South America’s largest economy is poised to ride its energy riches to a brighter future, says Fred Fuld of Stockerblog.com in this exclusive interview with MoneyShow.com.
 
What’s going on in Brazil? It sounds like a fascinating investment opportunity.

It is. Brazil’s stocks have dropped recently quite a bit, along with the rest of the world. I think it’s created a tremendous buying opportunity.

Brazil is very strong. I think it’s the strongest of all the BRIC countries. BRIC, as you’re aware, is Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

Brazil has huge oil reserves offshore. They are heavily into ethanol and ethanol cars. They create their ethanol from sugar-cane waste.

I know there’s been a lot of criticism in the United States about using corn to create ethanol because it creates a higher cost of food in the United States. But sugar cane? Well, sugar’s not good for you anyway. It’s sugar-cane waste and the sugar cane itself that they use to make the ethanol down there.

It’s very popular. It’s growing. I mean they’re basically self-sufficient down there. The government’s stable. I think it’s a really good investment opportunity.

How is their financial balance sheet looking?

The country as a whole is in pretty good shape. The companies are doing really well.

A lot of people aren’t aware that you can buy Brazilian stocks in the United States, on the New York Stock Exchange. You don’t have to open up an account in Brazil. You can just buy them through any brokerage firm here in the US.

Does Brazil get lift from the commodity move?

Yes, they do. They benefit from commodities. There’s a whole diversified group of companies that you can buy, whether it’s the utilities, the telecom companies, the food companies. There are at least a dozen different publicly traded companies that you can buy here in the US, and trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

If an investor is looking to get information or wanted to invest in Brazil, how could they go about it?

There are a couple of ways. First of all, you can invest in a Brazilian ETF. That’s one way you could get a diversified portfolio.

I’ve written a book about Brazilian stocks. One of the questions I get asked is, how did you ever pick Brazil to take a look at? I had developed a stock index. I actually developed celebrity stock indexes.

One of the celebrities that I developed a stock index for was Gisele Bündchen, the supermodel from Brazil. That stock index revolves around the types of products that she promotes in commercials.

Isn’t she married to Tom Brady?

That’s right, she is. She’s very knowledgeable, very astute. There were news reports several years ago about how she preferred to be paid in euros instead of US dollars. She later kind of back tracked on that but she’s very financially astute also and the richest supermodel in the world. I think ahead of Heidi Klum.

More than just a pretty face.

That’s right.

Related Reading:

Get Ready for the Middle-Class Boom
The Emerging Markets Close to Home
Look Overseas for Bargain Stocks