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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.
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In Europe 12th January 2015

Samaras strays out of line in search for new normal

ATHENS | By Nick Malkoutzis | Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has a habit of defending his government by saying that his aim is to make Greece “a normal European country.” Whatever he may mean by this and however genuine he may be in wanting Greece to recover from its long crisis, this is an infuriatingly patronising comment. Intentionally or not, it aligns Greece’s prime minister with all the cranks in Europe and Greece’s misinformed critics beyond who view the country as some kind of basket case.

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World economy 12th January 2015

China: Winners and losers of faster reforms in 2015

ZURICH | UBS analysts | We expect reforms to accelerate in 2015. As the government moves toward systematic “rule by law” and the property downturn persists, more space will open up and pressure increase for economic reforms to accelerate. We see three themes for China’s reforms this year: growth support, risk containment and rebalancing. In other words, reforms that can unlock new sources of growth and bolster domestic demand, reduce economic and financial risks, or diminish/remove structural imbalances should advance most.

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Markets 10th January 2015

M&A likely to remain a feature of 2015

ZURICH | UBS analysts | In addition to setting out our thoughts by sub-sector (capex, mobile devices, semis), we outline themes and stock specific catalysts for 2015, including a review of potential M&A and possible hikes in cash returns. We also highlight each stock’s investment drivers (positive and negative) through 2015. In general we see another robust year for semi capex, softer telecom capex (but stable vendor revenue), ongoing strong growth in low end smart-phones, a medium-term inventory correction in analog semis (with solid underlying trends), and the continuing emergence of mobile payments.

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World economy 9th January 2015

Where now for the euro?

MADRID | By Sean Duffy | The euro hit a fresh nine-year low on Thursday after the publication of a letter from Mario Draghi which indicated that the central bank would likely purchase sovereign bonds in a bid to ward off a deflationary bout which is holding back growth on the continent. The euro was trading at $ 1.17540 against the greenback on Thursday.  Friday saw a recovery to $ 1.18177. The single currency is currently hovering around levels seen back when the currency was launched in 2002, at €1.16.

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Spanish economy 9th January 2015

Spain’s economic confidence at pre-crisis levels

MADRID | The Corner | Economic confidence in Spain reached its highest level in December since June 2007 (105.6 points from 104.2 the previous month), according to the European Commission. The figures show an improvement in trust from consumers, the services sector and retailers.

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Companies 8th January 2015

Santander to reinforce solvency with capital increase of €7bn

MADRID | The Corner | The stock listing of Santander, Spain and the euro zone´s largest bank was provisionally suspended on Thursday ahead of the imminent approval of a capital increase of €7Bn. When trading was suspended, shares were priced at €6.85, a rebound of 3.31%.

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In Europe 7th January 2015

Fanciful notions of Greek tragedy ignore practicalities of realpolitik

MADRID | By Sean Duffy | Last week´s Der Spiegel article envisioning an “inevitable” Greek withdrawal from the euro in the event of a Syriza win in the upcoming elections has yet to have the desired effect, with Alexis Tsipras´ left-wing party continuing to hold a small but significant lead over the ruling New Democracy party in the polls. The piece, attributed to unnamed government sources in Germany, sparked a flurry of speculation and doomsday analysis across international media.

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World economy 30th December 2014

Oil futures bet on a price below $70

MADRID | By Ana López-Varela | “The OPEC will not cut production even if the oil barrel drops to $20.” The intentions of the Saudi Oil Minister, Ali al Naimi, are stark. But, how will the OPEC’s decision of maintaining the production quota at 30 million barrel per day affect the markets? And which are the forecasts that market watchers have regarding the oil? In general, they expect the prices to increase. However, futures traders remain more conservative.