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Bond Trading Poll: Emu shuffles the rankings

To paraphrase American satirist PJ O'Rourke, if you buy yourself something with your own money, odds are that you'll spend time making sure you get exactly what you want. If you spend your own money on something for someone else, you won't be quite as careful. But if you're given money by one person and told to buy something for someone else, you're likely not to be careful at all.

Brazil's economy is weak but the banks are strong. That is the popular belief among investors. The banks are well-capitalized and liquid, with high profits. Brazil's banking sector has been restructured and balance sheets cleaned up. While investors fret over the government's failure to sort out public finances they can rest assured that the financial system is solid. Right?

Never one to rest too long on my posterior, I jet in from Hong Kong to Sydney, and arrive rather the worse for Qantas at the airport. A chirpy customs man asks my occupation. When told "journalist" he asks what I intend to write about in Australia. When I reply "financial markets" he says: "Well that'll be pretty dull for you." This does not bode well.

Privatization and a new chairman of the stock exchange are spearheading the growth of the Egypt's capital markets. Rebecca Bream reports

Poland is about to force large numbers of its citizens to make private pension contributions. That should boost its capital markets. Peter Bennet reports

Big country, small - but beautifully formed - financial market. Why is Kazakhstan so different from its neighbours. David Shirreff The meek shall inherit the earth - or at least what's left of the Russian financial sector. Smaller banks with little exposure to government debt are flourishing. Ben Aris Private pension contributions are becoming mandatory in Poland. This should boost capital markets. But by how much? Peter Bennet Foreign players are fighting over the rich pickings on offer in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Beyond this golden triangle there are many gems to be found for the most adventurous investment banks. Alex Mathias Bank privatization alone will not save Romania's economy. What else will it take to stabilize it? And is the government up to the task?

Africa - for long an economic graveyard - is attracting more interest than ever before,spurred on by a new legal framework and a slowdown in Asian development. Project-finance lawyers are leading the way. By Christopher Stoakes

The consolidation process that has been reshaping the Italian banking system for the last three years reached a climax on March 21, when four of the five top banks in the country announced their intentions to merge following hectic negotiations.

The fall of German finance minister Oskar Lafontaine is bullish for German financial assets, but only in the short term. Euroland remains a slow-growth region. So, after a brief rally, I reckon the euro is set to weaken again against the US dollar, moving towards parity. The European Central Bank will now be much less reluctant to cut interest rates in order to fend off EU recession. There's no justification for maintaining real rates of 2% to 2.5% when real GDP growth in the euro zone is sub-par and slowing and inflation below 1% and falling. Short rates could go 50 to 75 basis points lower by the year-end. That will help German Bunds and equities, which have underperformed the EU average by over 10% so far this year. That performance gap will narrow quite quickly.

Bond Trading Poll: Emu shuffles the rankings

Euromoney has once again ranked the world's best hotels, airlines and airports according to the preferences of senior executives across the globe. Which are the world's favourite hotels for business travellers? And which airlines should you fly with and which should you avoid? Research and report by Carolyn Dowd.