By FRANK BAJAK, Associated Press Writer Frank Bajak, Associated Press Writer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A Haitian judge said Monday he has dismissed kidnapping and criminal association charges against 10 American missionaries detained for trying to take a busload of children out of the country after the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said Laura Silsby, the last of the 10 missionaries jailed in Haiti, still faced a lesser charge for allegedly organizing the effort to transport the 33 children to an orphanage they were setting up in the Dominican Republic.
Silsby faces up to three years in prison if convicted on the remaining charge, the "organization of irregular trips," from a 1980 statute restricting travel out of Haiti signed by then-dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier.
Silsby declined comment from her jail cell. Shiller Roi, a lawyer for Silsby, declined comment, saying he hadn't yet received the judge's written decision.
The judge told The Associated Press that the charge of organizing the trip was also pending against Jean Sainvil, a Haitian-born pastor from Atlanta who also helped organize the venture. Sainvil did not immediately respond to message left on his voicemail.
The judge, who spoke to AP in a brief phone interview, did not explain the reasons for his decisions.
It was the latest development in a case that emerged amid the chaos following the devastating earthquake, which the government said killed an estimated 230,000 people and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
Border guards detained the Americans on Jan. 29 as they tried to enter the Dominican Republic from Haiti without the required documents for the children.
A relative of two members of the group of Baptists said at the time that they intended to take the children, all of whom still had at least one living parent, to an orphanage they were setting up in the Dominican Republic for Haitian children.
On Feb. 17, the judge released eight of the Americans after concluding that parents voluntarily gave up their children in the belief that the Americans would give them a better life. He freed the ninth March 8, leaving only Silsby in custody.
Supporters of the group said they were only trying to help the children and simply misunderstood Haitian adoption rules intended to prevent child trafficking following the earthquake.
Lawyers for some of the former detainees welcomed the judge's decision.
Caleb Stegall, an attorney in Perry, Kansas, who represents four of the missionaries, said he had expected the charges to be dropped once his clients were allowed to leave Haiti. Still, he said, "They can have some closure."
Hiram Sasser, lawyer for former detainee Jim Allen of Amarillo, Texas, said Allen's family and friends were grateful.
"Obviously, we think it's great," said Sasser, a lawyer with the Liberty Institute, a non-profit religious rights activist group based in Plano, Texas.
Child trafficking has long been a serious problem in Haiti.
In a separate case Monday, three suspected Haitian traffickers were caught driving 24 children in the town of Mirebalais. The group was traveling with the children's birth certificates, suggesting they meant to put them up for adoption, local judge Vicran Charles said.
The judge said the suspects said they were taking the children to a woman who runs an orphanage in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and promised the children a better life.
The children, who were placed in a nearby orphanage, range in age from 1 to 13. None appeared to be orphans.
"I have a mom and a dad," said 8-year-old Jolen Plaisir. "They didn't tell me why they were sending me to an orphanage."
Armed man (Joseph Sean McVey) arrested after Obama leaves airport
By Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - An armed man spotted at a airport parking lot just after Air Force One departed and who said he wanted to see President Barack Obama was being held at the request of federal authorities, a judge said Monday.
Authorities arrested Joseph Sean McVey, 23, on Sunday afternoon at the Asheville Regional Airport and charged him with going armed in terror of the public, a misdemeanour.
McVey, wearing a white jail jumpsuit, appeared calm and spoke in a steady voice via a video conference Monday morning while district Judge Patricia Young said federal authorities wanted him kept in custody even if he posts bail.
McVey was being held under a $100,000 secured bond for the misdemeanour charge and faces up to 120 days in jail if convicted, the judge said. She told him an attorney had agreed to represent him.
"I'd like to take advantage of the gentleman that you were notifying me about," he responded.
Young set his next court date for June 10.
McVey told an officer in the airport parking lot he wanted to see the president. He had a car equipped with police gear, including a siren and flashing lights, though he did not work in law enforcement, authorities said.
Security was heightened at the airport Sunday because Obama was leaving after spending the weekend vacationing in Asheville.
At about 2 p.m., airport police saw McVey get out of a maroon car with out-of-state license plates and that he had a sidearm, airport police Capt. Kevan Smith said. Both airport police and the Secret Service questioned him and he was taken into custody. The suspect was nowhere near the president's plane, which had just departed, and was in a rental car return lot that is open to the public, Smith said.
His car was equipped with clear LED law enforcement-style strobe lights in the front and rear dash, Smith said. The car also had a mounted digital camera in the front window, four large antennas on the trunk lid, and under the steering wheel was a working siren box.
When McVey got out of the car, he was listening to a handheld scanner and radio that had a remote earpiece, Smith said. Police said he was monitoring local agencies and had formulas for rifle scopes on a note in his cup holder.
Authorities did not say if McVey had a rifle or scope with him.
A rifle scope formula is a set of calculations that helps a shooter adjust for distance from a target. The formulas, which estimate how much a bullet drops after it is fired, are generally in the information packet that comes with a scope purchased for hunting or recreation, said Greg A. Danas, a firearms expert based in Massachusetts.
McVey gave authorities a driver's license from his home state of Ohio, but a computer check failed to show the number was valid, police said.
When Officer Kaleb Rice asked him what he was doing, McVey told him he heard the president was in town and wanted to see him.
Rice removed the firearm and took McVey into custody.
The investigation into what McVey was doing with a gun, with formulas for rifle scopes and why his car was equipped with police gear was continuing, Smith said. The Secret Service had no comment Monday on the case.
In Ohio, a man answering the door Monday at McVey's home address said he had no comment.
Randy Fisher, president of the Coshocton County Amateur Radio Association, said McVey was a ham radio enthusiast who had come several times to the group's monthly meetings over the last year or two. Fisher said he was shocked to hear of the arrest and said he last talked with McVey about a week ago via radio and always found him friendly and interesting to talk to.
"I was impressed that he was a public-service-minded type of individual. He really enjoyed using his ham radio for emergency services and that sort of thing," Fisher said.
For two years, McVey has been a member of a volunteer organization in his home area that assists the sheriff's department with traffic control at emergency scenes, said Tim Wise, president of Coshocton County REACT, or Radio Emergency Association Citizen Team.
