Wall Street Journal Interview with Electrolux CFO on U.S. Economy, Investment

Recently U.S. Presidential Candidate Michele Bachmann accused Swedish appliance maker Electrolux AB of shutting out the U.S. for its manufacturing needs, after relocating the operations of an Iowa-based plant to Mexico.

The Wall Street Journal recently spoke to Robbert Kaufman, the finance chief of Electrolux's North American appliances division about the status of its U.S. operations, its outlook for the U.S. economy, as well as investor advice on how to behave in the current economy.

Bernanke Boosts Investor Confidence in Emerging Markets

Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV (GFNORTEO)'s interactive chart as of 08/26/2011

The benchmark index has risen for the first time in five weeks, as emerging-market stocks rose on Friday. At the annual Fed symposium last Friday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben. S. Bernanke eased investors concerned about the state of the economy, relaying that U.S. growth is sound in the long run, and that the Fed still has tools to aid the recovery if needed. This also affected the way investors will go about investing in emerging economies, such as Mexico.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 0.3 percent to 975.92 at 5:41 p.m. in New York, after dropping as much as 0.5 percent in the first five minutes following Bernanke’s speech today at an annual Fed symposium. Brazil’s Bovespa Index rose 0.8 percent while Mexico’s benchmark advanced 0.4 percent. Turkey’s ISE National 100 Index (XU100) climbed 1.4 percent after the trade deficit narrowed from a month earlier and Russia’s Micex Index added 1.1 percent.

IMF Says Mexico has overcome Global Economic Crisis

I always talk about how the Mexican economy has come back quite quickly from the global economic recession. It turns out that while many countries are still struggling with the greatest financial crisis since The Great Depression, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has proclaimed that Mexico's economy has overcome the global economic crisis and returned to pre-crisis levels, stating that, "inflation has remained benign." At the end of a meeting with Mexican officials, the IMF stated that "After a sharp contraction in 2009, growth in Mexico picked up strongly in 2010, reaching 5.4 percent. Robust growth has brought output back to pre-crisis levels, with manufacturing exports leading the recovery and the rebound in domestic demand helping sustain the momentum." Good news for Mexico and the U.S. Click here to find out why.

Mexico Credit - Goldman Sachs GDP Cut Creates Rate-Bet Delays

After Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. lowered Mexico's growth forecast with the growing concern that the U.S. may relapse into recession, Mexican traders are postponing bets for interest-rate increases. As Gabriel Casillas, chief economist for Mexico at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Mexico City, said in a telephone interview "With the data where they are and inflation so benign, some are betting there could be an even longer pause. We expected a long pause.” The cause of the country's lowered forecast is belief that Mexico is "highly dependent" upon the American economy. What are your thoughts? Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

America Movil Deals with Regulation and Lower Rates

Yesterday it was announced that concerns over regulations for America Movil are going to be shadowed by lower rates.

America Movil's (AMX.N) (AMXL.MX) Mexico earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization margins dropped 330 basis points to 50.5 percent in the quarter ended in June from a year earlier.

Mexico Outdoes Canada in Automobile Production

Latest news from maquilaportal.com has says that Mexico has outdone Canada in terms of production of automobiles and light trucks, in between 2008 and 2010. Last year 2,262,164 units were assembled, a number that is higher than Canada’s production total. "This year, if the shadow of the recession in the USA does not affect original plans, the record could be broken, mainly with expansion plans by Nissan, GM, VW and Chrysler."

Fresnillo Silver Mine in Mexico Sees Over US$300 Million Investment

"We're going to be the largest producer of silver in the world, that thanks to Zacatecas, of course, thanks to the growth of the mining industry in the country," said President Calderon, adding that Mexico is also among the top ten gold producers. The comment was sparked by news that the Fresnillo Silver Mine in Mexico is going to see a US$300 Million investment that will produce 10 million ounces of silver and 50,000 ounces of gold in 2015 at its Saucito mine in north-central Mexico.

Global silver demand climbed 15 percent to 1.06 billion ounces last year, the highest level in at least 20 years. Read more on the significance of this huge investment that will change the business landscape of Mexico.

Foreign Investment in Mexico Stands Strong

As this article mentions, there is a lot of talk about the violence in Mexico, but what most people don't realize is that the border economy is still booming.

Last year Reynosa, a city along the border, added 4,000 jobs to the Mexican auto industry. These plants refuse to let the persistent violence affect their business; foreign investment in Mexico continues to roll in and plans for factory expansions are in motion.