A Quick Post on Brazil

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Brazilians are going to polls today. The current President Dilma Rousseff seems like will win again. From an investor’s point of view, Dilma has been a disaster when she was elected back in 2010 for the first term. If Dilma wins investors may have to brace themselves for another wild ride.

Here are a few interesting stats in terms of Brazilian equities:

  1. The benchmark Bovespa index is by nearly 15% in the past five years and year-to-date it is up by 8%.
  2. The iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF(EWZ) has lost 40% in the five years and is flat so flat so far this year.
  3. The state-owned oil company Petrobras (PBR) plunged 71% in 5 years.

Performance of iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF – 5 years:

Click to enlarge

EWG 5 Years

Source: Yahoo Finance

Year-to-date performance of Brazilian exchange-listed ADRs:

S.No.CompanyTickerYear-to-date change %Industry
1EmbraerERJ18.49%Aerospace & Defense
2BRF S.A.BRFS15.52%Food Producers
3Itau UnibancoITUB14.18%Banks
4Banco BradescoBBD13.09%Banks
5GolGOL9.63%Travel & Leisure
6Comp. Paranaense de Energia-COPEL ELP8.45%Electricity
7Banco Santander BrasilBSBR4.10%Banks
8Telefonica BrasilVIV1.98%Fixed Line Telecom.
9Petroleo Brasileiro-PetrobrasPBR1.38%Oil & Gas Producers
10Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras-EletrobrasEBRUNCHElectricity
11Banco Bradesco BBDO-0.43%Banks
12Companhia Energetica de Minas Gerais-CEMIGCIG-1.34%Electricity
13Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao-CBDCBD-2.24%Food &Drug Retailers
14TIM ParticipacoesTSU-3.39%Mobile Telecom.
15CPFL EnergiaCPL-5.06%Electricity
16BrasilAgroLND-7.07%Real Estate Inv&Serv
17Fibria CeluloseFBR-7.79%Forestry & Paper
18AMBEV S.AABEV-10.75%Beverages
19UltraparUGP-14.63%Gas,H20&Multiutility
20BraskemBAK-24.37%Chemicals
21GafisaGFA-27.16%HouseGoods&HomeConst
22ValeVALE-27.74%Indust.Metals&Mining
23Companhia Energetica de Minas Gerais-CEMIGCIG-27.93%Electricity
24SABESPSBS-29.81%Gas,H20&Multiutility
25GerdauGGB-37.88%Indust.Metals&Mining
26Companhia Siderurgica Nacional-CSNSID-42.42%Indust.Metals&Mining
27OiOIBR-57.93%Fixed Line Telecom.

Source: BNY Mellon

The complete list of Brazilian ADRs trading on US exchanges and OTCs can be found here.

Disclosure: Long ITUB, BBD and PBR

Things To Do In North Wales

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One of the best tourist destinations to visit in the UK is North Wales. There are plenty of things to do and see in beautiful Wales including train rides through wonderful mountains, castles, parks, camping, etc. Here are some photos from a few of those tourist places:

1. Cabin stay in the woods near Tan-y-Bwlch train station:

Click to enlarge

2. Train ride from Tan-y-Bwlch to  Blaenau Ffestiniog and back:

For more info visit: Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways

3.Visit to UNESCO-ranked Caernarfon Castle, in Gwynedd, North Wales

For more info visit: Caernarfon Castle

4. Explore the Awesome Beach Resort town of Llandudno

For more info visit: Llandudno Toursim Site

Comparing Financial Asset Class Types Held By U.S, Canadian and European Households

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In an earlier post we looked at the financial asset class types held by Latin American households. The following chart shows the various financial assets held by American and Canadian households:

Click to enlarge

Financial Asset Classes of US and Canada Households

The following chart shows the financial assets held by households in Developed Europe:

Financial Asset Classes of European Households

A few observations:

  • Americans hold more of their financial assets in stocks (at 55% in 2013) compared to Canadians.
  • Similarly Canadians hold more bank deposits then Americans.
  • An astonishing 64% of Greek households’ financial assets are in bank deposits while Swedish households have the lowest.
  • In countries such as Swizterland, Ireland, UK, The Netherlands and Denmark the majority of households’ financial assets are in insurance and pensions.

Source: Allianz Global Wealth Report 2014, Allianz

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Dividend Withholding Tax Rates By Country 2014

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*** UPDATE:  For the latest Dividend Withholding Tax Rates click Dividend Withholding Tax Rates By Country 2016

The withholding taxes for foreign stock dividends vary from country to country. For example, the UK withholding tax on dividends for US investors is 0% while Japan charges 20%.

The following table shows the withholding tax rates for 2014 for some of the countries. For the tax rates of all countries click on the image below to open a pdf document:

Click to enlarge and open a pdf document

Dividend Withholding Taxes By Country Page- 1

Source:  Deloitte

You can also download the pdf by clicking here.

*** UPDATE:  For the latest Dividend Withholding Tax Rates click Dividend Withholding Tax Rates By Country 2016

Quick Post: Mexican Airport Operators Are Flying High

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Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S.A.B. de C.V. (OMAB) and Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, SAB de CV (ASR) operate airports in Mexico. Their stocks have soared in the past five years and are continuing to fly higher. Both the stocks are up by about 200% or more in that period compared to the S&P 500’s less than 100% return as shown in the red line below:

Click to enlarge

Mexico Airport Operators

Source: Yahoo Finance

Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte runs 13 international airports in Monterrey, Acapulco, Mazatlán, Zihuatanejo, Ciudad Juárez, Reynosa, Chihuahua, Culiacán, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Tampico, Torreón, and Zacatecas. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste on the other hand operates 9 airports in  the cities of Cancún, Cozumel, Huatulco, Mérida, Minatitlán, Oaxaca, Tapachula, Veracruz, and Villahermosa.

Mexico’s beaches are a major tourist attraction not only to North Americans but also to Europeans and others. For North Americans Mexico offers cheap tourist destinations compared to other places. Hence OMAB and ASUR are benefiting tremendously from the growth of the tourism industry. As noted above they operate the airports in popular destinations like Cancún, Cozumel, Mazatlán, etc.

Disclosure: No Positions