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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.
Astrazeneca

Uncategorised 8th June 2020

Astrazeneca, Gilead Could Be In Merger Talks Amid Race to Find Covid19 Vaccine

A hypothetical merger would result in the world’s largest Health-Care group. In dollar terms, AstraZeneca’s capitalisation is 141 bn$, with the stock price appreciating 41% in the last twelve months. Meanwhile, Gilead’s capitalisation stands at 96 bn$ and its share price has gained 19% in the same period. Everything points to Gilead preferring to develop very promising drugs on its own, in fields such as HIV or COVID-19.

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Uncategorised 8th June 2020

OPEC+ To Extend The 9.7 M bpd Cut By One Month; It Means 100,000 Barrels Less Than In June, And Almost 10% Of The Global Supply

OPEC+ agreed over the weekend to extend the cut in oil production until July 31. Mexico has not signed up to the new agreement. The return of 2 million barrels of crude oil to the daily supply will be postponed until that date. In addition, it was determined that Iraq and Nigeria, which have so far failed to comply with the agreed production cuts, will carry out an additional reduction in July.

carbon emissions1

World economy 7th June 2020

From Flattening the Epidemiological Curve to Flattening the Carbon Emissions Curve?

Citi GPS | As Earth day celebrated its 50 th anniversary on April 22, 2020, the coronavirus pandemic was inadvertently slashing global carbon emissions so much that they could be down 4-9% YoY for 2020 as a whole, on n the recommended path to achieve climate goals. After Covid-19, some of the drop in oil demand may be longer lasting, keeping carbon emissions lower, notably for aviation.

whote house protests

In the World, World politics 6th June 2020

The Crisis of Presidentiality in the US

Peter Isackson | Can the oligarchs in Wall Street and Washington — a class that Trump himself belongs to despite his continuing to play the outsider — bring back some semblance of order in the face of growing discontent? Are there any imaginable reforms they could agree to and which the malcontents could accept? Or can they find some kind of improvised fix just to survive until the elections? The nation awaits a “presidential” response.

gold refinery

World economy 5th June 2020

Gold In Times Of Economic Crisis And Social Revolution

Degussa | Unfortunately, those blaming capitalism are barking up the wrong tree. For all their critique of inflationary money, economic hardship and rising inequality are the direct results of governments’ successful war against capitalism, which has been replaced by a system of interventions; the free market system was replaced by a system of decrees and prohibitions, all of which are incompatible with capitalism in the true sense. Against this backdrop, the question arises: How come that people put all the blame on capitalism rather than interventionism-socialism? 

Retail Eurozone

European economy 5th June 2020

Quarantine Drives Eurozone’s Retail Sales To Record Lows

Bankia Estudios | Retail sales again recorded a sharp decline in April (11.7% vs 11.1%), driven down to an all-time low. By items, the rise in online sales stands out, showing a significant increase (10.9% vs. 0.7%), pointing to a change in the pattern of consumer behaviour. This could, in part, be consolidated in the medium term, although it is too early to draw conclusions. The rest of the items recorded sharp falls, although of lesser intensity than in March.

Oil rigTC

World economy 5th June 2020

OPEC+ Will Extend Supply Cuts And Continue To Monitor Their Effects

Renta 4 | Finally OPEC+ may have reached a tentative agreement to extend production cuts and the member countries could meet as soon as this weekend to sign it. Saudi Arabia and Russia wanted a firm commitment from those countries which were evading their quotas. So they have finalised an accord with Iraq to meet not only its share of the cuts, but even to compensate for past breaches.

US presidents

World economy 5th June 2020

US Stimulus Should Limit GDP Contraction This Year To 3.8% And An Above-Consensus 5.3% Rebound Next

David Page (AXA IM) | Yet even on our relatively bullish assessment the US economy will close 2021 1.7% below the level of GDP it would have achieved with potential growth from end-2019. This suggests the US economy would still exhibit spare capacity – a higher level of unemployment than at the start of 2020 and lower capacity utilisation, something that is likely to leave the Federal Reserve struggling to achieve its 2% inflation target – let alone anything higher.

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European economy 4th June 2020

Lagarde Has Done Another Good Job

Olivia Álvarez (Monex Europe) | The ECB delivers on market expectations and steps up the total amount of quantitative easing under PEPP purchases by €600 billion. The rise outperformed the consensus call by at least some €100 billion, bringing along a stronger-than-expected market reaction. The program firepower, worth €1.35 trillion now, is set to channel the main recovery mechanism by the ECB, which is vocally reinforcing its accommodative stance amid the current recession environment.