The end of Brazil’s bull market
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Opinion

The end of Brazil’s bull market

The recent appearance of a golden bull outside the São Paulo's B3 stock exchange was something of a red rag to the city’s populace.

B3, the Brazilian stock exchange, inaugurates the sculpture of the Golden Bull, which symbolizes the financial market in Sao Paulo
Photo: Reuters

Markets are all about timing. And in replicating Wall Street’s famous bull statue, Pablo Spyer – partner at XP and president of the financial education company Vai Tourinho – got his all wrong.

Following installation of a copycat golden bull statue outside the stock exchange on November 15, the B3 fell by over 2% the next day. But the timing was particularly bad because of the economic environment in the country. GDP fell in the third quarter (by -0.1%), following a similar negative print in the second quarter (-0.4%). This places Brazil back into a technical recession.

A recent newspaper photograph of a man scavenging for bones encapsulates the situation: according to the government’s own figures, only 23% of children now eat three meals a day.

Following installation of a copycat golden bull statue outside the stock exchange ... the B3 fell by over 2%

Vandals quickly daubed slogans on the bull and a popular outcry led the authorities to demand its removal – elegantly solving the dilemma by classifying it as an advert for the B3.

However, Spyer’s boss – founder and president of the board, Guilherme Benchimol – went down swinging.


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