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Articles by The Corner

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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.
US Millenials can afford to buy a home

Markets, World economy 8th July 2017

US Millenials Can Afford To Buy A Home, But Do They Want To Do It?

The homeownership rate among young adults in the United States has plunged to a record low, helping 
to explain the slow recovery in single family homebuilding. In order to understand the future of the housing stock, it helps to tell that there are currently 75 million individuals considered to be Millennials in the US with an average age of 27.5. Acording to BoAML, “in theory, this should underpin growth in homeownership. But, it is complicated – we have to understand the ability of Millennials to afford housing and the desire to become homeowners vs. renters.”

ArcelorMittal

Markets, Stoxx50 7th July 2017

The Consolidation Of The European Steel Sector: The Example Of ArcelorMittal

Íñigo Recio (GVC Gaesco) | The acquistion of the Italian company Ilva is a strategic operation for ArcelorMittal for the following reasons: 1)it did not have any industrial presence in Italy; 2)the deal means it can cope with steel imports in the Italian market – one of the principal access ports to Europe from non-community steel producing countries (mainly Asia) – and 3) it allows for greater steel prices discipline in Europe.

Greece judicial system

In Europe 7th July 2017

Greece: There’s always the next parliamentary season

Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis  | A stale parliamentary debate that rarely stayed on topic seemed a good way to wrap up another disappointing political season in Greece. The country has been stuck in a deep, dark hole for almost a decade and now it has a chance for a change in fortune. But its decision makers will have to display much more vision, determination and mastery than was on display in Parliament on Monday.

Not just rates weighin on banking margins

In Europe 6th July 2017

It’s not just interest rates which are weighing on banking margins

José Luis M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) | It’s been balance sheet adjustments and the worsening of the deliquency rate which have been mainly responsible for the deterioration in banking margins over the last few years. It’s important for the ECB to establish a clear strategy for monetary normalisation for the future.

Santander results: Attributable profit grows 18%

Ibex, Markets 6th July 2017

Banco Santander’s Capital Raising Operation Will Have A Higher Discount Than Market Expectations

Banco Santander will raise 7.072,4 billion euros as expected via a rights issue in order to”provide sufficient coverage for the acquisition of 100% of Banco Popular’s capital.” The operation will consist in issuing 1.458,2 million new shares at 4,85 euros/share, which includes the nominal value of 0,5 euros plus an issue premium of 4,35 euros/share. This capital hike implies a discount of 17.75% with respect to theoretical price excluding the subscription right.
US economy growth

World economy 5th July 2017

Nine Years Of Economic Growth In The US

The US economy has entered its ninth year of growth and the recovery could last over 10 years, clocking up a new record. At this stage the doubt surrounding an atypical recovery is whether the best thing is for the Fed to maintain its monetary policy of the last few months and continue to gradually raise interest rates, despite the absence of inflationary pressures.

US market volatility

Markets 5th July 2017

Record Low Volatility; Too Much Complacency Or Is The Economy Under Control?

There are various ways of measuring the volatility of equities, but for me the most representative are: a) what is known in the Anglo-Saxon world as the fear index, VIX, and b) the ample range formed by the intra-day movement of an asset price. In other words the difference between the maximum and minimum level of a share price or index within the same day. As Víctor Peiro from GVC Gaesco points, if we look at the performance of this volatility index, both for the US and European indices, we can see we are close to record lows.