Top Stories

Articles by The Corner

About the Author

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.
sp5001

Markets 30th July 2014

Earnings season: Mixed feelings on both sides of the Atlantic

MADRID | The Corner | We’re in the middle of second-quarter earnings season and companies are showing their cards to investors. Note the difference on both sides of the Atlantic: in the US, 53% of S&P500 firms have posted their results and 78% have performed better than expected (average surprise of 6%, JP Morgan analysts pointed out). EPS growth is of 11% yoy, while sales went up by 5% with 67% of companies having better than expected numbers. Meanwhile in Europe, with 152 SXXP companies having posted their results, 56% have turned in an average +0.4% EPS. Year-on-year EPS has risen by 18% (8% if we exclude financial entities), although yoy sales decreased by -2%.

No Picture

World economy 30th July 2014

China optimism lifts Asia equities

LONDON | By EM Asia Rates Strategy analyst Rohit Arora | Asian equities continued to march higher, with stocks in Korea and Japan outperforming on the day. The Nikkei’s outperformance, despite weaker-than-expected readings on retail sales and jobless data, was counterintuitive and likely reflects increasing market expectations of BoJ easing. In FX, the NZD was a notable underperformer after Fonterra lowered its 2014-15 milk price forecast to NZD6/kg from NZD7/kg.

Greece11

In Europe 29th July 2014

In Greece, UnLuCky for some: Another painful lesson from the euro crisis

ATHENS | By Yiannis Mouzakis via The Agora | No matter what overall opinion you have of the Greeks, you really ought to hand it to us for tolerance. Over the last year and a half one of the three key players in Greece’s crisis management team has repeatedly and openly admitted that the prescription for addressing the country’s predicament was wrong.

eurobarometer

In Europe 29th July 2014

EU recovery… from data to the real thing

BRUSSELS | By Alexandre Mato | The last Eurobarometer after the european elections showed that the EU’s image is improving among its citizens. 35% of them have a positive image of communitarian institutions. Austerity measures to fight the economic crisis or the unresolved unemployment problem have not erased this ‘popular feeling’. But more than 40% think that in a national or European level the economy will remain “the same” for the coming 12 months. Only 24% see an improvement.

bankia

Markets 29th July 2014

Spanish Bankia’s good results irritate non rescued banks

MADRID | By Francisco López | For a few, Bankia has quickly accomplished the miracle of the loaves and fish thanks to a faultless management. For many others, the bank achieved to improve its results in the last two years “thanks to the King’s gunpowder” – an old Spanish idiom meaning one takes advantages of others’ resources but doesn’t value them –. Taxpayers paid €22.4bn, an amount far higher than the lender’s financial gap, which has given back a tiny amount so far. At least, it has overhauled its budget.

No Picture

In Europe 29th July 2014

Growth and inflation outlooks diverging

LONDON | By Antonio Garcia via Barclays | Stronger-than-expected July PMIs suggest that the growth outlook is likely to improve in Q3 and are consistent with our forecast of 0.4% q/q. EA public debt levels have reached a new peak in Q2 14 at 96.4% of GDP, with three of the four largest EA economies above the EA average. We now expect July HICP inflation (next week) to edge down to 0.4% y/y and August inflation to decline further, to 0.3% y/y.

No Picture

Markets 28th July 2014

The (bonds) Hunger Games

MADRID | The Corner | In the next few days demand for Spanish bonds is expected to grow, since Spanish debt auctions will be held and European CPI data showing that prices remain very low will be released.

No Picture

Spanish economy 28th July 2014

Foreign tourists in Spain spend 7.8% more until June

MADRID | The Corner | They keep coming and, more important, they spend more money, which adds to the recovery. Foreign tourists visiting Spain spent €2.63 billion in the first semester, a 7.8% more than in the same period of 2013, according to official data. British citizens are the biggest spenders, followed by the Germans. Tourism is a crucial sector of Spanish economy, accounting for more of 10% of GDP.

MA

Markets 28th July 2014

M&A market reaches 2008 levels

MADRID | The Corner | In one of the best symptoms of economic recovery, companies are leaving risk aversion behind and buying others to grow. In the first six months of the year, M&A operations reached $1.75 trillion worldwide, 75% more than during the same period of 2013. The pharma sector is in pole position, with multiples reaching 21.3x PE globally vs. 16.1x in 2013, and 4 of the 10 largest operations announced for 2014. According to JP Morgan, if we annualize 1S volume, operations could total $3.642 trillions by the end of the year.

govies

Markets 28th July 2014

EU banks reach debt holdings all-time high

MADRID | The Corner | European banks have increased their holdings of govies in June by +0.1% m/m (+1.4% y/y), with one somewhat higher increase in the periphery (+ 0.6% m/m and – 1.2% y/y), mostly of a +8.6% in Ireland and +1.8% of Portugal. According to the ECB, EU lenders have reached a new all-time high of 1.8trn debt holdings, while peripheral banks are approaching 2013 numbers (€830bn vs €840bn in June 2013).