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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.
Naturgy Candela

Spanish economy 18th January 2021

Naturgy Enters US Renewables Market Along With Local Firm Candela Renewables

Renta 4 | This week could see Naturgy finalising its entrance into the US firm Candela Renewables, valued at 80-100 million dollars, according to Reuters. This is a platform for the development of renewable projects, founded in 2018 by former employees of First Solar and Nextlight, and which has launched 26 projects to date. In the absence of further details on the possible operation, we would favourably consider the entry into the US market on a quality basis.

ursula pedro

Spanish economy 18th January 2021

Spain Could Receive More European Funds In Direct Aid Than Initially Planned

The European Recovery Fund monopolized, along with the coronavirus pandemic, the 11th edition of Spain Investors Day, which closed last Thursday with the aim of positioning the country as an investment destination. At the same time, the EU was planning to increase direct aid to Spain by €11 billion, given the crisis’ impact on debt, as can be seen in one of the annexes to the regulations on the Facility for Recovery and Resilience, which is awaiting final ratification.

Mark Rutte

Relevant News Item 16th January 2021

Dutch Government Falls Over Child Benefits Scandal

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte has tendered his government’s resignation to King Willem-Alexander. With only two months to go before elections, and the government remaining in a caretaker capacity to manage the coronavirus crisis in the Netherlands, the resignation is largely symbolic. But smaller parties in Rutte’s coalition felt they had to take responsibility for what an inquiry described as an “unprecedented injustice” in the tax service, which wrongly accused more than 20,000 families of fraud.

Snapshot of European financial sector' structure

European economy 16th January 2021

Has Deflation Returned To Europe?

Azad Zangana (Schroders) | November 2020 was the fourth consecutive month that headline inflation for the eurozone – using the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) – was negative. The response to the coronavirus pandemic has caused the most severe economic shock across the continent since the Second World War. Temporary factors are to blame for current negative inflation rates, but low inflation is expected to keep interest rates very low for years to come.

Biden wins celebrations

In the World, World economy 15th January 2021

Biden Announces Stimulus Plans Worth $1,9 Bn, While Powell Clears Up Doubts Over QE

Monex Europe | The dollar has been regaining ground since yesterday amid concerns that President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9tn stimulus plan may fail to win broad-based support, as Republican opposition is possible over the big-ticket spending. These concerns are reinforced by the voting procedure in the Senate: fiscal stimulus requires 3/5ths of the votes (60 votes) in order to pass. Among the elements in the proposal are direct payments of $1,400, on top of the $600 approved in December, $350bn for state and local governments, $160bn in vaccination funding, $130bn to help schools reopen, and additional employment benefits.

CAf Paris

Markets, Spanish economy, Spanish Small & Mid Caps 15th January 2021

CAF Is Awarded A Contract In France With Bombardier Worth €2.56 Bn

The French public transportation operator RATP has selected the offer of CAF and Bombardier to supply 146 trains for the second busiest suburban line in Paris for a joint value of €2.56 Bn. The consortium would have beaten the bid made by Alstom which could have offered a price 500M euros higher than that of the Spanish-Canadian consortium. In any case, Alstom will complete the takeover of Bombardier in two weeks, so part of the CAF contract will also benefit the French industrial group.

spain country risk

Spanish economy 15th January 2021

COVID-19 And Country Risk In The Euro Area: This Time Is Different For Spain!

Caixabank (Eduard LLorens and Alex Ruiz )  | Intuition tells us that a shock like COVID-19 should increase country risk and this has certainly been confirmed by the data. Nevertheless, a longer-lasting impact on country risk should be observed, which is not the case. The investor narrative would be that in the states hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, NGEU and the ECB have had a greater mitigating effect: as much as four credit rating levels in the cases of Spain and France, and three in the case of Portugal. 

Pelosi

In the World, World politics 14th January 2021

Who Is Nancy Pelosi Enabling?

Peter Isackson | Most analysts focused on the rioters themselves and the link with President Donald Trump, who commanded the crowd to gather at the Capitol and prepare for a fight. Pelosi peered further into the evil plot, demonstrating an investigative acuity worthy of Sherlock Holmes. Not only did she connect the threads dangling for the past four years inside the brains of prominent Democrats, her far-sighted global perspicacity bore its most compelling fruit when she identified the Moriarty of the tale, the hidden ringleader no one in Washington or the media dared mention, but only she could suspect: Vladimir Putin.