WhyBrasil

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great blog from http://streetsmartbrazil.com/blog/20100518/forrobod%C3%B3 :

“Simple melodies, basic harmonies, driving rhythms and gloomy lyrics romanticizing the harsh sertão of Brazil’s northeast are the elements of this playful genre spread far in the late 1940’s by Luiz Gonzaga who composed “Asa Branca”.

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– FORROBODÓ – Meet the Band Forró in the Dark | StreetSmartBrazil

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great blog from http://streetsmartbrazil.com/blog/20100518/forrobod%C3%B3 :

“Simple melodies, basic harmonies, driving rhythms and gloomy lyrics romanticizing the harsh sertão of Brazil’s northeast are the elements of this playful genre spread far in the late 1940’s by Luiz Gonzaga who composed “Asa Branca”.

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– FORROBODÓ – Meet the Band Forró in the Dark | StreetSmartBrazil

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While in Brazil, my goal is to visit as many UNESCO world heritage sites as possible. Can you name them all?

Brazil
Historic Town of Ouro Preto
Historic Centre of the Town of Olinda
Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis: San Ignacio Mini, Santa Ana, Nuestra Señora de Loreto and Santa Maria Mayor (Argentina), Ruins of Sao Miguel das Missoes (Brazil) *
Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia
Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas
Iguaçu National Park
Brasilia
Serra da Capivara National Park
Historic Centre of São Luís
Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves
Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves
Historic Centre of the Town of Diamantina
Central Amazon Conservation Complex 4
Pantanal Conservation Area
Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves
Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks
Historic Centre of the Town of Goiás
São Francisco Square in the Town of São Cristóvão

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– World Heritage Centre – World Heritage List

Brazil Travel – About.com Brazil Travel Guide:

great site for planning your next visit to Brazil

“Brazil is not “going to lose this game” as governments around the world engage in a “currency war,” he told reporters in Sao Paulo.”

– Mantega’s `Currency War’ Backfires as Real Volatility Jumps: Brazil Credit – Bloomberg

“The real has surged 38 percent since the beginning of 2009, helping swell the country’s annual current account deficit to a record billion in August. The rally extends the currency’s advance to 111 percent since President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office in 2003, the most in the world.”

– Mantega’s `Currency War’ Backfires as Real Volatility Jumps: Brazil Credit – Bloomberg

“Latin America’s biggest economy will grow more than 7 percent this year for the first time since 1986. The annual inflation rate has declined to 4.6 percent from 17 percent in 2003 as Lula pared the budget deficit as a percent of gross domestic product to 43 percent from 52.4 percent and the currency rallied 102 percent against the dollar.”

– Rousseff Confidence Spurs Record Company Sale as Rates Fall: Brazil Credit – Bloomberg

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The (Brazilian) real is also rallying as record low borrowing costs in the U.S. and Europe prompt investors to seek higher returns in faster-growing developing nations. Brazil, Latin America’s biggest economy, will expand more than 7 percent this year for the first time since 1986, according to a central bank survey of analysts. The country’s 10.75 percent benchmark lending rate is more than 900 basis points, or 9 percentage points, higher than the key rates in the U.S., U.K., Japan and euro zone.

“The search for yield is still in place,” Melzi said.

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– Foreigners Bet Billion on Mantega Failing to Curb Real: Brazil Credit – Bloomberg

“Budget Deficit In stepping up intervention, Meirelles, 65, is adding to a budget deficit that reached its widest level in eight months in July. As the dollar purchases swell the central bank’s foreign reserves to a record 7 billion, the government turns over bonds to the bank that allow it to operate in financial markets and prevent the money supply from surging. With Brazilian two-year notes yielding 11.49 percent, or 11 percentage points more than similar-maturity U.S. debt, the country loses money on the transaction, tacking about 24 billion reais a year to its deficit, according to Nathan Blanche, co- founder of Tendencia, a Sao Paulo-based economic research company.”

– Buying Billion a Day Swells `Fiscal Cost’ for Meirelles: Brazil Credit – Bloomberg

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Why is the Brazilian currency ($R) so strong? Ever heard of the carrytrade?…

“Japanese investors are pouring more money into Brazilian bonds than any region in the world after Latin America’s biggest economy raised interest rates the most of any nation this year. Brazilian debt lured a net .6 billion from Japanese mutual funds in the first seven months of 2010, more than the U.S., Canada and Australia combined and exceeding the U.K. and Euro region, according to the Investment Trusts Association in Tokyo. In total, Japanese holdings of Brazilian debt rose 53 percent to a record .8 trillion yen ( billion).

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– Japanese Dump Gilts for Lula Debt as Interest Rates Top 10%: Brazil Credit – Bloomberg