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Year of tourism declaration
Posted: 2011-03-09 17:08:35 UTC-08:00
Calderón unveils national agreement on Tourism, aims to place Mexico in Top 5 Destinations by 2018.In late-January, President Felipe Calderón declared that 2011 would be the country’s “year of tourism”. Today, he signed the National Agreement on Tourism, a 100-point plan that will require action in 10 key areas to place Mexico in the top 5 tourist destinations in the world.
Calderón’s “year of tourism” declaration was made amid a cluster of mostly-negative travel reports suggesting that the legacy of drug violence would result in a sharp decline in “springbreakers”. Nonetheless, he took an optimistic position while acknowledging the centrality of tourism to Mexico’s economy, and suggested that in addition to boosting tourism, effort would be made to enhance the attractiveness of Mexican properties to foreign investors including international hotel chains and shops.
As reported by CNN Expansion, Calderón gave the press a glimpse of his implementation plan, which emerged after consultation with representatives from the private sector, universities, and the federal and state governments. The Agreement is designed to place Mexico in the top 5 tourist destination by 2018, as measured by the number of visitors and foreign exchange earnings.
The strategy contains 100 actions to be directed toward 10 key areas including connectivity, financing, infrastructure, regulation, cultural heritage, promotion, training, certification, production and sustainability.
The Agreement is designed to attract visitors and investment, as well as increase tourism to the country. Calderón suggested that as many as 4 million direct jobs and 12 million indirect jobs could be generated by the strategy.
Despite a barrage of negative press, Calderón’s optimism seems to be founded. In 2010, Mexico received approximately 22.6 million foreign tourists, up from the 2009 numbers.
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Investement in Baja
Posted: 2010-11-23 11:53:55 UTC-08:00
In this week's report, the CFB published term sheets for 55 new proposed placements from the mining, oil/gas (termed metals and energy in the report) and technology sectors. Of those, 44 were for mining stocks seven for oil/gas stocks, and four for technology stocks with the total value of new proposals reaching almost $453m. 11 of these placements were designated 'flow through' issuances and there were no new debenture offerings. The largest new public proposal was Baja Mining Corp. (BAJ.TO)(the Toronto exchange ticker!), which launched an offering consisting of 145.5m common shares priced at $1.10 in a placement led by Raymond James.
(so this might be a good deal with Natural Resources being where we need to invest!) and this:
Baja Mining Announces C$160 Million Cross-Border Bought Deal Financing
Baja Mining Corp. ("Baja" or the "Company") (CA:BAJ) (otcqx:BAJFF) today entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters co-led by Raymond James Ltd. and Canaccord Genuity Corp. (collectively, the "Underwriters") under which the Underwriters have agreed to purchase 145,500,000 common shares (the "Common Shares") from the Company on a bought deal basis at a price of C$1.10 per Common Share for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$160,050,000
The Company plans to use the net proceeds received from the sale of the Common Shares to fund the equity component for the construction of the Boleo Project and for working capital and general corporate expenses. The Offering, once closed, will complete the total financing package for the development of the Boleo Project. The Offering is expected to close mid-November, and is subject to regulatory approval, including approval of the TSX.
The Company has granted to the Underwriters an option (the "Over-Allotment Option"), exercisable at any time until 30 days after closing of the Offering, to acquire, for the purpose of covering their over-allocation position, if any, up to an additional 21,825,000 Common Shares at a price of C$1.10 per Common Share. The Common Shares will be offered by way of a short form base shelf prospectus of the Company dated April 19, 2010 as supplemented by a preliminary prospectus supplement filed in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario pursuant to National Instrument 44-101 Short Form Prospectus Distributions and National Instrument 44-102 Shelf Distributions, and in the United States pursuant to a preliminary prospectus supplement to the Company's effective shelf registration statement on Form F-10 filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on April 19, 2010 under the Multi-Jurisdictional Disclosure System adopted in the United States and Canada. The Common Shares may also be offered in the other provinces and territories of Canada on a private placement basis and such other jurisdictions outside of Canada and the United States that are agreed to by the Company and the Underwriters.
Copies of the Canadian preliminary prospectus supplement are available at www.sedar.com, and copies of the U.S. preliminary prospectus supplement can be accessed through the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, a copy of the Canadian preliminary prospectus supplement and/or the U.S. preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the Offering can be obtained from Sara Minatel of Raymond James Ltd. by phoning her at (416) 777-4939 or emailing her at sara.minatel@raymondjames.ca.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor shall there by any sale of such securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
About Baja Mining Corp.