Wise said he was inclined to believe McVey's arrest resulted from a misunderstanding.
"Everything they found on him, with the exception of a gun, he basically had all that when he was in Coshocton," Wise said Monday. "He just basically liked to monitor police frequencies and listen to what's going on."
That's common for REACT members, though members of the organization are not authorized to have police sirens and lights or break the speed limit on the way to emergencies, Wise said.
McVey had to be warned about his speed while responding to REACT calls, Wise said.
"He's kind of a go-getter, and I know we had to kind of clip his wings a couple times and tell him he needed to watch what he was doing out there and slow down a little bit," Wise said.
McVey had a webcam in his car because he liked to chase severe storms. Wise said he was unaware McVey had a gun, but said with certainty he did not believe McVey would ever want to harm the president.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - An armed man spotted at a airport parking lot just after Air Force One departed and who said he wanted to see President Barack Obama was being held at the request of federal authorities, a judge said Monday.
Authorities arrested Joseph Sean McVey, 23, on Sunday afternoon at the Asheville Regional Airport and charged him with going armed in terror of the public, a misdemeanour.
McVey, wearing a white jail jumpsuit, appeared calm and spoke in a steady voice via a video conference Monday morning while district Judge Patricia Young said federal authorities wanted him kept in custody even if he posts bail.
McVey was being held under a $100,000 secured bond for the misdemeanour charge and faces up to 120 days in jail if convicted, the judge said. She told him an attorney had agreed to represent him.
"I'd like to take advantage of the gentleman that you were notifying me about," he responded.
Young set his next court date for June 10.
McVey told an officer in the airport parking lot he wanted to see the president. He had a car equipped with police gear, including a siren and flashing lights, though he did not work in law enforcement, authorities said.
Security was heightened at the airport Sunday because Obama was leaving after spending the weekend vacationing in Asheville.
At about 2 p.m., airport police saw McVey get out of a maroon car with out-of-state license plates and that he had a sidearm, airport police Capt. Kevan Smith said. Both airport police and the Secret Service questioned him and he was taken into custody. The suspect was nowhere near the president's plane, which had just departed, and was in a rental car return lot that is open to the public, Smith said.
His car was equipped with clear LED law enforcement-style strobe lights in the front and rear dash, Smith said. The car also had a mounted digital camera in the front window, four large antennas on the trunk lid, and under the steering wheel was a working siren box.
When McVey got out of the car, he was listening to a handheld scanner and radio that had a remote earpiece, Smith said. Police said he was monitoring local agencies and had formulas for rifle scopes on a note in his cup holder.
Authorities did not say if McVey had a rifle or scope with him.
A rifle scope formula is a set of calculations that helps a shooter adjust for distance from a target. The formulas, which estimate how much a bullet drops after it is fired, are generally in the information packet that comes with a scope purchased for hunting or recreation, said Greg A. Danas, a firearms expert based in Massachusetts.
McVey gave authorities a driver's license from his home state of Ohio, but a computer check failed to show the number was valid, police said.
When Officer Kaleb Rice asked him what he was doing, McVey told him he heard the president was in town and wanted to see him.
Rice removed the firearm and took McVey into custody.
The investigation into what McVey was doing with a gun, with formulas for rifle scopes and why his car was equipped with police gear was continuing, Smith said. The Secret Service had no comment Monday on the case.
In Ohio, a man answering the door Monday at McVey's home address said he had no comment.
Randy Fisher, president of the Coshocton County Amateur Radio Association, said McVey was a ham radio enthusiast who had come several times to the group's monthly meetings over the last year or two. Fisher said he was shocked to hear of the arrest and said he last talked with McVey about a week ago via radio and always found him friendly and interesting to talk to.
"I was impressed that he was a public-service-minded type of individual. He really enjoyed using his ham radio for emergency services and that sort of thing," Fisher said.
For two years, McVey has been a member of a volunteer organization in his home area that assists the sheriff's department with traffic control at emergency scenes, said Tim Wise, president of Coshocton County REACT, or Radio Emergency Association Citizen Team.
Wise said he was inclined to believe McVey's arrest resulted from a misunderstanding.
"Everything they found on him, with the exception of a gun, he basically had all that when he was in Coshocton," Wise said Monday. "He just basically liked to monitor police frequencies and listen to what's going on."
That's common for REACT members, though members of the organization are not authorized to have police sirens and lights or break the speed limit on the way to emergencies, Wise said.
McVey had to be warned about his speed while responding to REACT calls, Wise said.
"He's kind of a go-getter, and I know we had to kind of clip his wings a couple times and tell him he needed to watch what he was doing out there and slow down a little bit," Wise said.
McVey had a webcam in his car because he liked to chase severe storms. Wise said he was unaware McVey had a gun, but said with certainty he did not believe McVey would ever want to harm the president.
Business Forum: Is MBA degree worth the time and money?
B-school curriculums will have to evolve to stay relevant, three business school professors argue.
By Ronald M. Bosrock
Is the MBA degree still worth it?
Earlier this year, the Harvard Business Review published its list of the 50 best-performing CEOs in the world. The base for the survey was the chief executives of 1,109 companies.
Out of that top 50 list only 14 CEOs had master of business administration degrees. And only eight of those were from the U.S. schools. Furthermore, out of the original pool of candidates, only 32 percent had MBAs.
The results of this survey alone might be reason enough to question the relevancy of the degree in today's world.
When I started college in the late 1950s few of my classmates were planning to get an MBA as an advanced degree. Several were planning on going to law school, dental school or getting a master's in political science or history. But not business school. It wasn't until the late 1970s and 1980s that interest in business school seemed to take hold. Movies like "Wall Street" in 1987 made the business world sexy. The young investment bankers, private equity managers and analysts advanced the short-term strategies that laid the foundation for the recent financial disaster.
For some time now the MBA has been the "hot" ticket for the young and ambitious, the same way the engineering degree was after the Soviets launched Sputnik, causing near panic that the United States was technologically behind its Cold War adversary.
But since the most recent financial crash, criticism has been leveled against the kind of training the MBA provides.
