Analysis: Brazil commodity exporters under friendly fire in "currency war"

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - In its latest bid to slow dollar inflows in a "global currency war," Brazil has dealt an unexpected blow to its own commodity exporters, choking off medium-term trade financing at a vulnerable time for the sector.

Brazil - a source of much of the world's sugar, coffee, soy, beef and iron ore - has imposed a series of taxes on foreign capital over the past year to slow what President Dilma Rousseff called a "tsunami" of cheap money flowing from the rich world.

But exporters say the central bank went a step too far on March 1, when it quietly implemented a 6 percent financial transactions tax on medium-term loans offered to exporters by banks, a critical tool used by major commodity producers across the globe to finance their operations.

That 6 percent tax has shifted demand to one-year credit lines in dollars, known as ACCs, driving up the costs as trading houses and raw materials exporters rush to shift financing needs.

"Of the two types of export credit in Brazil, the government just killed one by taxing it to death and the cost of the other is going up," said a local executive at a multinational trader who asked not to be named.

Brazil's largest commodities exporters are now lobbying the government to roll back the so-called IOF tax, which is applied to foreign credit and exchange operations. They say the loss of such dollar-linked loans beyond one year has crimped their access to cash and will eventually limit investments.

"We are going to have to find some solution," said Luiz Carlos Carvalho, president of Brazil's Agribusiness Association, which is pressing the government to remove or alter the tax.

Prior to this month, big producers like Bunge , Louis Dreyfus, ADM were free to bring in the dollars when they needed to pay for seed, fertilizer, equipment, fuel or labor. Importers eventually paid off the foreign bank loans through intermediary collection agents after the goods were delivered.

The so-called IOF tax ended this for terms beyond one year.

"Even exporters in minerals and technology had been putting up future foreign delivery contracts to secure financing in dollars with three to five years to pay back," said Renato Buranello, an attorney in trade finance at Brazilian law firm Demarest & Almeida.

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GRAPHIC on Brazil's real: http://link.reuters.com/seg37s

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BAD TIMING

The squeeze comes at a delicate time for both exporters and major trade-finance banks like France's BNP Paribas , Credit Lyonnais and Societe Generale.

In late 2011, European banks, a leading source of financing for raw materials trade across the globe, were paring back loans to assure they would meet capital requirements in the face of increasing writedowns in asset values.

Meanwhile the Brazilian sugar industry, which accounts for half of global trade in the sweetener, is still recovering after the 2008 financial crisis tipped many mills into bankruptcy.

"We used to use this financing -- but no more," said Luiz de Mendon?a, chief executive of ETH - one of Brazil's biggest cane ethanol producers. He said the value of this type of export financing meant $200 million-$300 million for his company alone.

"The loss of it will weaken an already fragile sector and could unleash more consolidation."

Brazil's soybean and corn producers are in the worst drought in half of decade. Some will not meet delivery contracts.

Exports in general have been declining here due to weak demand in China, Europe and the United States - and Brazil is struggling with a dwindling trade surplus.

The incoming dollars have strengthened the Brazilian real, punishing local manufacturers by making imports cheaper and Brazilian exports more expensive.

ABUSES

Brazil's central bank declined to comment on the extension of the IOF tax to export finance. A government source, however, said some companies were not using the credit lines to finance production and exports. Rather, they were using them to make bets in Brazil's currency and debt markets without paying taxes aimed at slowing speculative dollar inflows.

In recent years foreign investors have flooded Brazil with capital hoping to take advantage of zero-bound interest rates in the U.S., Europe and Japan to bet on Brazilian bonds that paid near low double-digit returns and get the added boost of a strengthening currency. In 2011, the real firmed to its strongest in 11 years, due in part by exports of raw materials.

The strong currency undermined Brazilian manufacturers, though, who had to fight a flood of cheap imports. To help them the central bank laid a tax on speculative dollar inflows.

Some companies seeking to skirt these taxes began using export credit to chase high returns on the financial markets, rather than pay for land, shipping or grow more foodstuffs, said Ademiro Vian, assistant director of financing at the Brazilian Federation of Banks, or Febraban.

"There's speculation going on. You don't need five years' worth of export financing in all ag-export sectors," Vian said.

SUGAR

But the big trading houses, particularly in the sugar and ethanol industry, are scrambling to shore up new financing.

"I have big exporters as clients that are at a loss over what to do," said Lucio Feijo Lopes, a local attorney in trade finance. "This marks a big change in how trade finance is structured. There will be an impact on exports."