Baja Mining is a Vancouver, Canada-based publicly traded mine development company (CA:BAJ) (otcqx:BAJFF) with a 70% interest in the Boleo copper-cobalt-zinc-manganese Project located near Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur, Mexico, targeted for copper commissioning in 2012. A Korean syndicate of industrial companies holds the remaining 30%. Baja is the project operator.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF BAJA MINING CORP.
JOHN W. GREENSLADE, PRESIDENT
It's consolidating nicely after a substantula run up the last couple months. Looking like a good entry point now/soon.
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Warren Buffett says second stimulus needed
Posted: 2010-09-07 06:35:36 UTC-07:00
Legendary investor Warren Buffett said in an interview aunemployment could hit 11 percent and a second stimulus package might be needed as the economy struggles to recover from recession.
Buffett, the billionaire founder of Berkshire Hathaway, said Americans suffered "a shock to the system" from the economic difficulties in the final quarter of last year but had started to rebound.
"We're not in a freefall, but we're not in a recovery either," he told ABC's "Good Morning America." "We were in a freefall really in the last quarter of last year, starting in the financial markets and spreading to the economy, and we had this huge change in behavior."
Buffett, a supporter of President Barack Obama during last year's election campaign, said a second economic stimulus package might be needed. The Obama administration says it does not see a need for a second stimulus yet. "I think a second one may well be called for. It is not a panacea. A stimulus is the right thing. You hope it doesn't get watered down," he said. He likened the first $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress to "half a tablet of Viagra and then having also a bunch of candy mixed in --- it doesn't have really quite the wallop."
Buffett said unemployment had "a ways to go" and he would not be surprised to see it hit 11 percent before it recovers. "I'm not predicting it but no that would not surprise me," he said of the 11 percent figure. "We're going to come out of this better than ever, the best days of America lie ahead but not next week or next month," he said.
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Back from the brink, but not far
Posted: 2010-04-07 12:31:51 UTC-07:00
Investors have basked for months in a powerful stock and corporate credit market rally, but the glow may fade as unprecedented measures to kick-start flagging economies mean near-zero inflation and benchmark interest rates won't last forever. A surge in bond yields in the United States and elsewhere portends a sustained period of higher interest rates, boosting the cost of capital for corporate and consumer America. Rising U.S. Treasury yields, with the yield on the 10-year note this week nearing 4.0 percent, have driven mortgage rates back up. That has threatened to kill a refinancing boom that has helped preserve the still-fragile health of recession-weary households and the banks that lend to them, at a time when credit losses show no sign of leveling off and the nation's unemployment rate races toward double-digits. The rise in bond yields and mortgage rates may also act to check the huge recent rally in global stock markets of the past three months, with the Federal Reserve trying to end an 18-month recession and yet not spur inflation.Read the whole story at Reuters here...
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U.S. economy at risk of double-dip recession
Posted: 2010-09-07 06:46:36 UTC-07:00
Green shoots or false dawn? - The U.S. economy appears destined for several years of weak growth and high unemployment that leave it vulnerable to a recession relapse after the massive dose of government stimulus wears off. While tepid growth looks likely to resume late this year and build modestly into 2010, the credit bust has left households and businesses unable or unwilling to borrow and spend as freely as they did before the crisis. The U.S. government has stepped in as lender and spender of last resort, but its deep pockets are not bottomless. Waning political and investor appetite for taking on more debt could stand in the way of any additional big spending plans.
"When you remove the government stimulus, what the private sector can generate in terms of growth feels like a recession," said Jeffrey Rosenberg, head of global credit strategy at Banc of America Securities Merrill Lynch in New York. Rosenberg thinks the U.S. economy may trudge along at a sluggish growth rate somewhere in the range of 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent while banks recover from the credit crisis, which could take another three years.
"If that's what you're able to generate, that economy is not generating the job growth required to bring the unemployment rate down," Rosenberg said. This is a much darker outlook than the one put forward by President Barack Obama's administration in its latest budget projections, which show economic growth bouncing back to 3.2 percent next year and hitting 4.6 percent by 2012. It also calls into question the staying power of a recent stock market rally. The Standard & Poor's 500 is up more than 30 percent from an early March low. The gloomier scenario assumes that banks take years to recover from losses that some economists think could reach $4 trillion; consumers curb borrowing and spending as they repair the $11.2 trillion hole blown through their savings last year; and the explosion in government debt drives up interest rates.
Now you are wondering 'Where is the connection to Baja Business?" - Well, the saying is: "If the the US has a cold Mexico suffers a pneumonia" - the reality is that since fall 2008 the US has already a pneumonia!!!