In their recent book, "Rethinking the MBA," Harvard business school professors Srikant Datar, David Garvin and Patrick Cullen suggest that business schools played a contributing role in the financial meltdown of 2008. They argue that too many MBAs didn't learn the "importance of social responsibility, common-sense skepticism and respect for the risk they were taking with other people's money."
Is this kind of criticism enough to dissuade students from pursuing the degree? Not likely. The demand for the degree can be seen in our own community. The flagship program is probably the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Business, followed by several others including the University of St. Thomas, St. Mary's University, Hamline, Concordia and Augsburg, to name a few. In addition to the standard schools there are about 50 online MBA programs available.
As the demand for the degree continues to grow, so does the demand for more relevancy.
Several national news magazines rank the business schools annually and while there is some fluctuation among the top 20 business schools, the names that regularly appear at or near the top include Harvard, the University of Chicago, Michigan, Duke, Northwestern and Pennsylvania.
Part of the argument for getting an MBA has to be considered in dollars and cents as well as future earnings. A student who wants to earn an MBA degree from a top school will pay in the neighborhood of $80,000 to $100,000 for the two years. There is a push-pull effect surrounding this process as well. As the demand for an MBA grows, so will the demand by the students for more options. The colleges and universities also play a part in this process. The business schools have become a new and major income stream for the colleges. But according to Prof. Datar, the demand for the traditional MBA, with high price tag, will start to tail off in favor of part-time or even online degrees.
In order to keep the MBA relevant, the colleges offering them will have to make the curriculum more responsive to the global economy. Here are some suggestions:
• Stress the importance of understanding the ethics of doing business in the world. Unfortunately, this subject has often gotten little concern in the "how-to" curriculums of most business schools.
• Include more relevant classes dealing with current issues facing communities both locally and globally.
• Teach the importance of the culture differences. The vast majority of students will be working with and/or for companies that do business worldwide.
• Teach the integration of the world of business and the world of geopolitics. Oftentimes they overlap.
• Place more emphasis on long-range strategic planning as opposed to the familiar strategy of planning for next quarter or the next year. Building a quality company takes time. It's not just about taking a quick profit for the shareholders and senior executives and moving on.
Is the MBA still worth it? I would answer with a qualified yes -- but with the caveat that the curriculum of most programs should be revised to meet the challenges that face the next generation of business leaders.
By Ronald M. Bosrock
Is the MBA degree still worth it?
Earlier this year, the Harvard Business Review published its list of the 50 best-performing CEOs in the world. The base for the survey was the chief executives of 1,109 companies.
Out of that top 50 list only 14 CEOs had master of business administration degrees. And only eight of those were from the U.S. schools. Furthermore, out of the original pool of candidates, only 32 percent had MBAs.
The results of this survey alone might be reason enough to question the relevancy of the degree in today's world.
When I started college in the late 1950s few of my classmates were planning to get an MBA as an advanced degree. Several were planning on going to law school, dental school or getting a master's in political science or history. But not business school. It wasn't until the late 1970s and 1980s that interest in business school seemed to take hold. Movies like "Wall Street" in 1987 made the business world sexy. The young investment bankers, private equity managers and analysts advanced the short-term strategies that laid the foundation for the recent financial disaster.
For some time now the MBA has been the "hot" ticket for the young and ambitious, the same way the engineering degree was after the Soviets launched Sputnik, causing near panic that the United States was technologically behind its Cold War adversary.
But since the most recent financial crash, criticism has been leveled against the kind of training the MBA provides.
In their recent book, "Rethinking the MBA," Harvard business school professors Srikant Datar, David Garvin and Patrick Cullen suggest that business schools played a contributing role in the financial meltdown of 2008. They argue that too many MBAs didn't learn the "importance of social responsibility, common-sense skepticism and respect for the risk they were taking with other people's money."
Is this kind of criticism enough to dissuade students from pursuing the degree? Not likely. The demand for the degree can be seen in our own community. The flagship program is probably the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Business, followed by several others including the University of St. Thomas, St. Mary's University, Hamline, Concordia and Augsburg, to name a few. In addition to the standard schools there are about 50 online MBA programs available.
As the demand for the degree continues to grow, so does the demand for more relevancy.
Several national news magazines rank the business schools annually and while there is some fluctuation among the top 20 business schools, the names that regularly appear at or near the top include Harvard, the University of Chicago, Michigan, Duke, Northwestern and Pennsylvania.
Part of the argument for getting an MBA has to be considered in dollars and cents as well as future earnings. A student who wants to earn an MBA degree from a top school will pay in the neighborhood of $80,000 to $100,000 for the two years. There is a push-pull effect surrounding this process as well. As the demand for an MBA grows, so will the demand by the students for more options. The colleges and universities also play a part in this process. The business schools have become a new and major income stream for the colleges. But according to Prof. Datar, the demand for the traditional MBA, with high price tag, will start to tail off in favor of part-time or even online degrees.
In order to keep the MBA relevant, the colleges offering them will have to make the curriculum more responsive to the global economy. Here are some suggestions:
• Stress the importance of understanding the ethics of doing business in the world. Unfortunately, this subject has often gotten little concern in the "how-to" curriculums of most business schools.
• Include more relevant classes dealing with current issues facing communities both locally and globally.
• Teach the importance of the culture differences. The vast majority of students will be working with and/or for companies that do business worldwide.
• Teach the integration of the world of business and the world of geopolitics. Oftentimes they overlap.
• Place more emphasis on long-range strategic planning as opposed to the familiar strategy of planning for next quarter or the next year. Building a quality company takes time. It's not just about taking a quick profit for the shareholders and senior executives and moving on.
Is the MBA still worth it? I would answer with a qualified yes -- but with the caveat that the curriculum of most programs should be revised to meet the challenges that face the next generation of business leaders.
Europe’s New Politics of Fear By Denis MacShane - NEWSWEEK
There is a new divide in Europe. Not an iron curtain, but an iron intolerance as politicians revert to blaming minorities for their nations' woes. In Western Europe it is Muslims. In Eastern Europe they are Jews, Roma, and gays. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders surged to an election victory in March on the back of anti-Muslim, anti-Quran populism. In Hungary the Fidesz Party won big in recent elections with attacks on "Jewish capital…which wants to devour the entire world." To the right of Fidesz is the openly anti-Jewish Jobbik Party, which won just two seats fewer than the Socialists. Its leaders want to wear the neo-Nazi uniform of the pre-1939 Hungarian Guard when they take their seats in Budapest's Parliament.