Grain producers and exporters say they will manage more easily with the lack of longer-term export financing, as the annual nature of their business allows them to rely more on the 360-day ACC export-exchange contracts for financing.

But this short-term debt is not well suited to longer-term investment needs. Large sugar groups, of which Brazil has plenty, make investments that only pay off in exports over several years.

Long forgotten medium-term export financing contracts that were created in the 1970s under the military dictatorship are being dusted off by the local banks to try to fill the void, but the so-called Export Credit Notes, or NCEs, are based on the real, which exposes the exporter to swings in the currency.

Raw material producers, who are dependent on exports, hold longer-term debt in dollars as a natural hedge against currency risks. If the dollar, which is the currency in which the exports are paid, weakens against the real, so does the firm's debt.

The government recently exempted exporters from a separate tax on currency futures that hampered hedging against exchange rate risks inherent in the export business.

Exporters said it is a step in the right direction but will not offset the loss of medium-term dollar financing.

"If I hold real-linked debt and the dollar falls to 1-to-1 with the real, then my debt balloons against my revenue stream," the local executive at a multinational trader said. "Companies don't last long if they have debts in one currency and revenue in another. As a Brazilian exporter, I have to be in dollars."

($1=1.83 reais)

(Reporting by Reese Ewing; Editing by Todd Benson, Jeb Blount, and Bob Burgdorfer)

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Legendary Director, Writer and Producer Garry Marshall to Speak at ...

Director, writer, and producer Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall, principal speaker

Creator of Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy
will address Class of 2012

EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) March 12, 2012 ? Garry Marshall, award-winning television and film director, writer, producer, and actor, will be the principal speaker at Lafayette?s 177th Commencement on Saturday, May 19. He will also be awarded an honorary degree.

Best known for creating the popular television series Happy Days and The Odd Couple, Marshall also has directed more than 25 movies including The Flamingo Kid, Nothing in Common, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, The Princess Diaries, Valentine?s Day and, most recently, the romantic comedy New Year?s Eve, which premiered in December.

The National Association of Broadcasters announced in January that Marshall will be inducted into its Broadcasting Hall of Fame in April.

Lafayette selected Marshall as its Commencement speaker because his commitment to the performing and visual arts reflects those of the College, says President Daniel H. Weiss. For example, plans are underway for a $10 million expansion of Lafayette?s arts campus on North Third Street that will house a new film and media studies program, and a Global Arts Infusion and Visiting Artists Initiative was created with an $800,000 Mellon Foundation grant to further integrate art into the College?s curriculum.

?Having him here is part of our celebration of the arts,? says Weiss, noting Marshall owns and operates the Falcon Theater in Burbank, Calif., with his daughter, Kathleen.

With a career that spans more than 50 years, Marshall began as a joke writer for comedians Joey Bishop and Phil Foster, then moved to Hollywood to write for television, first for the Jack Paar Show. As? executive producer of sitcoms in the late 1970s, he helped ABC win the ratings race for the first time in the network?s history. By the end of the 1978-79 season, four of the five highest-rated shows of the year were Marshall?s, for which Publishers Weekly dubbed him ?king of the sitcoms.? From 1970 to 1996, he produced 27 series or made-for-television movies. These included, besides those previously mentioned, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, The New Odd Couple, and Who?s Watching the Kids.

Marshall?s television series were nominated for five prime-time Emmys (one for Mork and Mindy, the others for The Odd Couple). He is the recipient of the Lucy Award, presented by Women in Film in recognition of excellence and innovation in creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television (1996); and the Legend Award, presented by TV Land to entertainers whose body of work has stood the test of time and ranks among the most memorable and celebrated in TV and movie history (2008). Among his many other honors are the Creative Achievement Award from the American Comedy Awards (1990), Motion Picture Showmanship Award from the Publicists of the International Cinematographers Guild (1992), the Valentine Davies Award from the Writers Guild of America (1995), the Lifetime Achievement Award in Television from the Producers Guild of America (1998), the Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award from the American Cinema Editors (2004), and the PRISM Award for Best Feature Film for Georgia Rule (2008).

He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1983.

He holds a B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University, where the Barbara and Garry Marshall Studio wing of Louis Hall, which houses the film sound stage, is named in honor of Marshall and his wife, the former Barbara Wells.

###

Learn more about Lafayette?s efforts to infuse the arts throughout the curriculum.

