By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | Alberto Matellán is director of strategy and macroeconomics at Inverseguros SVB. In a conversation with The Corner, he said that even if Spain doesn’t formally request a bailout, “it will be necessary some kind of intervention.” However, he points out that the possible Spailout would be met via different instruments, and that there is a high probability that a bailout for Italy comes in…
BEIJING | Guan Jianzhong, chairman at Dagong Global Credit, defends the independence of his ratings agency against the US-biased most powerful financial grade houses. Which are the differences between Dagong and its Western rivals: Moody’s, Fitch and S&P? We are essentially different. In the case of these three agencies, they try to protect US interests. The standards they use are the result of their views and values accompanied by a…
By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | Víctor Rodríguez is an economist at CMC Markets Spain. In an interview for The Corner, he said that Mario Draghi’s role is not so decisive in the debt crisis, although we could see important measures being applied by the European Central Bank. Regarding a possible bailout for Spain, Rodríguez considers that “if the country asks openly for it, the most likely reaction will be…
Yields on Italian 10-year bonds will keep under tension after the latest economic data brought investors a negative surprise. The country’s GDP suffered a further contraction of -2.5 percent year on year in the second quarter of 2012: the previous figure had been -1.4 percent and market expectations had pointed at -2.3 percent. Industrial production played a major role, with a -7.9 percent year on year rate that was 2.4…
By Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, analyst at XTB, in Madrid | Midsummers have often been marked by markets’ most abrupt movements and scares that have hit unaware investors. This year, it wouldn’t be the first time I saw traders and asset managers cut short their holidays because their positions, once so safe that were left open, have stopped being as secured as they believed. Just skimming through the salmon papers, in…
Financial analysts in Madrid warned that a ban on short selling would depress trading volumes even further while solving very little in terms of investor confidence recovery. At The Corner, we faithfully reported their disappointment with the authorities, whose small sticking plasters of policies would leave structural problems untouched, in most experts’ opinion. In the short term, though, there was something to look forward to. “Bankinter Broker and Afi experts gave…
MADRID | Supermarket chains serve a few of our basic needs and so the sector is faring better than other industries against the fierce crisis that is lacerating the European economy day in, day out. The same goes for Spain. Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación DIA, the distribution chain, said Thursday that its sales in Spain had grown by 6 percent during the first half of the year. DIA reported today…
MADRID | Telefonica Global Solutions and Samsung begin Wednesday a partnership agreement to support enhanced end to end service delivery to multinational customers globally. The agreement, the Spanish company said, leverages the core competences and leading market positions of both Telefonica, in global digital and communication services and Samsung, in electronics and cutting edge technology, to bring to the multinational market a differential partnership designed to deliver innovative new services. The agreement sets how Telefonica and Samsung will from today…
By Íñigo Villegui | Capitalmadrid.com | Something is happening in the euro zone. The possibility of a purchase of bonds by the European Central Bank or by a bailout fund, which would favour the tightening of risk premiums and facilitate access to markets for public and private sectors, is getting closer. Or, at least, that’s what investors assume. They have gone from considering that Spanish finances were doomed to dismiss…
By Luis A. Torralba, in Valencia | Electricity producers in Spain have managed to weather the crisis under the umbrella of extraordinary income from non-recurring profits. But the markets, in spite of historically high dividends, are letting the uncertainty over the pending energy sector reform drag stocks down with a vengeance. Some declarations bring little help. The minister for Energy and Tourism José Manuel Soria recently gave away a warning:…