Mexico Doing Well Amidst the Violence

``From Bloomberg:

The North American Free Trade Agreement that took effect in 1994 continues to lure investors even as Mexico confronts its worst-ever drug violence. The treaty  signed with the U.S. and Canada caused overseas sales to quadruple. In the first seven months of this year, Mexico’s share of U.S. exports rose while China’s fell, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Gross domestic product expanded 7.6% in the second quarter, the most since 1998, boosted by U.S. demand for everything from refrigerators to cars.

“Since 1995, the advantage that Mexico has as a partner with the U.S. in Nafta has been growing,” said Sergio Luna, the head economist at Citigroup Inc.’s Banamex unit in Mexico City.

 “Drug-related violence in Mexico has increased, and even spilled over to areas in the country previously thought to be immune,” said Stefan Hofer, an emerging-markets equity strategist at Bank Julius Baer & Co. in Zurich, which oversees about $160 billion worldwide. “While the security situation is an important issue to watch, and has many tragic dimensions, international investors have not been dissuaded from investing in Mexico.”''

 From LATimes. 

Now I know why my pesos are worth more dollars:

``With most Latin American currencies rising against the dollar over the last nine months, U.S. investors in the region also are reaping the benefit of currency gains. The dollar now is worth 12.6 Mexican pesos, down from 13.1 pesos at the start of the year. That means Mexican stocks are worth more when translated into dollars.''