(not formal d.d., just caught my eye)
Mercado Libre (MELI) is South America’s answer to eBay. they are based in Buenos Aires Argentina, where prices due to inflation have risen 88% in the past 12 months. this goes for everywhere in South America but as much as people like to complain in the US about how the United States Postal Service delivers a package day late here and there, it’s a miracle if you ever get a package at all in south America. that’s because the people who work at the mail offices, open packages, and if they see something that they like they just keep it and there’s no recourse.
inflation has gotten so bad in Argentina that people have given up on working. you think the anti-work sentiment in the US is bad with quiet quitting, people have permanently quit in Argentina forever, from the youth to the old timers
I’m just focusing on Argentina, but Mercado Libre is in no way worth a 180 PE Ratio with the market cap TWICE that of eBay, $48B vs $24B. I could see an Argentinian company like this one cooking the books in the same way that China reported surprisingly high GDP last quarter (which we all know is false), because my entire family is in Argentina, and I have lots of friends in Argentina, and have lived in Argentina for two years and I just know the culture there. not to mention it’s trading at around $1,000 a share!
Argentina is the kind of place where the presidents and politicians have exotic cars and own all the hotels and mansions and steal from the country, basically unexplainable wealth due to corruption
people in Argentina and South America barely have enough money for bread, much less, and the kinds of things that are sold on Mercado libre. you think the situation in the US and the UK is dire? It’s been that way for years and gets worse all the time in Argentina and South America
wouldn’t be surprised if there was malfeasance going on here and i’m sure this would be very interesting to research for someone who likes to do that and put together thesis’s
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