In the present case, the catalyst for losses, as previously observed, was the rapid depreciation of the Real, jumpstarted by the contagion of the crisis to the Brazilian financial markets. The chronology of the depreciation follows precisely the turmoil in the world financial markets. The company first publicly announced its losses on October 3rd,
2008, stating that it was trying to close its position in derivatives. Below, in figure 3, we
present the daily exchange rate from the preceding 26 business days before the announcement with the changes in the American S&P Index. The cumulative depreciation is 23%, or 0.85% daily, while the S&P Index lost more than 18% in the same period.