February 2011
Foreign purchases of Mexican debt tripled in 2010
Reuters - Foreigners tripled purchases of Mexican debt last year, investing $24 billion as low interest rates in wealthy nations made Mexican securities more attractive. The torrent of cash helped lift Mexico's peso currency 6 percent against the dollar last year.
www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/25/us-mexico-economy-idUSTRE71O3HL20110225
Quake hits Mexico's gulf coast; no injuries reported
Reuters - A 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck Mexico's gulf coast in the state of Veracruz Friday but there were no reports of injuries or damage. The quake was four miles northwest of Acayucan, and was 82.6 miles deep, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
www.latimes.com/sns-rt-quake-mexico-updatn25249417-20110225,0,4301054.story
Heineken, convenience stores boost FEMSA
Reuters - Giant Mexican beverage and retail company FEMSA said on Friday that quarterly profit climbed, boosted by higher sales at its expanding network of convenience stores and its stake in Dutch beer company Heineken.
www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/25/femsa-idUSN244048020110225
Leader of La Linea killing gang killed
TheAge.com.au - One of Mexico's most wanted hitmen, Luis Humberto Peralta Hernandez, 44, former state police officer and a leader of La Linea gang of killers, has been killed in a shootout, ending a violent career that cost the lives of nearly 100 people.
www.theage.com.au/world/feared-drug-hitman-killed-in-shootout-20110225-1b8mr.html
Sweep targets Mexican cartels operating in U.S.
Washington Post - Thousands of U.S. agents and local police officers arrested and interrogated suspected associates of Mexican drug cartels across the United States on Thursday. DEA officials said the sweep netted more than 100 suspects.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/24/AR2011022407392.html
Walmex plans to open one store per day in Mexico this year
Submitted by mexbiznews on Fri, 02/25/2011 - 6:15am
Dow Jones
Retail leader Wal-Mart de Mexico, or Walmex, plans to ramp up investment and store openings in 2011 as it aims to sustain faster growth in sales in coming years, Chief Executive Scot Rank said Thursday.
Walmex expects to invest a "historic" 18.97 billion pesos ($1.56 billion) this year in its operations in Mexico and Central America, Rank said in a presentation to analysts broadcast over the Internet.
The company expects to open 365 stores in Mexico this year, an average of one a day.
Stocks edge lower of U.S. data, Libya strife
Dow Jones - Mexican stocks closed marginally lower on Thursday, extending their losses to four sessions as mixed U.S. economic data and political revolt in oil-rich Libya kept markets volatile. The IPC index slipped 18 points, or 0.05 percent, to 36447.
Projects aim to turn Mexico City "green"
Fox News Latino - A group of Mexican architects is presenting plans this week for green murals, vertical gardens and sustainable hotel rooms, all projects aimed at saving energy, conserving water and addressing the woes of chaotic, fast-growing Mexico City.
latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/02/24/architects-present-plans-greener-mexico-city/
U.S. launches expansion of world's busiest land border crossing at Tijuana-San Diego
Submitted by mexbiznews on Fri, 02/25/2011 - 5:38amBy Sandra Dibble and Janine Zuniga
San Diego Union-Tribune
Long lines and lengthy waits have become an inescapable burden for tens of thousands of cross-border commuters at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
Proposing to dramatically decrease crossing times for both vehicles and pedestrians, authorities Thursday formally launched a $577 million expansion and modernization of the world’s busiest land-border crossing.
Wait times during peak hours can currently stretch to more than two hours, and a 2009 study by the U.S. General Services Administration showed that if nothing is done, those waits could stretch to 10 hours by 2030.
Planned for completion by 2016, the new facility would reduce maximum waits to 30 minutes, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Added lanes, more booths and high-tech inspections are at the heart of the overhaul. It is the largest and costliest infrastructure project the U.S. government has ever undertaken along its land border.
“The need for a new facility is clear, and the stakes are high,” said Martha Johnson, administrator of the GSA. Over the next two decades, she said, traffic through the San Ysidro port is expected to increase by as much as 90 percent.
www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/24/rebuilt-border-crossing-aims-speed-traffic/
Bimbo records fourth quarter loss due to costs
Reuters - Mexican bread maker Grupo Bimbo said its fourth-quarter profit fell to 1.37 billion pesos ($111 million) from 1.76 in 2010 as distribution and other costs rose and price hikes it implemented at the end of last year have yet to take effect.
www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/24/bimbo-idUSN2423814520110224
