The week in the markets (6-13 Nov)

Personal comment.

On Friday the markets seemed to launch a feeling of strength: General Motors touched historic lows and reported that without government help would go into bankruptcy and unemployment in the U.S. grew in two months in more than half a million people and yet the stock market rose. However, if one takes into account that since 1896 he had never lost the Dow Jones in the three days of a presidential election, which the lower SP on Wednesday and Thursday together is the biggest in two days since 1987 and that the rebound technician, was lowered after so much with little volume, and could give an explanation and feared it was an exception to the trend weekly. The large package of measures the Chinese government at the weekend ($ 600 billion is the fifth of GDP, "it will be another and a few cartridges) extended this positive feeling in Asia and Europe on Monday morning With the exception of Ibex. There are over the joys until the afternoon of Thursday in USA.

The bank Santander on Oct. 28, at the mouth of its CEO Alfredo Saez, refused to need more capital. On November 10 announced an expansion. In these few days has been convinced of the impossibility of selling the Bank of Venezuela, the assets in ABN shares, Cepsa, which manages the funds and insurance, at the price demanded. In short, you have bought unsold before and now has been found with a liquidity problem ... (safe somewhere caught in a mortgage-bridge that sounds something) and the expansion is costing him all shareholders in market capitalization million euros. And serve to illustrate what is happening with the economy and that makes this crisis unique: no matter how much lower interest rates, including the Euribor, if that cheaper finance is not paid and if there is interest in using this possible liquidity to invest. Until Santander wants to sell assets and unable to do so raises the liquidity of its shareholders or tries to tap new. Santander can do that but, how many companies can do the same, how much they will get lower financing rates?

I attached two charts USA, with shaded on the cycles of recession, one is the unemployment rate in the U.S. and its forecast to reach 8%

This is another of the ISM manufacturing index:

In Spain the situation is similar, we have known in the past economic data and much worse if we do if the figures do not even bank bad debt is still worrisome (http://www.economistas.tv/la-morosidad-oficial-no- is-so /) As can be seen in other economic cycles figures have been more hopeless, it could be a cyclical crisis and give more reason for the optimists who think they can get out of it in months. But it is necessary to recover the credit market, without that status data will continue to deteriorate and, as we have seen this week, the suspensions of payments that began in financial, went to banks and then to insurance companies, will reach shops and industrial companies.

And that perception is reversing in the economy and stock markets, the beneficial impact of lower interest rates. If we add to this the fact that I commented on the need to sell assets as they lose value to dispose of cash, accounts for the balance of the week. The best quality of the bag-your-liquidity is now one of the biggest obstacles to the upward trend because it is one of the few markets to resort to if you need cash, even at the level of citizens is easier to sell shares even though much is lost to try to sell some other property. As positive aspects of this bad stock market week, two factors: the low volume on downhill (although it can mean that we are still far from the capitulation of course also of the soil) and the finding by the Telecoms sector as a refuge-of-date valid. Now we have to have faith in the famous meeting this weekend but particularly in the aspect stock market got more faith in the possible manipulation of the bullish effect by next Friday 21 to the expiration of some futures (which is the Ibex) and options almost all indices. In fact, statistically the next week is a pretty favorable to the stock exchanges.

Finally, it is very remarkable, despite a rebound from yesterday evening, the lower crude (although the effect of the weakness of € and other causes less understandable its effect on the price of a liter of fuel is less noticeable) of gas natural and generally of all raw materials. This is no longer seen as something positive on the stock exchanges because it's getting a lot of problems in economies where there are a lot of money invested ... the prime example is Russia. You may see manipulative maneuvers to prevent the oil-icon of all raw materials-stop-down and personally I hope to make a speculative-operation in a possible rebound in oil prices and gold. (More ...)

Droblo written by the November 14, 2008 with 337 reviews
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What inherits Obama

The other day I read that the American figure that the state is being spent on trying to resolve the financial crisis is already 2.7 billion dollars, and that in a country that already, even before all this and much needed money. He also knew the number of jobs: 524 thousand new unemployed in two months. And I began to search for information on the actual state of U.S. finances. Let a couple of numbers and put all the zeros, that more than a trillion translates as billions and trillions when we lees and I had to document only on American websites:

• A day on November 11 at 09.14, the debt is U.S. $ 10.635.794.969.002, an amount that is increasing second to second, and in fact there is a ticking clock that will (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki / National_Debt_Clock) and discussed here not long ago that going from 9 billion to 10 had to fix it. Currently 500.000.000.000 is increasing each month since October, a figure of growth that is expected to be sharply reduced because it is what they grew on average annually since 2003. In September the U.S. government expanded, very appropriately, the limit of indebtedness from 10.6 trillion to 11.3 but everything points that will run short in 2009

• The estimated GDP-American 2007 is 13,800,000,000,000, then the current debt is around 75% of GDP and it seems to get worse closer to 90% only by increasing the debt if we have to account that GDP may actually be reduced if there is recession, this could be even worse. They are not the all-time highs as can be seen in figure but let's remember that it was exceeded 100% due to World War II:

However, many countries are worse off and for years (from among the "big" Japan is close to 200%, in Europe and Italy, Belgium and Greece around 100%) the big problem is that this is only the debt State that is a fraction of the total debt of banks, families and American companies estimate is about 50,000,000,000,000, almost 5 times more than the public and more than 3 times the entire GDP. In Spain, where we have this sense of indebtedness total private debt is double the GDP. (More ...)

