Brazilian petroleum output should be enough by the end of 2005 to meet the country´s demand reported in Brasilia Jose Sergio Gabrielli, CEO of Petrobras, Brazil´s state-owned oil corporation. Mr. Gabrielli said Petrobras output (domestic and overseas) will reach a daily production of 2.231million BOE barrels per day and “will be able to sustain that level, and even above, for many years to come. The level of developed reserves should remain stable for at least the next twenty years”.

Mexico´s central bank reduced its benchmark lending rate for a second time in as many months to help jumpstart the economy. The Bank of Mexico cut the overnight rate to 9.25 percent from 9.50 percent after a reduction of 0.25 percentage point last month. In a statement, the board led by Governor Guillermo Ortiz said economic growth was slowing, particularly in industrial output, and the inflation outlook had improved.

Venezuela´s central bank transferred $3 billion of its international reserves to a fund controlled by President Hugo Chavez for government spending projects. The government has earmarked $984 million of the fund for transportation infrastructure projects, such as expanding the subway system in Caracas and building a train to connect Caracas to its southern suburbs, Chavez said.

German travel icon Thomas Cook has seen its nine-month operating loss narrow by more than two-thirds, and said it was looking forward to "substantial" full-year profits on the back of a restructuring program. Losses before interest, tax and amortization shrank to about £24.9 million in the nine months to the end of July from a deficit of some £81 million a year earlier.

The Argentine economy expanded 10.1 percent in the second quarter of 2005 compared to the same period a year ago, the highest since the first quarter of 2004, spurred by investment and private consumption. According to a release earlier this week from the Ministry of Economy, the second quarter expanded 2.4 percent over the first quarter, piling up a 9.1 percent first-half growth. The surge of the Argentine economy was above market expectations which forecasted a 8.8 percent expansion in the second quarter of the year.

Stagnant growth, higher costs, rising inflation, double-digit unemployment, reduced incomes, the threat of salary cuts and massive layoffs, and loss of confidence are putting Puerto Rico´s economy against the ropes. The cost of living and doing business in Puerto Rico are literally going through the roof and threatening to only get worse off. The price of gasoline, water, electricity, food, medicine, tolls, and everything is on the rise.