Media Navel Gaze: December 19, 2016

December 19, 2016 Mark Kollar  Follow

Well if finally happened. What we’ve all expected for some time so no big surprise but the Fed raised the funds rate 25 basis points, its second increase in a decade. But its’s not stopping there. A “confident” Fed (as many dubbed the group) voted unanimously for the rate rise amid talk for many more to come because of ongoing strength in the economy. 

Elsewhere:

• The rate move put a bit of a damper on the recent stock-market party, with the Dow closing the week up only 0.4 percent to 19,843, getting close to the 20,000 mark and up 14 percent for the year and 8.2 percent since the election;
• Fake news became a real thing for Facebook, which is furiously working on fact-checking procedures before turning into Fakebook;
• We were hacked big time, it now seems safe to say, at both the DNC and RNC, and deniers exist and debates/coverage of this issue will continue;
• The world could briefly bid to have coffee with Ivanka for charity but the opportunity vanished once the ethics police moved in;
• Vine is back, kinda, as a new app called Vine Camera in a new format so that we can post beyond Twitter;
• Aleppo fell;
• The Redstones squashed the Viacom/CBS merger; and
• Craig Sager, sports reporter with sartorial splendor died.

LatAm Gaze

• On Thursday, the Bank of Mexico delivered its fifth rise of 50 basis points in 2016. The peso remains unstable and vulnerable, however, trading around 20.3 to the dollar.
• On Friday, Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was indicted on charges of money laundering and allegedly accepting bribes from Swedish aerospace company Saab AB, and others.
• On Saturday, Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro delayed plans to withdraw the country’s most widely used bank note, citing the replacement bills weren’t ready. Citizens were given just a few days to turn in their cash, which left many stuck with worthless bills.
• End of Week Market Updates
  • The Fed’s interest rate rise made markets more bullish on the US, causing sell-offs in riskier markets like LatAm:
    • Merval (Argentina):   -  3.68%
    • Bovespa (Brazil):       -  3.49%
    • IPSA (Chile):              -  1.31%
    • IGBC (Colombia):      +  1.61%
    • IPC (Mexico):             -  3.82%
    • BVL (Peru):               -   1.33%