotion in Brazil by not agreeing with all the rosy forecasts of Brazil's economy in her article entitled "Curb Your Enthusiasm for Brazil". Despite creating billionaires like Eike Baptista, who rose to 8th place on Forbes list of the world's wealthiest individuals, she tends to believe that his story is just another example of the "same old Latin corporatism" which favors a small, select group with special ties to the government. She argues that true reform hasn't taken place and that there still exists a massive amount of bureaucracy, a stifling regulatory and tax structure, and an increase in protectionism --all which do more harm than good to small and medium-size businesses looking to grow. In retaliation for this critique, President Lula has imposed a 25% reading tax on the US based business newspaper.

• The Folha Online reports that the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) hit its highest level in almost two years today, aided by good news from the US economy. Today's closing at 71,289 points leaves it remarkably close to the all-time high of 73,516 set in May of 2008. Investment fund operators expect the Bovespa to end up between 80,000 and 81,000 by the end of the year.

• Exame posted an interview with Karen Peetz (in Portuguese), CEO of Financial Markets and Treasury Services for BNY Mellon. Mrs. Peetz, along with the rest of investment world, is bullish on Brazil and believes it will grow more than 5% this year - regardless of this year's presidential election results.  She added, "China is always in the news, but I think Brazil is the best positioned among the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). It's democratic, it has a mature stock market and a reliable legal system." As a side note, I like BNY Mellon because they helped sponsor a recent American Society softball tournament.