Three hours of heated, fragmented debate between Brazil’s presidential candidates failed to provide voters with much detail on how to put Latin America’s largest economy back on track. Eight of the 13 contenders for Brazil’s presidency traded barbs last week over corruption, crime and the dire state of the economy, with the country’s stubbornly high levels of unemployment returning again and again as the dominant theme of the night. None of the candidates, however, addressed the topics in much depth and viewing figures were low. "We are in a very preliminary stage," said Rafael Cortez, a political analyst at Tendencias Consultoria. "There was no winner because no one was able to lure new supporters."

Aug 13, 2018 - Reuters

An auction to sell four subsidiaries of Brazil's state-controlled power company Eletrobras scheduled to take place on Aug. 30 could be postponed, a source closely following the sale process told Reuters on Friday. The source, who asked not to be named because he did not want to discuss the issue publicly, said a postponement could happen if Brazil's Senate fails to approve in time a bill considered crucial to attracting investors for the auction, in which Eletrobras will try to sell four of its regional power distribution companies.

Aug 13, 2018 - Bloomberg

The future isn’t in oil -- at least for traders trying to predict moves in currencies of the bigger energy exporters. Crude has decoupled versus the currencies of Russia, Brazil and Canada, with internal market dynamics pushing them in different directions, according to research from Societe Generale SA, The ruble, real and Canadian dollar have bigger problems right now than a fairly stagnant crude price.

Aug 13, 2018 - EnergyWorld

Brazil cut its greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation in 2017 to levels below its internationally agreed 2020 climate change targets, the country's Environment Ministry said. Brazil reduced its emission from deforestation in the Amazon rainforest by 610 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), compared to its 2020 target of 564 million tonnes. In the Cerrado savanna, emissions were reduced 170 million tonnes of carbon dioxide versus a target of 104 million tonnes. The Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, and the Cerrado, South America's biggest savanna, soak up vast amounts of carbon dioxide and their preservation is seen as vital to the fight against climate change.