Time For Brazil: Two Takes, Two Solid Bets & Alternatives (PBR, EWZ, BZF, BRF)

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By Jon C. Ogg Updated Published
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Looks like it is time for Brazil to shine again.  Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, managed to get off the world’s largest stock sale.  This appears to be a good event for iShares MSCI Brazil Index (NYSE: EWZ) as the country’s key ETF product, and there may be an alignment of the stars with the broad-based stock market.

Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) priced the largest equity offering ever, right at $67 billion for a whopping 2.3 billion shares at $34.49 per American Depository Share.  ADRs closed down 1.8% Friday at $34.92 and the 52-week range is $31.21 to $53.46.  Thomson Reuters just issued some proprietary analysis showing that Petrbras only needs to be a mediocre offering for Brazil’s BOVESPA to take off.

Our technical analysis affiliate is Adam  Hewison of INO.  He has a big chart call read on iShares MSCI Brazil Index (NYSE: EWZ) that is very bullish here on the ETF.  Hewison’s call: new highs above $100 in the Brazilian ETF, and the audio-video gives many anecdotal data points on this matter.  The current $73.90  price compares  to a 52-week trading range  of $57.18 to $80.93.  The ETF is down by about 1% year to date and net assets are over $9.5 billion.

As far as some alternatives, there is always the currency ETF via the WisdomTree Dreyfus Brazilian Real (NYSE: BZF).  At $28.52, its 52-week range is $24.46 to $28.62.

A second ‘back-up alternative’ play for Brazil could be the Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF (NYSE: BRF), although at $55.25 its 52-week trading range is $36.86 to $55.78.  This is not exactly tied to Petrobras and is far smaller and less liquid, which you probably gathered by the small-cap aspect of the name.

Sometimes you have the charts…Sometimes you have the fundamentals… Sometimes you get both the charts and the fundamentals on your side.

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JON C. OGG

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About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

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