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Articles by Ana Fuentes

About the Author

Ana Fuentes
Columnist for El País and a contributor to SER (Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión), was the first editor-in-chief of The Corner. Currently based in Madrid, she has been a correspondent in New York, Beijing and Paris for several international media outlets such as Prisa Radio, Radio Netherlands or CNN en español. Ana holds a degree in Journalism from the Complutense University in Madrid and the Sorbonne University in Paris, and a Master's in Journalism from Spanish newspaper El País.
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Markets 6th June 2014

After ECB’s bazooka, will we see negative bund yields again?

MADRID | By Ana Fuentes | Now that the ECB will charge banks for keeping them their money, don’t be surprised if some short-dated core sovereign bonds start yielding negative, Bond Vigilantes remark. Actually we’ve seen that before in the EZ: in August 2012, German authorities received with open arms 750 billion euros in deposits of its eurozone neighbors, mainly Spaniards and Italians. That intense demand drove the prices of short dated bunds to levels which produced negative yields.

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Markets 5th June 2014

What to expect from Draghi’s bazooka

MADRID | By Ana Fuentes and Jaime Santisteban | It’s a radical move because that’s what the eurozone needs. Besides cutting the ECB’s base interest rate from 0.25pc to 0.15pc, Mario Draghi also reduced deposit facility to -0.1pc. So EZ banks will either boost credit lending or pay to leave money in the central bank. Also, he offered banks new long-term funds. Market makers tell us what they make of the much-awaited package.

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Interviews 30th May 2014

GBS: “The restructuring of Colonial shows a changing trend in the Spanish property sector”

MADRID | By Ana Fuentes | As the Spanish property sector becomes fashionable again, we set our eyes in one of the most-commented moves these days: listed developer and owner Colonial’s €1.26m capital increase and €1bn debt restructuring. President of GBS Finanzas Pedro Gómez de Baeza managed to form a complex puzzle including the entrance of billionaire industrialist Juan Miguel Villar Mir with a 24.4% stake. Mr Gómez de Baeza joins us to talk about an “extremely challenging” operation that began in 2008 and only bore fruit at the third attempt, but also shows a changing trend.

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In Europe 28th May 2014

“Spain has been trying to be a good citizen by keeping the German bankers happy”

MADRID | By Ana Fuentes | Well-known U.S. economic theorist and financial strategist Michael Pettis believes the European project has a blatant, simple economic problem: Germany benefits from a weak euro while Spain suffers from a strong currency. As for the IMF’s recommendation of cutting wages in countries like Spain, Mr Pettis thinks it’s an absurd tip that can only make the global demand imbalance worse. He answered our questions via email from Beijing, where he is currently based.

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In Europe 25th May 2014

EP2014: Abstention and skeptics posed to win

MADRID | The Corner | It’s not just another campaign carried out from and for the states or Brussels, but the first time the long-aspired EU political union will be really tested. The EP2014, world’s second biggest polls (India comes first) with +400 potential voters are taking place after the implementation for the first time of the Lisbon Treaty prerogatives. The effects of austerity measures and budget cuts are expected to have a great impact, and abstention may be the main winner, especially among the youngest, disappointed generation. Stay tuned!

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Markets 22nd May 2014

Market chatter: Debt, stock and currency markets in full swing

MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | Spanish Treasury broke a new record on Thursday amid the ECB’s easing hopes. “Spanish bonds reduced spread vs. the equivalent German benchmark almost 20 points in just a couple of days. Stock markets are moving forward without a clear direction, although uncertainty is smaller than in public debt markets” The Corner senior analyst Francisco López explains. 

 

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Markets 21st May 2014

Market chatter: Foreign investors courting Spanish real estate firms and much more

MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | Chinese real estate sector saw its outlook downgraded by Moody’s while Spanish housing sector keeps on moving forward, appealing institutional investors. Blackstone, PSP, Drago Capital, Colonial represent the increasing appetite for properties in Madrid and Barcelona. And don’t miss Fed’s Charles Plosser words: he believes the US central bank is “sitting on a ticking bomb.”

  

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Markets 21st May 2014

ATL: “Peripheral stocks have been investors’ wisest choice this year”

MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | Investors looking for a safe heaven who bet on peripheral debt and stocks have seen their profits jump. “Holding Greek 10-year bonds has brought 20% profitability in just 4 months. Portuguese debt is also to highlight. Spanish 10-year bonds (over 6% profitability) are trading at a higher yield than the stock market index,” ATL Capital Strategy Director Marta Díaz-Bajo explains for The Corner.

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Markets 19th May 2014

Did Deutsche Bank plan to go viral right before its capital increase?

MADRID | By Ana Fuentes | If you haven’t watched it, here’s Deutsche Bank’s co-head of corporate banking and securities Colin Fan scolding City traders and trying to convince the world that they’ve done some ménage after the crisis. Remember that the lender paid a €725m penalty to the EU in the Libor scandal; the biggest single fine in a total of €1.7bn charged to six banks.“Being boastful, indiscreet or vulgar is not okay. It will have serious consequences for your career,” Mr Fan warned its staff. Instead of an email, the bank chose the formula of an “internal” video… which went viral just before the German lender started making headlines for its plans of selling €8bn worth of new shares. A plan that is supposed to catapult Deutsche out of the ranks of the worst capitalized banks in Europe -from 9.5 per cent to 11.8 per cent.

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World economy 16th May 2014

The ECB will play by the book

MADRID | The Corner | Mario Draghi says the ECB is comfortable with taking action in June, and markets see it as a more or less done deal. This time the Bundesbank is not likely to say a word, as basic economic theory shows there is not much else to discuss: when money is pumped into a system, it shows up either like inflation or growth. And the Eurozone needs both.