Patagonia Plains of Argentina.(BPAT.BA)

Near the southern most portion of South America and near to Falkland Islands,lies the great rolling steppe like plains of Agrentina called the Patagonia.

The Andean cordillera lies towards the west facing the Pacific Ocean while the Patagonian plains faces the Atlantic Ocean.

Patagonia physical landscape is just a plateau rising in a succession of abrupt terraces covered with an enormous bed of shingle almost bare of vegetation.

In the hollows of the plains are ponds or lakes of fresh and brackish water.

Patagonia seems to be a portion of the Antarctic continent, the permanence of which dates from very recent times, as is evidenced by the apparent recent emergence of the islets around Chiloe, and by the general character of the pampean formation.

The region of Patagonia was first noted in 1520 in European accounts of the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, who on his passage along the coast named many of the more striking features—Gulf of San Matias, Cape of 11,000 Virgins (now simply Cape Virgenes), and others.

Patagonia is populated primarily by people of European descent.The official language of Argentina is Spanish.
There are five provinces on the Argentinian side of Patagonia. They are Neuquen, Rio Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tiero del Fuego. Patagonia also touches on the Chilean regions of Los Lagos, Aysen, and Magallines. The borders of the areas in Patagonia between Chile and Argentina have sometimes been in dispute. The Chilean Patagonia is considered very remote and, like the Argentinian side, is sparsely populated with people but abounds with many unique species of animals.

Agriculture, ranching and tourism are the main economic activities in the Argentinean side of Patagonia. There is an abundance of natural resources such as timber, mighty rivers, and deposits of gold, silver, copper and lignite still mostly undeveloped. A series of dams on the Limay and Neuquen rivers produce hydro power in Neuquen province. Irrigated areas of the Negro and Colorado River valleys make it favorable for ranching and farming. The province of Chabut produces the high quality wheat of the Argentine Republic. Oil and natural gas production center on the area around Comodoro Rivadavia.
Argentine Banking:-

During the 1990s, marked by President Carlos Menem's policies of liberalization, Argentina's financial system saw a significant consolidation and strengthening, in large part through foreign investment.

The banking system suffered a fatal flaw: it lent dollars and took deposits in Argentine pesos. By early 2001, deposits had reached $87,000 million, but when the economy took a second dip, capital started flowing out of Argentina, and deposits started to move away from the weaker players of the financial system, namely provincial banks and large local banks.
This eventually led to a run on all banks in the system, a freeze in deposits, and a currency devaluation, which included an asymmetric devaluation of loans and deposits. Banks were forced to collect their dollar loans at a conversion rate much lower than the rate applied to its dollar deposits. This made many banks technically bankrupt and destroyed the confidence of the public in the financial system, which was held responsible for many of the economic ills of the country
Banco Patagonia S.A.(Buenos Aires:BPAT.BA)

Banco Patagonia Sudameris S.A. operates as a bank in Argentina. It provides a range of financial solutions for individuals, corporations, small and medium sized companies, private banking, and institutional customers. Banco offers loans and deposits. The company was formerly known as Banco Patagonia S.A. and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
It is Argentina's third largest private financial institution.
The balance sheet as at 31 December 2009 :-

Total Assets =10,054,000
Total Liabilities =8,200,000
Common Stock =965,000

Retained Earnings =889,000
Net Income=449,000

The shareholders at 31 December 2008:-
Jorge G. Stuart Milne= 24,92%

Ricardo A. Stuart Milne 24,92%

Emilio Gonzalez Moreno 9,24%

Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. 9,99%

Acciones en Cartera 3,06% Mercado 24,83%

Provincia de Rio Negro 3,04%

News in brief:-

15Sep2010== S&P ups Banco Hipotecario, Banco Patagonia, Caja de Valores

02November2010== Brazil's central bank BCB has authorized federally controlled Banco do Brasil (BB) to increase its stake in Argentina's Banco Patagonia to 75%.

04November2010== Patagonia rises 16% on Raymond James(NYSE:RJF) outperform recommendation.

09November2010== Banco Patagonia sees BB tender offer unsuccessful on higher current stock price.

25January2010== Financial services firm Raymond James (NYSE: RJF) has downgraded Argentina's Banco Patagonia to market perform from outperform on relative valuation.
Banco Patagonia S.A. is listed on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange.(Buenos Aires:BPAT.BA)

It has such a small capital paid up and held tightly by the major shareholders.

The latest candlestick suggest that it is a bearish hangman.That's for sure as you have a promoter downgrading it for their own benefit.

Look to buy when they short sell below the lower shadow as it is currently near to the bull pivot resistance but failed to touch it.

The past 2 months candles have been hoovering within the upper shadow of November's range.

Tracking the Dow on Tuesday,(3 market days to index/options expiry)
9:30am:--Bearish 50.0 points gap down opening.January retail sales rose less than expected, while the February reading on New York manufacturing came in above forecasts.

10:30am:--Dip lower,no sign of recovering the opening gap.Bears hammer.Inflation remains a key factor to watch for investors.

11:30am:--A retracement to MAV resistance line with bearish shooting star.

12:30noon:--End of morning session holding at the MAV resistance line fro the second time.Bearish spin.

1:30pm:--Failure to hold at the MAV line,Bearish spike down.Energy stocks are pulling down the market.

2:30pm:--Intraday new low.Bullish engulfing.

3:30pm:--Holding at the bear pivot.

4:00pm:--A runaway bull.
A disappointment that retail sales in December weren't as strong as many had thought coupled with the U.S. import prices soaring 1.5 percent mad investors a bit nervous.

Inflation is the U.S. will take center stage later this week when the government releases figures on producer prices on Wednesday and consumer prices on Thursday. In the U.K., consumer prices surged 4 percent in January, double the Bank of England’s target, which will force the U.K. central bank to consider a hike in interest rates.

For the past 6 months the Dow has been trending upwards,finding higher levels along the way.Its a volatile upward trend with no real bulls as seen by the many doji stars all along the way.Each monthly session will either have a bullish or bearish spike midway and then continue spinning with the quantitative easing liquidity.

The mid-term US election last November pulled the Dow to find a pivot low.The Dow will presumbly advance further till the Presidential Election schedule in 2012.