BRASIL: The REAL's Growing Strength Is Nation's Real Test.

WSJ/ JOHN LYONS/       Even as 136 million Brasilians go to the polls today to choose a new president, 27 governors and countless legislators, there is worry that its currency is TOO strong and growing stronger.
     The REAL broke thru the symbolic 1.7 per dollar level this week, despite intervention by the central bank. "Right now manufacturers may be the hardest hit, but the lost competitiveness and opportunity for everyone is just terrible." says a businessman.
     According to Goldman Sachs, a computer analysis claims that the REAL trades about 55% stronger than its fair value of 2.65 per dollar, the biggest premium among major currencies and "the most overvalued in the world."

BRASIL: Rio's "Big Mac" Pricier Than London And NYC; Overpriced Real Is Reason.

BLOOMBERG/
Buying a "Big Mac" hamburger now costs 8 reais in Rio or $4.62, compared with $3.99 in New York and $3.74(2.29 pounds)in London.
Brasil's Real has exploded 34 percent vs the USD so far this year. The Real is the best-performer of the world’s 16 most-traded currencies in 2009.

Meanwhile in Reykjavik, Iceland, all three McDonald's franchise restaurants will close soon because the cost of McDonald's ingredients, most from Germany, had doubled in the last 18 months as a result of severe depreciation of the Icelandic krona and high import taxes.