I have been advised by a marketing consultant to talk more about insights from my foreign travels. In London this summer there is a steady drumbeat of propaganda against female genetic cutting and the marriage of underage girls among the immigrant community, which of course I support.

According to press reports, Espirito Santo Financial Group, one of Portugal's largest financial groups and the biggest shareholder in Banco Espirito Santo, is about to miss interest payments on some of its short term notes.

Eduardo Garcia writes that Fibra Uno, the Mexican REIT, is paying $90 mn to buy the Hilton Hotel in Mexico City's Centro Historico, of which $31 mn is the assumption of debt.

Many years ago a genuine French Rothschild I knew commented about my recommending the Portuguese Banco Espirito Santo stock.

One of Portugal's biggest companies - Espirito Santo International SA - is in a "serious financial condition" according to a central bank driven external audit by KPMG identified "irregularities in its accounts."