So much for Argentina having turned the corner toward financial stability–selling ARGT and GGAL out of my Volatility Portfolio

So much for Argentina having turned the corner toward financial stability–selling ARGT and GGAL out of my Volatility Portfolio

It feels like panic rather than a plan. Because, I think, it is panic without a plan. The central bank of Argentina raised its benchmark interest rate another 3 percentage points today (that’s not 3 or 30 basis points but 300–a full 3 percentage points.) This comes after the central bank raised interest rates 3 percentage points last Friday. The benchmark rate now stands at 33.25%, the highest in the world

Argentina gets credit rating boost from Moody’s–good news for my Volatility Portfolio picks GGAL and ARGT

Argentina gets credit rating boost from Moody’s–good news for my Volatility Portfolio picks GGAL and ARGT

Yesterday Moody’s Investors Service raised Argentina’s credit rating one level to B2 from B3. I added Grupo Financiero Galicia (GGAL) and Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (ARGT) to my Volatility Portfolio on my expectation that President Mauricio Macri’s macroeconomic reforms would gradually revive the economy and lead to upgrades in the country’s credit rating (and a drop in runaway inflation.)  The two picks are up 69.12% and 7.29%, respectively, since I added them to this portfolio. Argentina is on track, Moody’s said in its upgrade, to turn in two years of economic growth in a row in 2017 and 2108, which would be the first time that’s happened since 2011. Moody’s projects that the Argentine economy will grow by 3% this year and 3.5% in 2018.