Note: Higher resolution photo available.

Contact:
Kathleen Parrish, associate director of media relations, (610) 330-5524,
parrishk@lafayette.edu

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Cute Baby Sloth Photobombs a Group Picture [Image Cache]

As desirable a lifestyle as sloths live, they're hardly ever cute. This baby sloth however, is the cutest darn thing on the Internet. A group of students were taking a picture in Costa Rica when an upside down sloth crept into the shot and stayed there, giving the picture a hilarious photobomb. [NY Daily News] More »


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Interview with Calum Kerr ? founder of National Flash Fiction Day ...

calumkerr1

To read Calum Kerr?s
beautiful?flash,
SOARING, click here.

Calum Kerr?is the author of ?31? and the online collection, Flash 365 ? an ongoing project where he writes a piece of flash fiction every day for a year, to May 2012. He?s been teaching creative writing since 2001, he?s the managing editor of Gumbo Press, he blogs with unmitigated audacity and right now, he?s organising the inaugural NATIONAL FLASH FICTION DAY which is set to explode across the UK on 16th May 2012.

Hi Calum, welcome to my blog. That?s a LOT of flash? what inspired you to write a piece every day for a year?

Available on Kindle

Well, there were a few things. First there was NaNoWriMo. I did that in November 2010 and really enjoyed writing every day. I missed the discipline of it when it was over. Then, in January 2011 I did something similar, but with flash, and wrote a story every day for a month. The result ended up as the book 31. ?Again, after that was over, I missed it. So, taking inspiration from the poet, Max Wallis, and his blog ?Something Every Day? I decided to do flash365. I thought it would be good for my writing, might raise my profile, and if nothing else I would have a huge bank of stories to submit to magazines and competitions.

A lot of people planning that kind of output would opt for a novel but you?ve created hundreds of flash pieces. Some have already been played on Radio 4, what are you going to do with the rest? Do you have themes running through, with a view to publishing collections, or was it just a wild creative outpouring?

It?s a mix of the two. I knew it would be hard to do it with no structure at all, just hoping for stories to present themselves. So ten of the months have themes for the prompts ? Paint Colours, Barbara Cartland book titles, Cities and Towns of the world ? but there is no theme to the stories themselves. Within each month I go where the prompts take me, but at the same time I try to vary things like voice, style, tone, genre etc. In part it?s to keep readers interested, but it also stretches me as a writer. Some themes have emerged, but not on purpose. As for putting together a collection, Salt are publishing a batch from November where the prompt was to have them all in the same place at the same time, and I think it will be easy enough to gather together like stories, but it wasn?t the intention.

The other two months, by the way, May last year and the approaching April, have no theme and no prompts. They are completely wild to be whatever they turn out to be. Last May they were completely random, but I think next month I might take the chance to revisit some of the earlier stories and characters as well as writing new things.

It?s like watching someone run sequential marathons, you?re the iron man of flash fiction! How do you sustain that kind of creativity ? do ideas pop up spontaneously, or do you go looking for them?

I think I answered this in the last question! However, in terms of turning prompts into stories, sometimes things present themselves in the way they do for all writers I guess, a compelling character, an event from the day, something you suddenly want to talk about. At other times, when it?s difficult, I have to fall back on good old fashioned creative writing exercises. I design a character, I decided on a plot arc, or whatever, and then I work through that. Mostly, though, they come fairly easily and that has certainly become more true over time. Practise helps!

What advice would you give someone who wanted to start writing flash?

Just do it! There is not the same investment of time as in a novel or even a longer short story, so what?s the worst than can happen? So, if someone wants to do it, they should sit down and do it! That said, they need to remember that even though it?s short it still needs to be a complete story with some sense of resolution. And they need to remember that when there are so few of them, every word carries a lot more weight so they need to be chosen carefully. Apart from that, I?d tell them to have fun. Flash is great to write and read, and should be enjoyable. That doesn?t mean it needs to be funny, just that it shouldn?t be thought of as work.

Does flash fiction need to contain all the components of a longer piece ? a ?story arc?, with beginning, middle and end ? or can it be a snapshot, a description of a moment?

Erm. Can I be equivocal and say ?both?? The problem with a question like this is that we get into the fuzzy boundary between flash-fiction and prose-poetry. I think the ?moment? on its own is more the province of the latter, but if the moment suggests a larger story then it?s the former. So, it doesn?t need to have the full arc of a story, but it should at least suggest it.