Contemporary political scientists do not like to highlight anti-Semitism. They prefer the term "radical populism," but to anyone with half a sense of European history, the parallels with an older, Jew-baiting politics can no longer be dismissed. Economic dislocation and a rapid loss of confidence in traditional politics gave rise to ultranationalist movements in the first half of the last century. Now a global recession and the hunt for someone to blame as jobs and incomes disappear is producing the same toxic politics.
The Fidesz leader, Viktor Orban, was a youthful evangelist for liberalized open markets after 1990. Now he strikes a much more nationalist tone. His Socialist opponents had to accept an austerity IMF package. Unlike Greece—which is being helped, so far, by its euro-zone partners—Hungary was alone as boom-time euro loans to buy houses and cars had to be paid back in an ever-devaluing forint. Blaming the Socialist government, globalization, and international capital was easy. But Fidesz went further. In a bid for votes on the far right, a Fidesz parliamentarian, Oszkar Molnar, says it's time to give "primacy to Hungarian interests over those of global capital, Jewish capital."
Like Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front in France, Jobbik has the support of about 15 percent of Hungarian voters. The Czech right-wing ODS Party has had to dismiss its leader, former premier Mirek Topolánek, after he attacked the Jewish origins of the current Czech prime minister and castigated the gay transport minister. In a new book, The Populist Radical Right in Poland, the Oxford-educated Warsaw political professor Rafal Pankowski writes: "Antisemitism is crucial to the Polish populist right. The number of Jews in Poland today is minimal, but the anti-Jewish prejudice serves as a code for a general hostility to diversity and to Polish [liberal] democracy." For the time being, criticism of nationalist politics is suspended as Poles mourn President Lech Kaczynski and other national leaders killed in the air-crash tragedy this month.
But the record of his party activists—including Michal Kaminski, Poland's best-known M.E.P. and leader of a small right-wing group in the Strasbourg Parliament—is disturbing. An admirer of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, Kaminski uses ugly language about gays, and says he will apologize for the killing of Jews on Polish soil in World War II when "Jews apologize for killing Poles."
Mainstream political parties have sought to play down the rise of minority bashing. But Fidesz is affiliated with the center-right European People's Party, which groups Angela Merkel's ruling Christian Democratic Union Party in Germany, Nicolas Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement government in France, and ruling conservative parties in Sweden, Italy, and Belgium. When Austrian rightist Jörg Haider entered a coalition in Austria a decade ago, the European Union held Vienna in a political quarantine until Haider was removed. But Fidesz has a massive majority built on attacking "Jewish capital" in language even Haider didn't dare utter.
So radical populism—anti-Muslim in Western Europe, anti-Jewish in Eastern Europe, and anti-foreigner and anti-immigrant rhetoric everywhere—is no longer fringe politics. In Britain's gen-eral election, all the main parties are seeking to appease anti-foreigner feeling with language on immigrants that they would not tolerate if applied to British citizens living and working abroad. Comparisons with prewar Europe should not be overdrawn. Fascism is dead and not coming back. But a new politics of intolerance is afoot in Europe, and no one knows how to deal with it.
MacShane was Britain's Europe minister.
Contemporary political scientists do not like to highlight anti-Semitism. They prefer the term "radical populism," but to anyone with half a sense of European history, the parallels with an older, Jew-baiting politics can no longer be dismissed. Economic dislocation and a rapid loss of confidence in traditional politics gave rise to ultranationalist movements in the first half of the last century. Now a global recession and the hunt for someone to blame as jobs and incomes disappear is producing the same toxic politics.
The Fidesz leader, Viktor Orban, was a youthful evangelist for liberalized open markets after 1990. Now he strikes a much more nationalist tone. His Socialist opponents had to accept an austerity IMF package. Unlike Greece—which is being helped, so far, by its euro-zone partners—Hungary was alone as boom-time euro loans to buy houses and cars had to be paid back in an ever-devaluing forint. Blaming the Socialist government, globalization, and international capital was easy. But Fidesz went further. In a bid for votes on the far right, a Fidesz parliamentarian, Oszkar Molnar, says it's time to give "primacy to Hungarian interests over those of global capital, Jewish capital."
Like Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front in France, Jobbik has the support of about 15 percent of Hungarian voters. The Czech right-wing ODS Party has had to dismiss its leader, former premier Mirek Topolánek, after he attacked the Jewish origins of the current Czech prime minister and castigated the gay transport minister. In a new book, The Populist Radical Right in Poland, the Oxford-educated Warsaw political professor Rafal Pankowski writes: "Antisemitism is crucial to the Polish populist right. The number of Jews in Poland today is minimal, but the anti-Jewish prejudice serves as a code for a general hostility to diversity and to Polish [liberal] democracy." For the time being, criticism of nationalist politics is suspended as Poles mourn President Lech Kaczynski and other national leaders killed in the air-crash tragedy this month.
But the record of his party activists—including Michal Kaminski, Poland's best-known M.E.P. and leader of a small right-wing group in the Strasbourg Parliament—is disturbing. An admirer of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, Kaminski uses ugly language about gays, and says he will apologize for the killing of Jews on Polish soil in World War II when "Jews apologize for killing Poles."
Mainstream political parties have sought to play down the rise of minority bashing. But Fidesz is affiliated with the center-right European People's Party, which groups Angela Merkel's ruling Christian Democratic Union Party in Germany, Nicolas Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement government in France, and ruling conservative parties in Sweden, Italy, and Belgium. When Austrian rightist Jörg Haider entered a coalition in Austria a decade ago, the European Union held Vienna in a political quarantine until Haider was removed. But Fidesz has a massive majority built on attacking "Jewish capital" in language even Haider didn't dare utter.
