Every time financial analysts attempt to forecast trends in Brazil, they have one eye looking abroad. As an emerging economy without investment-grade status, Brazil’s future is largely influenced by foreign factors. In 2020, U.S.-Iran tensions and the coronavirus outbreak have already shaken markets and weighed down Brazil’s currency. And now, on the first Monday in February, investors with positions in Brazil should brace themselves for more volatility, as the Iowa caucus kicks off the process to select the U.S. Democratic Party’s candidate to face Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election.
On the U.S. stock market, the effects of...