No major stories this New Year’s weekend. Dilma Rousseff was sworn in as the new president of Brazil and spoke to the need to continue the policies of LULA. She said her influence will be on battling inflation but the markets will watch her cabinet’s actions as she has also voiced concern about the rapid appreciation of the REAL, as the Brazilian currency has appreciated 39 percent during the last two years. The strong REAL has begun to hamper the Brazilian equity markets as it was up a mere 1.25 percent in a year that global commodities were the star performer. Brazilian debt markets are anticipating rates to rise this year so our eyes will be on the Brazilian central bank and watching to see how aggressive it is in stemming inflationary pressures.