Markets

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ECB’s nefarious attitude: Mr Wolf is right

By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | In case you needed tangible proof of the harmful role the ECB played in the crisis, in the FT, Martin Wolf writes an open letter to Trichet’s imminent successor to the presidency of the ECB, Mario Draghi. The letter is an excellent article that convincingly explains why the ECB should stabilize the debt markets of solvent countries such as Italy and Spain, which are the…



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Markets love inflation

By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | Look at the USA. In the graph above, left scale, the yields (spreads of Treasuries) of BB corporate bonds (red line), and B (green line). Right scale, blue line, inflationary expectations (type of bond at 10 years minus the same inflation protected). A functional relationship can be detected between the variations in inflation expectations and private bond yields. The higher the expected inflation, the…




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OWS quotes from NYC

We've selected some comments from Saturday's demonstration in Times Square. Achei (African American, employed, in her 50's): “This young people who have gone to school and took a loan they can't pay back because they don't have any jobs to pay back. People who bought their homes are getting foreclosed, they're getting thrown out of their houses.” Gerry Crane (American, employed, in his 60's, has helped the Green Party): “A famour author,…


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Bond markets are (sort of) open to peripheral issuers

Iberdrola and Telecom Italia were on Thursday able to issue debt in the primary market, in bonds for a total amount of €600mn at four years and €750mn  at five years, respectively. According to analysts at Banco Santander “issuers took advantage of a perhaps passing opportunity to place debt, long before the critical dates of the European Counci



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From blackout to circus: OWS so far

NEW YORK | In four weeks, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has placed itself at the center of the American politics debate. As satirist and TV host Jon Stewart said in his Daily Show, it has caused the media to move its coverage dial from “blackout” to “circus”. Reporters from all the major networks have gone to Zucotti park to talk to the protesters. The president Barack Obama and…