Brazil & Italy: From Right to Left

(1) Hot, hot, hot: Brazilian stock market is world’s only gainer mtd. (2) Gains reflect high hopes for Latin America’s biggest economy. (3) High hopes rest on fiery, ultra-right presidential frontrunner Jair Bolsonaro, “Trump of the Tropics.” (4) Yet a Bolsonaro administration’s economic policy remains uncertain. (5) Debating Brazil’s stock market runup: “Bolsonaro bump,” fundamentals, or both? (6) Spaghetti western: Stay tuned for a Rome-vs-EU showdown over Italy’s 2019 budget. (7) Proposed budget would hike social spending, cut taxes, and boost the deficit in defiance of EU rules. (8) Rising Italian bond yields threaten a dangerous debt spiral, pressuring euro.