Venezuela’s Mysterious Stock Inflow Is Leaving Traders Perplexed

Foreign investors are putting money into Venezuelan stocks. Let that sink in a moment. Yes, we’re talking about the same Venezuela with triple-digit inflation, food shortages and a lack of basic medicines. Where politics are so divisive that the Vatican is brokering mediation talks while opposition leaders remain in jail. The country that traders view as the most likely sovereign to default over the next year. But that didn’t stop someone -- the data doesn’t show who -- from putting about $50,000 into the Caracas Stock Exchange between the U.S. presidential election and Nov. 30, according to EPFR Global and the International Institute of Finance. While that’s a tiny blip during a period that saw $34 billion in equity funds zip around the world, it’s the largest inflow Venezuela has seen in 16 months. More…