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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.
Jerome Powell

Markets 31st October 2019

The Fed is once again data-dependent

Christian Scherrmann (DWS) |  As has been widely anticipated, the Fed is again lowering key rates by 25 basis points – the third step in the current cycle. Judging from the obligatory statement, it seems quite plausible the Fed might be done with cutting for a while. From now on, its main focus seems to be on monitoring the U.S. economy, rather than, say, on pondering whether the current interest rate level appears appropriate, given the current situation. In short, the Fed is once again data-dependent.

Spanish Housing Market

Spanish economy 31st October 2019

Why have mortgages fallen in Spain?

The new Mortgage Credit Law in large part explains the fall in housing mortgages in Spain. According to official data, the number of mortgages has fallen 29.9% yoy, which contrasts with the 4.9% increase in the first 8 months of the year. Loaned capital has also fallen by a similar amount of 26.4% (+6% in the year).

ACS

Ibex 30th October 2019

Linking ACS with peers like Vinci will favor the Spanish company

Alphavalue | A key of ACS is the management’s ability to copy Vinci’s business model (add, target € 114) in the Anglo-Saxon world, thanks to the expected complementarity between Hochtief (German construction company) and Abertis (highway concessionaire).

bytedance

Markets 30th October 2019

Hunting for the unicorn

Joan Bonet Majó (Banca March) | In recent years, the unicorns have not ceased to multiply. Their growth is so strong that it could be said that they are reproducing like rabbits. According to CB Insights, currently there are 403 unicorns with a joint value of 1.3 trillion dollars, similar to the GDP of countries like Spain.

Euro dollar

Markets 29th October 2019

Euro: Cannot break free

BOfAML | We still see EURUSD somewhat weaker by the end of the year, to 1.08, before appreciating again next year to 1.15, in a gradual move towards our equilibrium estimate of 1.20-1.25. However, our more optimistic forecasts for next year assume that US-China and US-EU trade tensions ease. We also assume a Brexit deal, the likelihood of which have recently improved.

Berlin housing

In Europe 29th October 2019

Berlin strikes a deal to freeze rents

Yves Bonzon (Julius Baer) | Back in June, we argued that financial repression, which consists of transferring wealth from creditors to debtors, can take several forms and is not confined to negative yields. At that time, the city of Berlin launched an initiative to freeze rents for five years from 1 January 2020. The governing coalition now struck a deal that looks fairly similar to the initial draft.

Germany

In Europe 28th October 2019

Germany Cycle: Stabilisation At Low Levels Provides Little Comfort

Gilles Moëc (Axa Investments Manager)| Those who like to see their glass half full probably took comfort in the fact that in Germany the manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rebounded by 0.2 pp in October relative to September, but this was again short of expectations and the absolute level remains very concerning.

barajas airport snow

Ibex 28th October 2019

Aena’s capacity for next winter would grow 0.5%

Spanish airport operator Aena expects an increase in capacity of + 0.5% for this winter, which represents a significant slowdown compared to the 19% summer traffic growth of + 4%, as well as the + 6% winter growth of 2018-19.