So radical populism—anti-Muslim in Western Europe, anti-Jewish in Eastern Europe, and anti-foreigner and anti-immigrant rhetoric everywhere—is no longer fringe politics. In Britain's gen-eral election, all the main parties are seeking to appease anti-foreigner feeling with language on immigrants that they would not tolerate if applied to British citizens living and working abroad. Comparisons with prewar Europe should not be overdrawn. Fascism is dead and not coming back. But a new politics of intolerance is afoot in Europe, and no one knows how to deal with it.
MacShane was Britain's Europe minister.
Investing In Brazil 101
In a world full of undiscovered prospects, it is never too late to try something new. Investors now looking for alpha and beta can think about adding a little bit of samba to their portfolio. With a steadily growing economy, a stable financial market and a liberal investment climate, Brazil has the potential to emerge as the dark horse in the race among emerging markets. But for that, Brazil just needs to continue on its present course without doing anything dramatic. Read on to find out what Brazil has to offer for the global investment community.
Two Options for Getting Your Feet Wet
International investors have two options for investing in the Brazilian stocks. The first option in to go straight to the place of action by investing in stocks listed on the Brazilian stock exchange. The second option is to try the offshore investment route available in the form of American depository receipts (ADRs), global depository receipts (GDRs), exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds focused on Brazil or Latin America. No matter which option you choose, it's important to learn more about this exciting location.
An Overview of the Brazilian Economy
The Brazilian economy is the 10th largest economy in the world. During the period 2004-2008, the economy grew at the rate of 4-5%on average. Many would consider this growth rates to be less impressive than rates seen in China and India, but Brazil nevertheless continues to be an investment hotspot. Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that are self-sufficient in oil, which plays a very crucial role in global economy. Brazil is also a leader in alternative energy sources; it produces more ethanol than the combined production of Asia and Europe. Brazil is also the second largest producer of iron ore in the world.
With this abundance of natural resources, Brazilians are manufacturing everything from aircrafts to hair pins. The decades of hyper-inflation and unstable domestic currency seem to be over. There is a long list of positive points that make Brazil a promising candidate for spectacular growth.
A Stock Market with its Own Megabolsa
Brazil has one of the most sophisticated stock exchanges called BM&F Bovespa which was created in 2008 by the merger of the Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange (BM&F) and the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa). The Sao Paulo Stock Exchange was established in 1890. The integrated BM&F Bovespa offers a host of products for trading such as stocks, ETFs, futures, commodities, forwards, options, corporate and government bonds etc. Nearly 450 firms are listed on Bovespa. All trading in equity and equity derivatives take place at Bovespa on an order driven electronic trading platform called Megabolsa. The second largest stock exchange in Brazil is the Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange (BVRJ) which trades in government bonds and currencies.
Trading Mechanism at MM&F Bovespa
All transactions of buying and selling of equities are electronically processed by Megabolsa. The exchange provides a "home broker" facility which enables placing of orders through internet trading facilities offered by stock brokers. The exchange also provides direct market access (DMA) through participating brokers to both individuals and institutional investors for placing orders directly into the Megabolsa trading system. The Megabolsa order book is organized on best price/time priority. The presence of market makers is not compulsory; however, certain stocks do have market makers who are required to be present in the market on a continuous basis for placing bid and ask prices for a given volume of securities.
Before commencement of the regular trading session there is a 15 minute pre-opening phase in which orders are placed in the system for establishing the opening price ("opening calls"). During the last five minutes, there are "closing calls" for all stocks comprising indexes and for the option series of underlying shares that comprise the IBrX-100 (one of the market indexes) theoretical portfolio. Closing calls help in establishing more transparent closing prices, which is good for any fund that tracks Brazilian stock market indexes. Settlement of all trades in the equity market takes place on T+3, that is, any trade made on Monday gets finally settled by Thursday.
Trading Hours
The regular trading session is from 10am to 5pm Brasilia Time and from 11am to 6pm Brasilia Time during daylight saving time months. Brazil regular hours are at GMT - 3:00 Hrs and the daylight saving time is at GMT - 2:00 Hrs (normally valid from October to March). The market also provides a facility for trading after regular trading hours from 5:30pm to 7pm (from 6:30pm to 7:30pm during daylight saving time months). The after-market trading takes place within specified parameters such as price variation, maximum number of securities per operation and a limit on the financial value for trading via the "home broker" facility.
Market Indexes
There are about dozen of indexes pertaining to stocks listed on BM&F Bovespa. The most popular index is the Bovespa Index (IBovespa) which covers about 80% of the trades taking place in terms of volume and about 70% of the market capitalization of the exchange.
Investing in Brazil for Outside Investors
Brazil has one of the most liberal investment climates for outside investors. Non-resident investors, both individuals and legal entities, can invest in most of the financial and capital market instruments available to resident investors, without any restrictions. However, non-resident investors are required to hire local entities to act as custodian and representative for regulatory and tax related issues. Investors are also required to complete other formalities like registering with the Brazilian Central Bank, the stock market regulator CVM and the Federal Revenue Service.
Investors desiring a shorter route can use the option of operating as participants ("passengers") in collective accounts registered in the name of some other investor. All funds coming in and going out of Brazil must be registered at the Central Bank through declarations submitted through electronic means. For placing orders on the stock exchange, you also need to select a member brokerage firm of BM&F Bovespa. Most of the financial institutions located in Brazil provide diverse services pertaining to registration and investment under the same roof.
Offshore Investment Opportunities
In case you are not yet ready for the direct route, you can think of using some of the options available closer to home. Outside investors can invest in the underlying stocks of some of the well known Brazilian companies by investing in ADRslisted in American stock exchanges and GDRs listed in European markets. In 2008, Forbes' Global 2000 list included 34 Brazilian companies, many of which trade on American stock exchanges in the form of ADRs. All ADRs are denominated in dollars and subject to the regulations of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Another popular mode of investment is through ETFs,which seek to provide exposure to some of the indexes based on Brazilian stocks.
