Brazil surprised markets with a larger-than-expected interest rate cut on Wednesday, stepping up its monetary easing to revive an economy mired in its worst recession ever. In a unanimous vote, the central bank's nine-member monetary policy committee, known as Copom, decided to cut its benchmark Selic rate BRCBMP=ECI by 75 basis points to 13.00 percent... Continue Reading →

Argentina has clinched a deal with labor unions and energy companies aimed at luring investors to the Vaca Muerta formation in Patagonia, one of the largest shale reserves in the world, the government said on Tuesday. Read more

Jan 11 Brazil's central bank will likely step up its pace of interest rate cuts on Wednesday as policymakers scramble to rescue the country's once-vibrant economy from the worst recession on record as it threatens to stretch into a third year. Fifty out of 54 analysts polled by Reuters expect the central bank to cut... Continue Reading →

The amount of oil discovered last year was the lowest since the 1950s as explorers slashed spending amid the worst downturn in a generation, according to Wood Mackenzie. The good news: It can probably only get better from here. Oil companies found only 3.7 billion barrels of so-called conventional crude in 2016, 14 percent less... Continue Reading →

  Despite the sharp drop in investment and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the last two years, an indicator of the Brazilian economy remained surprisingly strong. Direct Investment in the Country  totaled US $ 75 billion in 2015 and accumulated, in the 12 months ended November 2016, US $ 78.8 billion, according to data from... Continue Reading →

The construction giant, which agreed to pay as much as $4.5 billion to settle international bribery charges, finds it is banned from bidding on public works projects in a growing number of countries. See attached article bribery-case-haunts-odebrecht-despite-massive-settlement