National Flash Fiction Day ? what inspired you to set it up?

Well, basically, National Poetry Day. My friend, Jo Bell, runs that, and when it came around in October last year it made me wonder if there was a National Flash-Fiction Day I could be involved with. There wasn?t, so I contacted a bunch of writers and asked them if they thought it was a good idea. They did, word started to spread, and the rest is history.

So far there?s been a micro-fiction competition, a call for flash submissions for a print anthology (open ?til 10th April, folks), and we have a series of regional projects taking off ? what else would you like to see happening?

Click to see NFFD events by region.

Well, still more events and projects. We now have them all over the UK, but there is still room for more ? especially in Scotland, Northern Ireland and, surprisingly, London. In this first year I have had very few expectations. If we continue into future years then I might decide I want specific things, but at the moment I?m just grateful to all those who are giving up their time and effort to organise things.

One thing that I aim to do for the future is to try and engage with more ?closed? events. This would be where schools/colleges/universities/writers groups do things just for themselves for the day. But this year has already been enough, I think. A good start!

What will you be doing on May 16th?

Well, I?m an associate lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Winchester, so it seemed a shame to not do something there. As a result I will be holding a ?Write-In? where I am encouraging as many students and staff as I can to drop into a room, pick a prompt out of a bucket, write a flash and then blog it. We have a 4 hour slot and want to see how many stories we can get. I shall be opening this out online too, for the world to take part, so hopefully it will be huge!

On the evening I will be holding an event at the City Library in Southampton with Vanessa Gebbie, Holly Howitt and other writers. We will be reading, talking about flash, hopefully playing some videos from other writers, and launching the anthology. Should be a great evening!

And then, on the 17th, I?m going to sleep.

###

Calum, thank you so much for taking time out from your very busy schedule to speak to us here ? National Flash Fiction Day looks all set to be a truly amazing experience!

Please note, everyone?s welcome to join in and there will be more nearer the day ? see the links above and these:

Events for UK writers.

International writers.

Calum Kerr?s homepage.

Like this:

Be the first to like this post.

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Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 5PM ET!

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Time to podcast up! Who's with us? For starters, we're going to have Myriam, Brad, Joseph and -- making his mobcast debut -- our very own Andrew Munchbach! So join us at the normal time, chat it up in our Ustream chat below, and we'll have a grand 'ol time talking all about phones and stuff.

March 30, 2012 5:00 PM EDT

Continue reading Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 5PM ET!

Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 5PM ET! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/30/engadget-mobile-podcast/

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Eating Disorders in Children are on the Rise; Eating Recovery ...

Leading Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders Treatment Program Offers 10 Tips to Help Parents Prevent Eating Disorders

Denver, CO, March 29, 2012 ? Between 1999 and 2006, hospitalizations for eating disorders in children 12 and younger rose 119 percent, according to a 2010 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics. In an effort to curb the growth of anorexia, bulimia, EDNOS and binge eating disorder in this young patient population, Eating Recovery Center (www.EatingRecoveryCenter.com), an international center for eating disorders recovery, urges parents to take preventive measures at home to stop eating disorders before they start.

?While clinicians have yet to identify the absolute keys to preventing eating disorders, we do know that positive parental involvement and heightened awareness can help foster the development of healthy relationships among children, their bodies and food,? explains Ovidio Bermudez, MD, FAAP, FSAHM, FAED, CEDS, medical director of child and adolescent services at Eating Recovery Center.

Eating Recovery Center offers 10 recommendations to help parents practice eating disorders prevention at home:

1. Understand your own feelings and attitudes toward body image, body size, weight and health.

2. Model healthy attitudes and behaviors toward eating, exercise, body weight and shape and self-acceptance. Children will often mirror their parents? thoughts and actions surrounding these issues.

3. Educate yourself about the complex nature of eating disorders. An informed parent is more aware and more likely to notice early warning signs or concerning behaviors.

4. Help your child manage stress. Reduce complexity in your child?s life to prevent or relieve anxiety and fear, which may lead to disordered eating in children who are particularly vulnerable to stress.

5. Focus on eating at ease during mealtimes. Promoting the social value of mealtimes strengthens family ties and relationships. Stressful, tense eating situations are counterproductive in efforts to develop healthy patterns around food consumption.

6. Maintain open lines of communication. Interaction is the antidote for the isolation and secretiveness that can sometimes allow a child to transition negative beliefs and attitudes into disordered eating behaviors.