In the future we may see the number of ETFs based on Brazilian stocks increase by leaps and bounds. One of the most prominent Brazil ETFs is iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (NYSE:EWZ), which is listed on U.S. Amex Exchange and tracks stocks constituting the MSCI Brazil Index - covering about 85% of the total market capitalization.The EWZ's focus is on the largest Brazilian companies with almost 75% of its exposure in the three most promising sectors of Brazilian economy consisting of Materials, Energy and Financial Sectors. There is also iShare MSCI Brazil ETF () listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
For investors interested in smaller Brazilian companies there is the Van Eck Brazil Small Cap ETF (NYSE:BRF), which invests in companies deriving at least half of their income by selling products to Brazilians. Another prominent ETF is the Wisdom Tree Dreyfus Brazilian Real Fund (NYSE:BZF), which seeks to provide returns generated by money market rates in Brazil as well as movement of the Brazilian currency real relative to the U.S. dollar.
There are some ETFs that give exposure to a host of Latin American countries along with Brazil, for example, iShare S&P Latin America 40 Index Fund (NYSE:ILF)which makes about 60% of its investment in Brazil. There are many mutual funds too that provide varied degree of exposure to Brazil along with other Latin American countries, for instance, DWS Latin American Equity Fund (SLANX) has about 70% exposure in Brazil. Fidelity Latin American Fund (FLATAX) makes about 59% of its investment in Brazil along with other Latin American countries.
Conclusion
Brazil, just like other emerging markets, seems to be well positioned for new growth opportunities. For directly investing in Brazil one needs to comply with various regulatory procedures of Brazil. The offshore investment route provides opportunities for investing in Brazilian stocks through ADRs, GDRs, Mutual Funds and ETFs available in global markets. The options available for making investments in emerging markets seem to be increasing every day. It would be a good idea to do some more research of your own before choosing any option.
Two Options for Getting Your Feet Wet
International investors have two options for investing in the Brazilian stocks. The first option in to go straight to the place of action by investing in stocks listed on the Brazilian stock exchange. The second option is to try the offshore investment route available in the form of American depository receipts (ADRs), global depository receipts (GDRs), exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds focused on Brazil or Latin America. No matter which option you choose, it's important to learn more about this exciting location.
An Overview of the Brazilian Economy
The Brazilian economy is the 10th largest economy in the world. During the period 2004-2008, the economy grew at the rate of 4-5%on average. Many would consider this growth rates to be less impressive than rates seen in China and India, but Brazil nevertheless continues to be an investment hotspot. Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that are self-sufficient in oil, which plays a very crucial role in global economy. Brazil is also a leader in alternative energy sources; it produces more ethanol than the combined production of Asia and Europe. Brazil is also the second largest producer of iron ore in the world.
With this abundance of natural resources, Brazilians are manufacturing everything from aircrafts to hair pins. The decades of hyper-inflation and unstable domestic currency seem to be over. There is a long list of positive points that make Brazil a promising candidate for spectacular growth.
A Stock Market with its Own Megabolsa
Brazil has one of the most sophisticated stock exchanges called BM&F Bovespa which was created in 2008 by the merger of the Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange (BM&F) and the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa). The Sao Paulo Stock Exchange was established in 1890. The integrated BM&F Bovespa offers a host of products for trading such as stocks, ETFs, futures, commodities, forwards, options, corporate and government bonds etc. Nearly 450 firms are listed on Bovespa. All trading in equity and equity derivatives take place at Bovespa on an order driven electronic trading platform called Megabolsa. The second largest stock exchange in Brazil is the Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange (BVRJ) which trades in government bonds and currencies.
Trading Mechanism at MM&F Bovespa
All transactions of buying and selling of equities are electronically processed by Megabolsa. The exchange provides a "home broker" facility which enables placing of orders through internet trading facilities offered by stock brokers. The exchange also provides direct market access (DMA) through participating brokers to both individuals and institutional investors for placing orders directly into the Megabolsa trading system. The Megabolsa order book is organized on best price/time priority. The presence of market makers is not compulsory; however, certain stocks do have market makers who are required to be present in the market on a continuous basis for placing bid and ask prices for a given volume of securities.
Before commencement of the regular trading session there is a 15 minute pre-opening phase in which orders are placed in the system for establishing the opening price ("opening calls"). During the last five minutes, there are "closing calls" for all stocks comprising indexes and for the option series of underlying shares that comprise the IBrX-100 (one of the market indexes) theoretical portfolio. Closing calls help in establishing more transparent closing prices, which is good for any fund that tracks Brazilian stock market indexes. Settlement of all trades in the equity market takes place on T+3, that is, any trade made on Monday gets finally settled by Thursday.
Trading Hours
The regular trading session is from 10am to 5pm Brasilia Time and from 11am to 6pm Brasilia Time during daylight saving time months. Brazil regular hours are at GMT - 3:00 Hrs and the daylight saving time is at GMT - 2:00 Hrs (normally valid from October to March). The market also provides a facility for trading after regular trading hours from 5:30pm to 7pm (from 6:30pm to 7:30pm during daylight saving time months). The after-market trading takes place within specified parameters such as price variation, maximum number of securities per operation and a limit on the financial value for trading via the "home broker" facility.
Market Indexes
There are about dozen of indexes pertaining to stocks listed on BM&F Bovespa. The most popular index is the Bovespa Index (IBovespa) which covers about 80% of the trades taking place in terms of volume and about 70% of the market capitalization of the exchange.
Investing in Brazil for Outside Investors
Brazil has one of the most liberal investment climates for outside investors. Non-resident investors, both individuals and legal entities, can invest in most of the financial and capital market instruments available to resident investors, without any restrictions. However, non-resident investors are required to hire local entities to act as custodian and representative for regulatory and tax related issues. Investors are also required to complete other formalities like registering with the Brazilian Central Bank, the stock market regulator CVM and the Federal Revenue Service.
Investors desiring a shorter route can use the option of operating as participants ("passengers") in collective accounts registered in the name of some other investor. All funds coming in and going out of Brazil must be registered at the Central Bank through declarations submitted through electronic means. For placing orders on the stock exchange, you also need to select a member brokerage firm of BM&F Bovespa. Most of the financial institutions located in Brazil provide diverse services pertaining to registration and investment under the same roof.
Offshore Investment Opportunities
In case you are not yet ready for the direct route, you can think of using some of the options available closer to home. Outside investors can invest in the underlying stocks of some of the well known Brazilian companies by investing in ADRslisted in American stock exchanges and GDRs listed in European markets. In 2008, Forbes' Global 2000 list included 34 Brazilian companies, many of which trade on American stock exchanges in the form of ADRs. All ADRs are denominated in dollars and subject to the regulations of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Another popular mode of investment is through ETFs,which seek to provide exposure to some of the indexes based on Brazilian stocks.
