letter for boyfriend i want you back LONDON | Who will set the alarm bells off, again? Amid so much scarring noise coming from the euro area, watchdogs may inadvertently pass by seeds of future financial crashes. This time, the hint is that most financial advisers in the City admit to have little or no understanding of the exchange traded funds' structure, but up to 30 percent in the industry keep some 5 percent…
MADRID | The Inditex Group reported Wednesday net sales in the first quarter of 2012 February to April of €3.4 billion, 15% higher year-on-year (14% in local currencies). Net income amounted to €432 million, 30% more than in the first quarter of 2011. The Spanish company said it had opened 91 new stores during the quarter, bringing the total store base to 5,618. The new stores were opened in 26 markets. In a…
LONDON | The People's Bank of China eased the cost of credit with a 25-basic point cut on the benchmark interest rates, unlike its counter-parties in Europe. The Chinese central bank set the 1-year lending rate at 6.31 percent from 6.56 percent, and issued new conditions under which retail banks are allowed to offer loans, now with a 20 percent discount instead of the previous official 10 percent. Is the…
LONDON | Germany finally met its match in Spain. And the outcome of the clash, as for Monday's market reaction, was unsurprisingly ugly, leaving the future of the euro project in deeper waters than ever before. Naysayers are meant to have a hard time running against the tide of general opinion, or so they were portrayed in the now past European political modern tradition. They were the protesters, the champions…
how do you get your best friend to break up with your ex LONDON | Now that the European banks have again been placed in the eye of the storm, even though admittedly some more than others, a chart from BNP Paribas analysts shows why. Banks still pose a barrier at the core of most efforts towards recovery. Take the long-term refinancing operations or LTROs from the European Central Bank: they are meant to…
i want you back letter for boyfriend LONDON | The European Commission on Wednesday tumbled and mumbled about the set up of a banking union. Although urgently needed, it would only languish in the corridors, even provided a sudden agreement to push it through could be met. The European Union has no main political door, as it lacks of an executive body directly propped up by a legislative chamber: both…
LONDON | Those who were in need of arguments to claim the British-mainly nature of the economic troubles of the island are in awkward luck. The manufacturing industry saw a sharp decline in activity in May, according to the latest purchase manufacturing index release. The headline index fell back to 45.9 from the 49.7 consensus figure and from 50.2 in April, the second-largest drop in the 20-year history of the…
LONDON | The direct costs of a Greek default and exit would appear controllable after all, analysts at Barclays Capital noted in a report to investors on Friday. But for all the sense markets are supposed to instil into State finances and economic policies, as their champions tirelessly tell everybody, emotion accounts for an awful lot. Let's say, for instance, that yes-all right, Greece's new government would be formed by…
LONDON | This is what happens when the size of your construction sector remains under the 10 percent per GDP level, and the cost of credit for the State and the country’s banking sector is mild enough as to allow a slow deleverage process. The Nationwide house price index reported Thursday that UK house prices edge up by 0.3% in May. Over the last eighteen months, house prices have been remarkably stable…
LONDON | Contagion is an easy-to-spot force. The German stock market DAX 30 Index has since late March declined by 9.2% in euro terms, in an environment where the broader continental market, as represented by the MSCI Europe Index, has fallen by 10.6%. For mere market observers, this drop has followed a period of very strong performance earlier in the year, particularly two months ago, so perhaps a degree of profit-taking…