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Americans should be watching too. Venezuela, which sits atop 78 billion bbl. of oil--and as much as 270 billion bbl. of extra-heavy crude--is the world's fifth largest oil exporter. It's also a founding member of the OPEC oil cartel (the 11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries). In past decades, to please consumers in the U.S.--PDVSA's biggest market, which buys two-thirds of its exports--Venezuela often ignored OPEC's guidelines, stepping up production even when oil prices hit rock bottom in the late 1990s. But Chavez, a harsh critic...
...Some investors gripe that Chavez's 2001 hydrocarbons law makes it too difficult to participate in the lucrative quality-crude projects. But others praise Rodriguez (and more radical leftists berate him) for reserving more than a quarter of the $37 billion plan--$10 billion--for foreign investment, mostly in extra-heavy crude, marginal oil fields and Venezuela's massive natural-gas reserves. As one foreign oil boss in Venezuela assures skeptics, "There will always be investment opportunities here...
Executives at U.S. and European oil firms privately say the government is helping them find ways around the hydrocarbons law. If so, the extra capital could be good news for what Rodriguez considers the soul of his reforms--the PDVSA-financed social projects, whose popularity among the poor may spell the difference for Chavez in the referendum. "We're going to be an even more model oil company," says Rodriguez, "because we'll be as visible in the barrios as we are in the markets." The policy wonk, in other words, is still a rebel. --With reporting by Brian Ellsworth/Caracas
...average yield for money-market funds--a popular parking place for rainy-day reserves--sat at 0.51% two months ago. The rate was 0.68% last week, a difference that would give investors an extra $3.4 billion over the course of a year. Money-market funds tend to yield the federal-funds rate minus expenses (average: 0.50%), which could mean a 1.50% average yield by the end of the year. But that still falls far short of inflation--now at 3%--and the 6% money funds yielded...
...tapping for a year or so--perhaps college-tuition bills are on your horizon--you might try a fund like SSgA Yield Plus, with a 30-day yield of 1.17%, or Fidelity Ultra-Short Bond, yielding 1.33%. Just remember: as rates rise, bond prices fall, offsetting some of that extra yield. And if you sell too soon, you might be hit with a redemption fee. Even among the cash happy, rising rates don't solve everything...