In the future we may see the number of ETFs based on Brazilian stocks increase by leaps and bounds. One of the most prominent Brazil ETFs is iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (NYSE:EWZ), which is listed on U.S. Amex Exchange and tracks stocks constituting the MSCI Brazil Index - covering about 85% of the total market capitalization.The EWZ's focus is on the largest Brazilian companies with almost 75% of its exposure in the three most promising sectors of Brazilian economy consisting of Materials, Energy and Financial Sectors. There is also iShare MSCI Brazil ETF () listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
For investors interested in smaller Brazilian companies there is the Van Eck Brazil Small Cap ETF (NYSE:BRF), which invests in companies deriving at least half of their income by selling products to Brazilians. Another prominent ETF is the Wisdom Tree Dreyfus Brazilian Real Fund (NYSE:BZF), which seeks to provide returns generated by money market rates in Brazil as well as movement of the Brazilian currency real relative to the U.S. dollar.
There are some ETFs that give exposure to a host of Latin American countries along with Brazil, for example, iShare S&P Latin America 40 Index Fund (NYSE:ILF)which makes about 60% of its investment in Brazil. There are many mutual funds too that provide varied degree of exposure to Brazil along with other Latin American countries, for instance, DWS Latin American Equity Fund (SLANX) has about 70% exposure in Brazil. Fidelity Latin American Fund (FLATAX) makes about 59% of its investment in Brazil along with other Latin American countries.
Conclusion
Brazil, just like other emerging markets, seems to be well positioned for new growth opportunities. For directly investing in Brazil one needs to comply with various regulatory procedures of Brazil. The offshore investment route provides opportunities for investing in Brazilian stocks through ADRs, GDRs, Mutual Funds and ETFs available in global markets. The options available for making investments in emerging markets seem to be increasing every day. It would be a good idea to do some more research of your own before choosing any option.
Job Shortage Climbs Again
As the end of this academic year approaches, most seniors have only half a quarter remaining until graduation. For Christine Manalo, a fourth-year biology major, her plans after graduation are simple: attend pharmacy school and become a pharmacist. However, with California’s unemployment rate rising to 12.6 percent, other seniors cannot help but look at their post-undergrad plans with trepidation. The intense competition for entry-level jobs has led graduating seniors to begin looking for employment even before they have walked.
“They are gonna have a really hard time,” Manalo said. “I know half of my friends are already looking for jobs. They know that they have to compete with other graduating college students.”
A significant number of graduating students want to remain in Orange County and Los Angeles area, increasing the level of competition between graduating seniors from the multitude of local four-year colleges. This creates the perception that there is a shortage of entry-level jobs.
“For some of my friends, instead of moving back home, they try to get jobs at restaurants or retailers, to pay their rent,” Manalo said. “They’re trying to get by until they can find a job in their field.”
Tiffany Schivley, the marketing coordinator of the UCI Career Center, commented on the difficult circumstances.
“I think that graduating students have to be prepared. They have to be competitive. The media is scaring the students. They believe that there are no jobs out there, so they do not look as hard. But, there are jobs out there. Students need to take action to be better candidates,” Schivley said.
In this economic crisis, things might look grim and desperate, but the situation is not entirely without hope.
On Thursday, April 22, the UCI Career Center hosted its quarterly career fair at the Student Center where employers interested in hiring graduating students were invited to come and meet with potential candidates.
“We have 70 employers here today,” said Kathy Dotson, a career counselor and assistant director and marketing manager at the UCI Career Center. “We are paying them to come and hire our students.”
While California’s unemployment rate might be rising, the rates of employment for students have actually risen steadily over the past two years.
“It’s different for the student population. Companies are always looking for fresh talent. They need entry-level jobs to replace the higher-paying employees that they are laying off,” Dotson said.
Michelle Foley, who is in charge of Employer and Campus Relations at the Career Center, said that the need for practical experience is imperative for employment after college. This can be acquired through interning. Foley believes this is pertinent for even those students who plan to pursue a graduate degree. As for a personal message to the soon-to-be graduating students, Foley offered the following piece of advice:
“Dedicate at least five hours of your week to look for a job. Online is not the only source for a job. [With] online, employers only see the resume . You should go to career fairs and meet these employers. Just be active,” Foley said.
“They are gonna have a really hard time,” Manalo said. “I know half of my friends are already looking for jobs. They know that they have to compete with other graduating college students.”
A significant number of graduating students want to remain in Orange County and Los Angeles area, increasing the level of competition between graduating seniors from the multitude of local four-year colleges. This creates the perception that there is a shortage of entry-level jobs.
“For some of my friends, instead of moving back home, they try to get jobs at restaurants or retailers, to pay their rent,” Manalo said. “They’re trying to get by until they can find a job in their field.”
Tiffany Schivley, the marketing coordinator of the UCI Career Center, commented on the difficult circumstances.
“I think that graduating students have to be prepared. They have to be competitive. The media is scaring the students. They believe that there are no jobs out there, so they do not look as hard. But, there are jobs out there. Students need to take action to be better candidates,” Schivley said.
In this economic crisis, things might look grim and desperate, but the situation is not entirely without hope.
On Thursday, April 22, the UCI Career Center hosted its quarterly career fair at the Student Center where employers interested in hiring graduating students were invited to come and meet with potential candidates.
“We have 70 employers here today,” said Kathy Dotson, a career counselor and assistant director and marketing manager at the UCI Career Center. “We are paying them to come and hire our students.”
While California’s unemployment rate might be rising, the rates of employment for students have actually risen steadily over the past two years.
“It’s different for the student population. Companies are always looking for fresh talent. They need entry-level jobs to replace the higher-paying employees that they are laying off,” Dotson said.
Michelle Foley, who is in charge of Employer and Campus Relations at the Career Center, said that the need for practical experience is imperative for employment after college. This can be acquired through interning. Foley believes this is pertinent for even those students who plan to pursue a graduate degree. As for a personal message to the soon-to-be graduating students, Foley offered the following piece of advice:
“Dedicate at least five hours of your week to look for a job. Online is not the only source for a job. [With] online, employers only see the resume . You should go to career fairs and meet these employers. Just be active,” Foley said.
