Venezuela

When the White House announced on Friday that Trump had signed an executive order deepening the sanctions on Venezuela, and confirming the previously rumored trading ban in Venezuelan debt that earlier in the week had sent VENZ/PDVSA bonds tumbling, we made what we thought at the time was a sarcastic comment that in light of the recent scandal involving Goldman's purchase of Venezuela Hunger Bonds, that Lloyd Blankfein's hedge fund, which now controls the presidency and next year will also take over the Fed courtesy of Gary Cohn, would be exempt from the trading ban:

President Trump just signed an executive order deepening the sanctions on Venezuela, confirming the rumors of a ban on trading in Venezuelan debt that sent VENZ/PDVSA bonds tumbling.

Authored by Jose Nino via The Mises Institute,

It’s no secret that Latin America is rife with violence. A recent ranking from the Citizen's Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice (CCSPJP) further illustrates this point with the top 10 most violent cities in the world being exclusively located in Latin America. Additionally, Latin America has the dishonor of having 43 of the 50 most violent urban centers located in the region.

Authored by Joe Withrow via InternationalMan.com,

Eli’s mother was dying from cancer.

Eli is 33 years old. He owns a shoe store in Caracas, Venezuela. His mother has bone cancer.

Venezuela’s currency is the bolivar. It lost 62% of its purchasing power in February. (It lost 67% the month before that.)

That means prices for everything (food, water, and utilities) increased 62% over a month.

Venezuela bonds are tumbling after the WSJ reported that the US government was considering a ban on trading in the country's debt. PDVSA’s 12.75% 2022s were trading at 44.75 this morning,down from around 45.65 at Tuesday's close and two points weaker than levels seen earlier in the week, according to MarketAxess. Bond traders also sold PDVSA's 6% 2026s, which had fallen about a point to 30.00.