7. Examine your child?s dieting and exercise habits. From a neurochemical perspective, these are not always benign activities. With the help of a medical professional, explore whether weight loss or increased exercise are healthy choices that support normal growth and development.

8. Monitor the beliefs and attitudes of your child?s friends. Children are eager to fit in and will often mimic their friends? attitudes and behaviors?even those that are negative and potentially destructive.

9. Watch your child?s technology use. Websites and social media create a sense of ?community? in which your child can learn about and compete at disordered eating behaviors. Studies have shown that both pro-eating disorder and pro-recovery online messages have risks to impressionable young minds.

10. Be aware of anxiety and depression, and seek care if your child shows signs of these conditions. The negative self image that is often associated with these conditions can lead to efforts to manage emotional insecurities via dieting and exercise.

?Even if parents are not able to prevent eating disorder-related behaviors in their children, prevention activities ? such as being well informed about eating disorders and recognizing changes in attitude or behaviors that may suggest your child is at risk ? are invaluable for enhancing early recognition and timely intervention,? continues Dr. Bermudez.

If your child begins showing symptoms of disordered eating, immediately seek eating disorders support from a qualified professional. Early intervention significantly improves the likelihood of recovery. For more information about Eating Recovery Center?s eating disorders treatment programs for children and adolescents ages 10 through 17, please visit www.EatingRecoveryCenter.com.

About Eating Recovery Center:
Eating Recovery Center is an international center for eating disorders recovery providing comprehensive treatment for anorexia, bulimia, EDNOS and binge eating disorder. Denver-based facilities include the Behavioral Hospital for Adults, the Behavioral Hospital for Children and Adolescents, and the Partial Hospitalization Program and Outpatient Services. In addition, Eating Recovery Center, in partnership with Summit Eating Disorders and Outreach Program, offers Partial Hospitalization and Outpatient Services in Sacramento, California. Under the personal guidance and care of Drs. Kenneth Weiner, Craig Johnson, Emmett Bishop and Ovidio Bermudez, our collaborative programs provide a full spectrum of services for children, adolescents and adults. Our integrated programs offer patients a continuum of care that includes Inpatient, Residential, Partial Hospitalization, Intensive Outpatient and Outpatient services. Our compassionate team of professionals collaborates with treating professionals and loved ones to cultivate lasting behavioral change. For more information please contact us at 877-218-1344 or info@EatingRecoveryCenter.com or confidentially chat live on our website at www.EatingRecoveryCenter.com.

Contact:
Shannon Fern
Communications Strategy Group
East 2nd Avenue
Denver, CO 80206
(303) 433-7020
sfern@csg-pr.com

http://www.csg-pr.com

News from ReleaseWire.

Source: http://www.releasewire.org/03/2012/lifestyle/health-fitness/eating-disorders-in-children-are-on-the-rise-eating-recovery-center-urges-prevention-at-home/

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My Blog - The Actual Outcomes in Cycling

There?s lots of competitive sports which can be used to health and fitness. One associated with the popular ones is cycling. It is also a mode of everyday transport for most people and is particularly a competitive sport activity with lots of money involved. Even as method of recreation and also a way of transport, there?s expenses associated with this as the sport bikes are not inexpensive particularly if purchase one with the far better sport bikes. There?s a very massive amount bikes available at the market place today. The selection of which bike is dependent upon your financial allowance, and also exactly what purpose you desire to put the bike to. A competing player will have totally different needs to somebody who just needs to ride to work every day to a person that would like to go on recreational rides with the whole family.

As being a competitive sport activity, cycling, is viewed within the Olympic degree also in major events similar to the Tour de France. Certainly, there is a huge amount of money and a lot of sponsorship involved as of this degree. Because of this level of money engaged there can also be the temptation to cheat, using a number for the reason that making use of performance boosting drugs and much more accusations associated with some others utilizing them but not being caught. Because this degree the sportsmen generally trains for lots of hours per day and also move for long training rides along with undertaking reduced sprints within the mountain bike.

The sport associated with cycling is not without its conditions. There?s the endless danger for automobiles sharing the street with and this might have lethal consequences! The utilization of bright and vivid colored clothes and also sticking with bike only lanes is a sure way to be risk-free. Generally there is usually the actual too much use incidents which bike riders could possibly get and a correct setup on the mountain bike is needed to ensure that.

Source: http://www.perfectmuscleguide.info/2012/03/29/the-actual-outcomes-in-cycling/

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