Reuters was ahead with news Brazil’s central bank president joins PMDB party

Reuters was way ahead of the pack as Brazil’s central bank president Henrique Meirelles decided to join the centrist PMDB party, a closely watched move that has implications for central bank policy and leaves the door open for his candidacy for a state governor job in next year’s general election. Reuters was a week ahead of the official announcement on Sept 29 with word from government and party sources that Meirelles had decided on the PMDB. Unable to match our story, Bloomberg cited Reuters in its reports. We were then 5 seconds ahead of Bloomberg and 14 minutes ahead of Dow Jones with the official announcement, which we followed up quickly with a snap analysis. Uncertainty over Meirelles’ political future has added volatility in interest rate future markets in recent months, with some investors worried that his political affiliation could influence central bank decisions on monetary policy. By law, Meirelles has until April 2 to leave the central bank if he decides to run for office in the 2010 general elections.