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. He took to LinkedIn to call critics ignorant and claiming its removal was robbing São Paulo of tourist dollars.
Perhaps he would have been more open to taking down the statue if the detractors had pointed out that, with the B3 falling by more than 20% since June, maybe a bronzed bear sitting mournfully outside the home of the Bovespa would have been more appropriate.
