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Markets 26th March 2012

Baring Barometer: only 10% of investment professionals fear a double dip recession

LONDON | Investment professionals in the UK favour a more pleasant global economic outlook than in previous quarters, although the sector still remains cautious. The results from the latest Barings Investment Barometer showed Monday an increase in optimism, with concerns over the risk of a double dip recession reduced by almost two-thirds and number of advisers citing it as a major global macroeconomic challenge at just 10%, down from 28% in Q4…

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Markets 22nd March 2012

Thursday’s US Corp graph: downgrades hike

Ouch. The US corporate sector accumulates 171 credit downgrades in the first quarter, the highest since the 2009. In the balance of revisions (upward/downward), the ratio is 0.69, far from the highs of 2011 when for each rating cut down there were two ratings changing upwards. In the sectoral breakdown, three areas stand out as having a low rate of upward/downward revisions: telecommunications, financials and non-cyclical consumption. In the opposite side, the…

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Ibex 21st March 2012

Group Telefónica would offload more than 50pc of its workforce with Atento sale

MADRID | Telefónica will attempt for the second time since last May the sale of its call centre services Atento. According to El Confidencial, the company has hired Morgan Stanley and HSBC to organise the operation, which last year failed to get enough demand in a partial IPO. The Spanish multinational now aims to do this through an investor auction open to corporations in the industrial sector and private equity firms. Financial…

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Markets 21st March 2012

Behind deposit outflows in Spain: don’t believe the hype about distrust

By Carlos Díaz Guell, in Madrid | The volume of deposits of households and non-financial corporations suffered outflows of €120 billion in 2011 in Spain and Italy, adding even more pressure on both countries’ banks. The data come from the last quarterly report of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which analyses European banks’ response to higher capital requirements that the European Banking Authority (EBA) set in October last year…

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Markets 20th March 2012

The US debt is a time bomb

By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | Here is a consistent interpretation on the Marginal Revolution blog, by Tyler Cowen of Bernanke in 2008. It is consistent with economic and political circumstances. “How is that for self-recommending? Here in a short paragraph is my current take on where Ben Bernanke would differ from Scott. As the shadow banking system was imploding in 2008, due to a downward revaluation of collateral, nominal gdp stabilization…

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Markets 20th March 2012

Still no growth in the horizon for Greece: the story so far

By Begoña Castiella, in Athens | How could one of the poorest, smallest countries in the euro zone endanger the common currency? How could 300 members of the Greek parliament from five political parties and with allegedly little economic knowledge paralyse during two years reforms and budget adjustments that were urgently necessary to reduce the nation’s public debt? And despite two bailouts and a bond restructuring that has cut down in more…

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Markets 20th March 2012

Apple opens its war chest: isn’t it what they are supposed to do?

NEW YORK | You may have been subjected to all the hyperbolic coverage of Apple. You may already be fed up with all those free advertisement in the mass media whenever Apple puts their new gadget in the market; irritated by the lack of respect for labour rights of its providers, like the now infamous Foxconn. You might be feeling all that-  although you will soon forget about it if…

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Markets 19th March 2012

“Spain’s financial system is now the most transparent in Europe”

By Fernando Rodríguez, in Madrid | Claudio Aguirre, board member at the Spanish bank Bankia confirmed in an interview with Consejeros magazine that the group intends to maintain its independence. Although the entity’s capital needs amount to about €9 billion, Aguirre says that being in a merger, Bankia could clean its balance sheet up against reserves, not only against income. What is your opinion about the third phase of the financial…

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Markets 19th March 2012

Goldmangate: too big for just an “I quit” op-ed

NEW YORK | Why has a letter in the New York Times sparked such a PR crisis for Goldman Sachs? In his ‘Why I am leaving Goldman Sachs’ article, Greg Smith, an executive director at the American investment bank, contended that the culture inside Goldman was “toxic” and that the bank routinely took advantage of its clients. This is powerful stuff, but the impact of the letter is way beyond just…

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Markets 16th March 2012

British SMEs better give up on expectations over bank finance and turn to bonds

LONDON | The capital stress levels that British banks suffer are regarded to be so dire not even a majority stakeholder like the UK’s government feels confident their credit tap should open. A Taskforce set up by the department of Business Innovation and Skills published Friday a report that recommends small and medium-size companies or SMEs to hunt for alternatives. The paper anticipates growth in demand for finance as the economy recovers…