Patricia Perez-Coutts

There are signs that inflation may be leveling off and that there's a peaking of interest rates. Every region in every country should be looked at differently. Smaller and developing nations have debt problems but larger countries not as much. Their markets are more diversified. The U.S dollar is seen as a faculty for emerging markets. Some companies are doing well because of the strong U.S. dollar.

Question was on an ETF recommendation for Europe. Europe has several months of winter ahead and a probable shortage of oil and gas. Also several countries have economic difficulties such as debt so now is not a good time to invest in Europe.

Its business is agricultural products and fertilizer and has benefited from the shortages caused by the war in Ukraine. It is a large, dominant company that has fallen off somewhat. It is a good company but can be volatile because it is commodity related. She prefers another company in the same field. See top picks.

It is a Brazilian digital banker so it is in the Fintech space. It is growing but how are they managing it. It has stopped releasing information so be careful.

It is in the E-commerce space. and E-commerce trends are down. There is lots of competition. It has had 4 to 5 years of negative returns and is not profitable yet. There are cost pressures.

It is an important global producer of light sweet crude oil which is better for the environment. It has become a better company over the years and is 51% owned by the Brazilian government. Should be OK if oil prices stay higher. Also does refining and marketing at local levels. Part of the question was on the 30% dividend yield. Dividends in a company like this are not handled the same way as dividends from North American companies. Look at the payout ratio and consistency as well as how profits are paid out.

The question was on the Mexican Stock Exchange - is it likely to be more like other North American exchanges or Latin American exchanges which have more volatility. The Mexican economy has been growing quickly but there is a concern that there is not much growth left. Oil exports are in a perennial decline and there are structural issues such as no water in the northern part for industry. Also it can't compete with areas like China. She owns one company in Mexico so buyer beware.

The question was on the effect of the severe lockdowns in China which has a zero Covid policy. This has affected growth and the GDP forecast of 5.6% is in question. There are stoppages in factories, etc. However the re-opening of the manufacturing processes in various industries starts up again quickly. Inflation has not been much of an issue but may return quickly. She also mentioned that the Chinese Covid vaccine does not work very well. Overall China continues to grow in services, consumption and technology and there are strong pockets of opportunity.

It is another Fintech company out of Brazil. Only listed in the U.S. and is volatile. It changed its business model recently and faltered. Not much disclosure.

The question was on getting involved in the Indian stock market. You can go to a broker, buy ETF's or buy Mutual Funds. Registration takes a long time. India has lots of entrepreneurship and good businesses. You can target many industries including the smaller pharmaceutical companies which have more growth opportunities than the bigger ones elsewhere. Private banks like ICICI will do better than government owned banks. They have to tackle inflation which is a problem because of infrastructure. She has a positive outlook.

The macro background of the countries they operate in are not that strong for the most part. They need to control their costs and price some of their lines better but should turn to profitability. Too expensive.

It has done well but a few years ago it became too aggressive without managing the risks properly. She owns a competitor which has more sustainability.

It produces lithium which is needed for the growing EV market. Its production is done in an environmentally friendly way and it is one of the lowest cost producers as well as expanding capacity. Has a very large market share. Also has a fertilizer business. Buy 10, Hold 4, Sell 2

The demand for chips should continue growing well since there are many uses including automobiles, cloud computing, EV's, internet of things, AI, etc. It has proprietary knowledge in the design of 3 to 5 manometer semiconductor chips. Has a sustainable ROE of 22%. Buy 12, Hold 2, Sell 0 (Analysts’ price target is $126.73)

Based in China and creates games and mobile games on several platforms. These games have a lot of staying power. There is also a lot of competition. Should do well in relation to the development of the metaverse. Buy 35, Hold 1, Sell 0 (Analysts’ price target is $124.20)