Spain | The Daily Capitalist

A New Year May Merit New Investments: A Quick Look at Spain

On this change of year, on the last day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of the third millenium of the Christian Era, the lyrics of another Jew with a bent to preaching (and a convert to Christianity), Robert Zimmerman, (better known as Bob Dylan), come to mind (LINK):

The line it is [...]

As The Euro Tumbles, Spaniards Look To Gold

The unremitting deterioration of the eurozone’s sovereign debt landscape continues to fuel uncertainties about the longevity of the euro as a hard currency. Such uncertainties are not only leading to capital flight from the EMU’s periphery to the core and destabilizing markets worldwide, but they are also beginning to frighten southern European savers into seeking refuge [...]

The Fed, QE 3, and the Worsening European Economic Crisis

Will the Fed announce ”QE 3″ at the next FOMC meeting this month? (Jim Rogers thinks it’s already underway.)

While the market reaction Friday and many of the media headlines suggest that this is virtually a foregone conclusion, caution in assuming such makes sense to me. A much-ignored part of Ben Bernanke’s address at Jackson Hole two days ago, discussed [...]

The Real Investment Action Has Moved West from Greece to Italy and Spain, Which Are More Important but Are Getting Less Media Attention

Many readers are familiar with the adage, “Little children, little problems; big children, big problems.”. As with children, so with insolvent countries.

It’s been my feeling that too much financial media attention has been focused on today’s Greek elections. I believe that Germany has already indicated that whatever government may be formed, Greece will have a 100-day [...]

Increasingly, Europe Looks Like America of 2008

Events in Europe are following the pattern seen in the U.S. several years ago. In Europe, financial crises in small countries are now giving way to crises in large ones.

This parallels what happened here. In 2005, home-building stocks peaked, and the national housing market peaked around year-end. In 2006, mortgage lenders and brokers began [...]

Spain: A Lack Of Accountability

Last week, the Spanish government carried out the biggest financial bailout since the outbreak of the economic crisis. BFA-Bankia (BKIA), the giant which resulted from the merger of seven savings banks only a year and a half ago, was nationalized by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government through the conversion of a 4.5 billion euro holding [...]

European Bank Funding Improved

From DeutscheBank Research

April 23, 2012

Funding conditions for European banks have improved considerably since end-2011. In Q1, EU banks were able to issue a total of EUR 154 bn in senior and covered bonds – compared with only EUR 85 bn in the whole of H2 2011. Still, issuance was down 35% yoy; the [...]

A Relationship Between European Austerity and Municipal Bonds

The European economic and financial situation is beginning to resemble the “Asian contagion” of the late 1990′s: a deflationary disaster for the countries involved, which in turn helps allow the (relatively) good times to continue in the “core” and to some degree even the U.S. News from Spain today is ugly:

Markit’s Purchasing Manager’s Survey [...]