Brazil, Hong Kong, Spain -take your pick. International uncertainty is the order of the day, and it’s spilling over into U.S. markets. Investor concerns hitting bond and equity markets

Jon Blogosphere, Market Commentary, Politics

Bubble bubble, toil and global troubles hit stocks
Brazil, Hong Kong, Spain -take your pick. International uncertainty is the order of the day, and it’s spilling over into U. S. markets.
First, exchange-traded funds that serve as emerging market proxies, like the Brazil ETF, are suffering. The iShares MSCI Brazil index is down 4 percent as voter polls over the weekend indicate the incumbent, Dilma Rousseff has only a small lead over Marina Silva. The country’s stock market there has little love for the incumbent.
The market’s favorite, Aecio Neves, is running a distant third, just as the first round of elections is next weekend. The top two candidates go to the second round, unless the leader has more votes than all other candidates combined. The fear in the markets is Rousseff may win on the first round.
One thing is clear: even if the incumbent prevails, she will be under substantial pressure from the markets to initiate reforms.
Freedom Erupts in China and Spain


This post was published at Investment WatchBlog on September 29th, 2014.