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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.
No Picture

Markets 16th October 2014

US Investors: Biggest net selling of Europe since 2008

ZURICH | By UBS analysts | Global investors have been big sellers of Europe ex-UK equities in September and also the last 12 weeks (Figure 1). And this doesn’t include the heavy sell-off in the last week. US Treasury data shows that US-based investors were net sellers of $14.3bn in June–the biggest month of selling since the collapse of Lehman’s in 2008. How far through the current correction are we? So far the European market is down 8% from its September peak–in-line with the average of 9.5% in Bull market corrections since 1975.

china market

World economy 15th October 2014

Inflation in China falls further amid lower commodity prices

HONG KONG | From Barclays analysts | China inflation fell further in September, to 1.6%, below consensus (1.7%), but in line with our forecast. The key downside drivers were lower commodity prices, and declining food inflation. Inflation has now fallen to its lowest levels since January 2010, a 56-month low.

 

bancos recurso camara acorazada TC

Markets 15th October 2014

EU banks would need extra €460bn to meet GLAC requirements

MADRID | The Corner | The results of the stress test will presumably be positive for the 128 European entities, although some experts do not rule out new capital increases and Coco bonds issuances, not only to strengthen their balance sheets, but also to meet other capital requirements such as gone concern loss-absorbing capacity ratios (GLAC). If they finally were to reach 25%, the main European banks would have additional capital requirements of about €460 billion in the next five years, according to Santander analysts.

 

irlanda contenta TC

In Europe 14th October 2014

Dublin gets its house in order as bell tolls for “The Double Irish”

MADRID | By Sean Duffy | The Irish Government presented its budget on Tuesday, keen to present the announcement of its projections for the year 2015 as the successful consequence of prudent fiscal planning. Critics have pointed out that it is much of the same, yet with the economic picture improving, the Government has sought to offer a respite from austerity, whilst also attempting to address the outstanding concerns of its international partners.

industrial production

In Europe 14th October 2014

Poor EZ macro data raise odds for QEII

MADRID | The Corner | “Further evidence has emerged that the euro area recovery is at risk. We acknowledge that German data were distorted by technical factors… but we still think underlying momentum is fading in Germany,” Barclays’ François Cabau commented. And that means, for an increasingly number of experts, that the prospect of QE II is becoming more entrenched. Some believe it could happen before New Year.

 

EU stocks

Markets 14th October 2014

EU stocks tremble ahead of weak German Confidence Report

MADRID | The Corner | Only highly positive US corporate results will cheer EU stocks today, which started fallling for a sixth day, the longest streak in almost three years, as investors awaited a German Confidence report plunging to its weakest level in 23 months. 

OMT

In Europe 13th October 2014

EU: Challenged OMT is back in town

MADRID | The Corner | The European Central Bank’s Outright Monetary Transaction (OMT) will be back on the front pages on Tuesday. The European Court of Justice (the EU’s highest tribunal) will have to respond to the challenge of German judges, who said the OMT can be seen as monetary financing of governments, banned in  EU treaties. “Every time the monetary union takes a step forward, German individuals and/or civil or political groups file a case with the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe,” our senior analyst Luis Martí commented.

Industria china sinopec TC

World economy 13th October 2014

Spoilt Chinese SOEs need to move forward

Out-dated, inefficient and malfunctioning are some of the adjectives normally used to refer to Chinese SOEs. Their unhealthy financial situation poses a great threat to the future growth of the world’s second biggest economy. The Communist Party is pushing for a fresh set of reforms to make them able to compete globally. For decades, these companies knew little about competition or innovation, until today.