Media and LatAm Navel Gaze: October 9, 2017
Bump stocks and morons. Unfortunately, that sums up the week (and lets throw in some good old-fashioned Hollywood casting-couch allegations on an epic level while we’re at it), and the good news machine is way too idle. The Las Vegas massacre was made even more horrific on broadcasts by the rapid-fire rifle sounds on seemingly constant repeat. Perhaps the most honest headline came from satirical outlet, The Onion: "'No Way to Prevent This' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,” which highlights how non-traditional pubs and late-night monologues are kind of becoming our morality narrators.
Elsewhere:
- Rexit is now a thing amid speculation that the Secretary of State may be on his way out after he reportedly called his boss a moron and whispers are growing louder about their lack of any camaraderie for these two commanders;
- President Trump toured Vegas and Puerto Rico, making his island visit a little crisis in itself with unsettling comments about death counts, other disasters, debt and a quickly meme-d paper-towel toss;
- The US unemployment rate slipped to 4.2 percent in September from 4.4 percent while the nation lost jobs some 33,000 (some blamed by the hurricanes), the first monthly decline in seven years;
- Three top GE veterans stepped down, including the CFO and CMO Beth Comstock;
- The Dow gained 1.6 percent on the week, to end Friday at 22,773;
- AOL Messenger, the IM pioneer, is closing; and
- The Nobel Prize for Literature went to Kazuo Ishiguro.
LatAm Gaze:
- AB InBev, owned by Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital, sold a 54.5% stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (“CCBA”) back to Coca-Cola for US$3.15 billion.
- Brazilian steel company Gerdau sold its Chilean operations, its third largest in Latin America, to local investors for US$154 million.
- Ecuadorian Vice-President Jorge Glas was imprisoned this week on pre-trial detention ahead of a hearing into his role in Brazilian construction company Odebrecht’s corruption scandal.
- Argentina’s top airline, Aerolíneas Argentinas, recorded 1.1 million passengers in September, topping its prior record by 18% and showing the region’s improving economic landscape amongst the international community.
- Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay launched a bid to jointly host the 2030 World Cup.
- End of Week Market Updates
- Merval (Argentina): + 2.87 %
- Bovespa (Brazil): + 2.37 %
- IPSA (Chile): + 2.69 %
- IGBC (Colombia): + 0.21 %
- IPC (Mexico): - 0.09 %
- BVL (Peru): +5.08 %
