NEW YORK | IMF managing director Christine Lagarde has denied it. So have U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Spanish government: there is no plan or request for a Spanish bailout. However, stocks pared losses Thursday after the Dow Jones agency published a report that the IMF had started contingency plans on a possible rescue loan for Spain. The reporter quoted “people involved in the handling of the Spanish crisis”….
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…
Julia Pastor, in Madrid | In a note to investors, Afi’s analysts affirmed on Thursday that German CDS or swap contracts for bond buyers to protect themselves against losses have been under pressure in the last weeks, consequently increasing by 20%, the most among the euro zone’s countries. “It means a change of credit risk perception about Germany, which could be anticipating, as it happened in July and August of…
MADRID | We have a case for demanding some support in resisting the current run on us, our most solid argument being that something nasty might happen to the euro should we fall in the abyss. The one based on the merits of performing our homework seems less convincing. For all the reforms undertaken, we still have a long way to go in redressing a dismal record. Sheer lack of money…
MADRID | CAPITALMADRID.COM In the years 1992/93 the Spanish authorities struggled for longer than events recommended to keep the exchange rate of the peseta. Something similar might be going now on, but in another dimension, as the government still defends the good health of Spain's financial system. Back then, the stabilisation mechanism in place determined a fixed exchange rate for the peseta, let's say in short, against the German mark….
The IFO business index fell to 106.9 from 109.9 in April, only slightly above its recent low in October 2011 of 106.5. This was worse than the consensus expectations, which fell to 100.9 from 102.7, while the assessment of the current situation dropped to 113.3 from 117.5 in April. The IFO index is a monthly economic report, it surveys over 7,000 companies in Germany to obtain their opinion of the…
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…
By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | We either reinforce the political union in the European Monetary Union or let the monster simply die away. These are the actual choices we have, and one must admit that a euro termination does not sound as the craziest option, not after four years of unstoppable recession and walking at the brink of the abyss. It is a possibility no one wants to study,…
More tourists so far than last year, but a downward move in traditionally important markets for Spain’s tourism sector. The accumulate figures this year from January to April indicate a rise of 1.1 percent in foreign tourists, with a total of 13.7 million, coming to Spain comparing to the same period in 2011. But April brought a fall in numbers by 4.5 million or 1.7 percent less foreign tourists in contrast…
Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | It’s the talk of the town. The euro zone desperately needs to become a fiscal union and, voilà, everything will be sorted. But I wonder: how do we get there? Have a look at the chart below, which reflects fiscal pressure levels in core Europe economies and in some of the peripherals’. What do we see? We clearly spot the huge differences among them (which are…