Read the whole report - and the full credit for this content - at/go to Reuters
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Mexico hit hard by US recession
Posted: 2010-04-07 12:31:51 UTC-07:00
Mexico's economy shrank by 8.2% in the first three months of this year compared with a year earlier, as the global downturn hit demand for exports. The country's finance minister has warned that economic output could decline by 5.5% in 2009. Mexico has been hit by the US recession and a drop in the amount of money sent home by migrant workers. Analysts predict the Mexican economy could suffer its biggest contraction this year since 1995.
The latest figures do not reflect the impact of swine flu, which broke out after the quarter had ended. The Mexican finance ministry has warned that the flu could cost the country's economy more than $2bn (£1.3bn). "We are looking at a lost year," said emerging markets strategist Win Thin at BBH. Capital Economics echoed this view saying the latest data "confirms our view that the economy is currently facing the worst recession in its modern history". "This sharp fall leads us to believe that our initial GDP forecast of a 5% contraction this year was not pessimistic enough." Capital Economics has now downgraded its forecast to an 8% contraction. Mexico sends 80% of its exports to the US, so has been particularly exposed to the fall in consumer spending there.
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Denting hopes http://www.baja-...
Posted: 2010-04-07 12:31:51 UTC-07:00
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Recovery optimism positive signs getting ahead of themselves
Posted: 2010-04-07 12:31:51 UTC-07:00
Is company cost-cutting company throat-slitting? In recent weeks, a number of investors and economists have declared the recession all but over based on a handful of seemingly positive signs, including a flurry of better-than-expected earnings from U.S. companies. They may be getting ahead of themselves. Aggressive cost-cutting through layoffs and capital expenditure reductions has, it's true, helped many companies report profits that surpassed analysts' estimates. But beneath what can be perceived as "green shoots" of recovery, experts say, lie the germinating seeds of what could be a much deeper, more prolonged recession. "I think the clear and present danger is the negative feedback loop for the economy," said Greg Peters, head of global-fixed income and economic research at Morgan Stanley in New York." If people are getting laid off and if capital expenditures are being pulled back, then that has a cascading effect that is much more long-lasting on the economy."
Analysts and investors argue that while job, capex and R&D cuts may shore up individual profits temporarily, they are bad news in the aggregate. They swell the ranks of the unemployed, reduce the wages of those who keep their jobs, and hurt an already struggling economy by further crimping consumer and corporate spending.And that will only ricochet back on the companies themselves, reducing demand for their products and services and putting additional pressure on their sales and margins. "As corporations cut payrolls and deleverage they are acting perfectly rationally," said Robert Reich, the former U.S. Labor Secretary under President Bill Clinton who now teaches at the University of California, Berkeley. "But if that's what every corporation does, we're going to end up with far more job losses and in a deeper economic hole. Who's going to be left to buy all the goods and services these companies produce?"
Read more about this analysis here...
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Mexico resist crisis
Posted: 2010-04-07 12:31:51 UTC-07:00
Economically, Mexico is bearing up much better than it's neighbors to the north. When the New York Times reached out to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim for a 250$ million loan to keep the newspaper afloat, it became clear to the world what Mexicans already knew: Mexico had been able to avoid the worst of the US. economic crisis.
When the US Federal Reserve extended a loan of 30$ billion each to the central banks of Brazil, South Korea, Singapore and Mexico, Mexico did not touch those funds. It simply reinvested them in treasury bonds, leaving them in accounts in New York.
This is no accident. It stems from prudent economic policies implemented after the December 1994 devaluation of the mexican peso that sent the economy into a tailspin. At that time, President Ernesto Zedillo had been in office a few days and his entire agenda was thrown into disarray by the crisis.
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Baja Biz Networking
Posted: 2010-04-07 12:31:51 UTC-07:00
baja-business dot com - a platform for business oriented reports and information focused on the Southern Baja California peninsula. Baja Business is edited in La Paz and published via servers in European data centers. Please get in touch with us If you have any contributions.
Baja California is a very popular holiday destination for North Americans living on the West Coast. Although most tourists concentrate in the areas around Ensenada (just past the border, south of Tijuana), and in the Los Cabos region, at the very Southern end of the peninsula. Here you can find modern tourist facilities which — according to Baja California official visitor’s guide — "have been designed to conform to the environment". Most of these facilities however, resulted in creating massive tourist resorts which eventually marred the natural environment, and these areas have been attracting even more investors with tourist development plans which lack strategic long-term thinking and environmental policies. However, the Baja peninsula offers significant eco-tourism attractions: the region’s clear and tranquil waters, its lagoons and wetlands, marine reserves and desert landscape framed by the Sea of Cortez (defined as "The World’s Aquarium" by Jacques Cousteau) are only some of its marvelous natural beauties. Of course this tourism attracts business from many different kinds of foreign and Mexican investors.
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