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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.
ECB Lagarde signing

European economy 2nd June 2020

The ECB Needs To Increase PEPP At Least €350-400 Bn

Gilles Moëc (AXA IM) | Although purchases through the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme(PEPP) have retreated from the peak at 8.5bn per day at the beginning of May, the latest pace is still consistent with all the €750bn being spent by the end of September, while the ECB has pledged to maintain it until at least the end of the year. Mechanically, the ECB would need to “top it up” by at least €350-400bn –i.e. to bring it above the symbolic level of 1 trillion euros –to be comfortable until December.

oilsands

World economy 1st June 2020

Oil: North American Production Is Recovering From Shut-Ins…

BofA Global Research | The collapse in global oil benchmarks and weak North American differentials forced US and Canadian E&Ps to quickly dial back activity in order to avoid the cash burn from negative operating margins. Producers shut-in output, choked back wells, deferred completions and well starts, and pulled forward or extended oil sands maintenance to avoid exposure to low prices. In total, May oil curtailments may have exceeded 2.5mn b/d across the US and Canada and many producers pre-maturely announced plans for additional shut-ins during June. Since many of these plans were unveiled, oil prices have strengthened to levels where shutting-in no longer makes sense and should actually encourage producers to quickly restore production. For this reason, we expect June curtailments, particularly in the US, to be a fraction of the previously announced levels.

MasMovil Ibex35

Ibex, Markets 1st June 2020

KKR, Cinven And Providence Launch A Cash Takeover Bid For Masmovil At €22.5/Share

What was a rumour all weekend, has become official: Spain’s fourth major telecoms operator, MasMovil, has confirmed with Spanish market regulator CNMV the offer from the funds KKR, Cinven and Providence, via Lorca Telecom BidCo. The full cash bid for MasMovil from the consortium formed by the three investment funds would be at 22.5 euros/share. The price represents a premium of 20.2% over Friday’s closing price of 18.72 euros/share (capitalization of 2.466 billion euros).

minimum living wage

Spanish economy 1st June 2020

Spain’s Minimum Living Income Aims To Reduce Extreme Poverty In Spain By 80%

Last Friday, the Government approved the minimum living wage, which will guarantee an income of between 461 and 1,015 euros for 850,000 Spanish households. The measure aims to reduce extreme poverty in the country by 80%. The government had planned to promote this measure during its legislature. But faced with the serious economic emergency resulting from the pandemic, it has decided to bring it forward.

Trump Biden 1

In the World, World politics 31st May 2020

The 2020 Pandemic Election

Saurabh Jha via Fair Observer| When the COVID-19 pandemic is dissected in the 2020 presidential election debates, Donald Trump will be at a disadvantage. The coronavirus has killed over 100,000 Americans and maimed thousands more. The caveat is that deaths per capita, rather than total deaths, better measure national failure, and by that metric the US fares better than Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Cryptocurrencies turn ten years; 2019 could be the year of tokenization

World economy 29th May 2020

Crypto Corner: Samsung Partners With Gemini To Make Bitcoin Trading Easier

Addam Vettese (eToro) | Samsung has made it easier for users of its smartphones to buy and trade cryptoassets. Yesterday, the smartphone company announced a partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, with Samsung’s Blockchain Wallet now integrating with the Gemini mobile app, allowing users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Users will also be able to view their Gemini account balances in the Samsung Blockchain Wallet app, as well as transfer their crypto into cold storage through Gemini’s Custody feature.

Nissan Barcelona

Spanish economy 29th May 2020

Body Blow To Spain’s Automobile Sector : Nissan Closes Its Barcelona Plant, Destroying Nearly 25,000 Jobs

The automotive sector was already in a difficult situation before COVID-19. The Spanish market is not escaping this crisis and has already seen its first victim with the announcement of the Nissan plants’ closure in Barcelona. The closure, which is expected to take place in December, will cut around 3,000 direct jobs at the plant and an additional 20,000 indirect jobs. The sector represents 10% of Spanish GDP and the three Catalan factories produce 1 in 5 vehicles assembled in Spain.