First of all, I would like to apologize for sending this greetings message only now, but I had some problems concerning non operating equipment near Christmas. Next time I will try to do this earlier, but the fact is that it is in my blood always leaving everything to the last minute.

    Well, 1997 has gone. Like any other year, in part we will miss it, but it also brought new experiences, problems and opportunities to face. Among all dead and wounded people, almost everyone is safe, ready for 1998.

    This time we expect that a new crisis do not arrive, such as the one that shaked our "Brasilian Stability in post-Real Era". My God, we were sailing with good winds when some people found out that the prices of apartments in Hong Kong were over evaluated.

    At least we have the solution of simply reward those people that have extra money to save, paying them a profit that allows them to buy one extra product in two years if they do not buy this product now.

    It is a shame that the majority of Brasilian people prefer or have to buy this product today. So this is paid in few months with an amount of money that could buy the equivalent of two (or even more) of this products, transferring a good part of their income to those who have the surplus. We have a certain stability, but at a high cost. A reversed Robin Hood, called now "Brasilian Liberalism". And we are eveyday covering big deficits that come out here and there.

    Meanwhile, in the capital of Prata, Buenos Aires, just one hour by flight away from here, banks are offering savings accounts that pay 6%. Per year. In national currency. Impresses us. Surely, the foreign currency is still more valuable, offering lower interest rates. 1% less. This shows the confidence in government titles. But this is a different reality, it even snows in this country during the summer. Very strange, spending New Year's Eve in a cold South America area.

    Here, there is nothing such as a inflation of only 5% per year being with a rope round our neck. But it is not tight, there is the whole public telephone system (PTTs) to sell. This would give us enough money for the next year. Unless regional government keep on paying for big companies build their plants in Brasil.

    Pretty enough for economy, a small fancy of someone who has studied finance only for general knowledge. In Computers there is a very nice message I received from IBM, saying "80 years ago it was impossible to know where would we get... Now we know there is no limits." The day that I could communicate with all only with my imagination instead of using cables, keyboards and videos I think we could say that we did a significant progress. But Internet is a great step further, surely.

    Always with expectation that we have a environment with more serenity, solidarity, I hope that you have a great 1998, and also find out and achieve your desires.

    André Baggio
    January 1998