Definition of "sophisticated investor" varies
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!gs/quotes/nls/gs (GS 156.13, -1.27, -0.81%) has emphasized in its response to civil fraud charges that the financial institutions it allegedly duped in a complex derivatives sale were sophisticated investors who understood the transaction well.
Although individual investors weren't involved, the case highlights a persistent and vexing question for the investment industry and its clients: Just who, or what, is a sophisticated investor?
It's both a legal distinction and a commonly used description, both of which are subject to interpretation. This category of investor is one of several the Securities and Exchange Commission established to limit access to certain harder-to-understand products.
Sophisticated investors, according to part of the SEC's definition, have enough knowledge and experience in business matters to evaluate the risks and merits of an investment. The SEC exempts small companies from registering certain securities sold to these investors.
A more restrictive category features "accredited investors." These include institutions such as banks, insurance companies and registered investment companies, as well as individuals with a net worth of more than $1 million, including the value of their home, or an income above $200,000 for individuals and $300,000 for couples. These investors can be sold a variety of unregistered securities and vehicles, such as interests in certain hedge funds and private placements of shares in a company.
Individuals in this category could, in theory, invest in other complex instruments such as the synthetic collateralized debt obligations sold in the Goldman case. But the size of these deals, which can involve hundreds of millions of dollars, means those arranging them want relatively few and large investors, typically institutions, that have been involved in similar transactions and can withstand potential losses, according to a structured products consultant.
The thresholds for accredited investors were set in the 1980s, when a $200,000 annual income was less common than today, and it's hard to argue that kind of income guarantees sophistication in financial affairs. The sweeping financial reform bill in the Senate includes a provision for adjusting these levels to inflation and for studying if they need bigger changes. The SEC proposed increasing the thresholds several years ago, but investors who didn't want their options limited protested.
Some investment vehicles, including certain types of hedge funds, require investors to meet a still higher threshold for "qualified purchasers." According to SEC rules, this category includes individuals who own investments valued at $5 million or more.
Brokerage firms defending themselves against claims they sold investors unsuitable products routinely describe those clients as sophisticated investors who understood what they were buying, according to securities attorneys.
The arbitrators who hear cases brought before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's arbitration forum rarely include explanations with their decisions. But attorneys said an investor's experience and wealth, or lack thereof, does factor into the decisions.
The multiple standards for investors hinge on the notion that someone who has acquired a sizable amount of money must know something about making money. The guidelines also suggest wealthy investors can afford to take more risk than people who are scraping by and they can afford to hire consultants to help them analyze investments.
But "wealthy" doesn't necessarily mean "financially savvy." Just ask a lottery winner or multimillionaire who inherited her money.
Offering memorandums for private placements describes the objectives, risks and terms of investment. Investors complete and sign a subscription agreement attesting to their suitability for an investment. These documents are meant to both give investors details about the offering and protect the seller from liability.
"The reality is investors should read the prospectus and pay attention to what's going on, whether they're accredited or not," said John Mauldin, who heads investment advisory firm Millennium Wave Investments and writes a newsletter for accredited investors. "They should know what they're investing in. If you don't understand it, don't invest."
Although individual investors weren't involved, the case highlights a persistent and vexing question for the investment industry and its clients: Just who, or what, is a sophisticated investor?
It's both a legal distinction and a commonly used description, both of which are subject to interpretation. This category of investor is one of several the Securities and Exchange Commission established to limit access to certain harder-to-understand products.
Sophisticated investors, according to part of the SEC's definition, have enough knowledge and experience in business matters to evaluate the risks and merits of an investment. The SEC exempts small companies from registering certain securities sold to these investors.
A more restrictive category features "accredited investors." These include institutions such as banks, insurance companies and registered investment companies, as well as individuals with a net worth of more than $1 million, including the value of their home, or an income above $200,000 for individuals and $300,000 for couples. These investors can be sold a variety of unregistered securities and vehicles, such as interests in certain hedge funds and private placements of shares in a company.
Individuals in this category could, in theory, invest in other complex instruments such as the synthetic collateralized debt obligations sold in the Goldman case. But the size of these deals, which can involve hundreds of millions of dollars, means those arranging them want relatively few and large investors, typically institutions, that have been involved in similar transactions and can withstand potential losses, according to a structured products consultant.
The thresholds for accredited investors were set in the 1980s, when a $200,000 annual income was less common than today, and it's hard to argue that kind of income guarantees sophistication in financial affairs. The sweeping financial reform bill in the Senate includes a provision for adjusting these levels to inflation and for studying if they need bigger changes. The SEC proposed increasing the thresholds several years ago, but investors who didn't want their options limited protested.
Some investment vehicles, including certain types of hedge funds, require investors to meet a still higher threshold for "qualified purchasers." According to SEC rules, this category includes individuals who own investments valued at $5 million or more.
Brokerage firms defending themselves against claims they sold investors unsuitable products routinely describe those clients as sophisticated investors who understood what they were buying, according to securities attorneys.
The arbitrators who hear cases brought before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's arbitration forum rarely include explanations with their decisions. But attorneys said an investor's experience and wealth, or lack thereof, does factor into the decisions.
The multiple standards for investors hinge on the notion that someone who has acquired a sizable amount of money must know something about making money. The guidelines also suggest wealthy investors can afford to take more risk than people who are scraping by and they can afford to hire consultants to help them analyze investments.
But "wealthy" doesn't necessarily mean "financially savvy." Just ask a lottery winner or multimillionaire who inherited her money.
Offering memorandums for private placements describes the objectives, risks and terms of investment. Investors complete and sign a subscription agreement attesting to their suitability for an investment. These documents are meant to both give investors details about the offering and protect the seller from liability.
"The reality is investors should read the prospectus and pay attention to what's going on, whether they're accredited or not," said John Mauldin, who heads investment advisory firm Millennium Wave Investments and writes a newsletter for accredited investors. "They should know what they're investing in. If you don't understand it, don't invest."
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