Droblo written by the November 11, 2008 with 243 comments
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Gutting the mortgage.

One of the greatest unsolved mysteries of criminology English was the identity of the famous Jack The Ripper, and that among the suspects we find members of the British royal family, the doctor of Queen Victoria, a young lawyer, a businessman Liverpool, a Jew and a psychotic impressionist painter.

Fortunately, 6 years ago the writer of mystery novels by Patricia Cornwell, did not have anything else to do and gave to invest $ 4 million to reach the conclusion that the notorious murderer was Walter Richard Sickert, 28, a prestigious painter of the time.

Patricia, had the patience to buy up to 30 paintings of the artist and analyze them in search of traces of DNA but is not that painting is a good preservative. However, the writer did not give up and finally after much searching, found him in a letter from his wife (you know, never utilicéis language for hitting an envelope) that matched the genetic material of the murderer.

Without doubt, Jack was a guy who liked to go to parties and blog we have here in our professional Ripper, whose victim today, is the mortgage. So I switch to the article written by Oriol.

Today I wish to comment on how the shares of a mortgage to take a little awareness of the pros and cons of the government's proposal to help the unemployed, postponing for two years for 50% of the share mortgage.

The mortgage is a repayment of capital. Each payment is decomposed in a part of a separate interest and repayment of the nominal. We must be clear that each share will be paid interest on which is due during the last period. Nor on what is paid this month, not on the original debt. The structure of the payments may have several forms, but I will focus on two, the simplest and most common, and this will put an example with the following information:

Capital: 180,000 €
Fees: 360 (30)
Interest: 5% (we assume fixed interest, because it is conceptually the same)
Monthly interest: 0.416667%

1 .- Amortization of capital

This system is not used regularly but is the most simple and will help us see clearly how it accrues interest. In this case, the party repaid at each share is constant, so the duty less and less money, every time there is less interest burden and the share is decreasing.

In the period "0" give us the money, so there are outstanding 180,000 €.

In the period "1" we pay the first installment. The amortized in the share capital is € 500 (180.000/360) and interest are due to have cost € 180,000 over a period (one month in our case), with an annual rate of 5% (which would be the monthly 0.41667%. Interest is then 750 € (180,000 x 0.0041667). After paying the first fee of 1250 € (500 +750 = capital + interest) I have € 179,500 to the bank, so that the interests of the following share were calculated on this new amount of debt. 747.92 (slightly less than before because I have less), then the fee is € 1247.92 in (capital + interest) and so on. (See table)

Observe that in recent assessments, the interest is very low, as they are, for example in the past, due to be € 500 a month. The shares were also lower for the same reason.

2 .- quota steady or French system.

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Written by Oriol Carlos and the November 10, 2008 with 278 comments
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The Economics of Homer (II)

Some economists argue that bureaucracy and the public sector has a very strong tendency to increase their budgets beyond what is considered efficient.

I do not know your work, but mine have cut costs wherever they can, in travel, meals, recruitment, office supplies, telephone, Christmas (yes, it is already here!), And so on. Should we not demand the same from those who are managing our taxes?. Ojo, I do not speak at the official, speaking on a strategic level and move toward smart spending, leaving the studies of the degree of hybridization between the common quail and the Japanese quail for better times.

So after this pataleta by the waste of government to step in the press briefing a day that passes the American elections, touching look at the economy of truth.

• Trichet would lower rates today by 0.5% (at 3.25%) and place them at 2% in 2009
• Ordonez estimates that banks can absorb up to 9% of delinquencies
• Bankinter contemplates returning to some customers for losses by Lehman
• Wall Street slows dry after the End of the Obama effect rebound?
• Industrial production suffers the second largest drop in 15 years
• The boxes prefer to pay exorbitant rates before they go to the bottom of the Government

Written by Carlos Lopez on Nov. 6, 2008 with 282 reviews
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Miscalculations

An ancient legend has it Sheram, the Indian prince, was so astonished when they learned the game of chess, who wanted to reward generously Sessa, the inventor of that entertainment. He said: "Ask me anything you want." Sessa replied: "Sovereign, which sends me a grain of wheat delivered by the first section of the board, two for second, four for third, eight in the fourth, and so on until the box 64".

The prince could not please, because the result of that operation S = 1 + 2 + 4 + + 2 ... ^{63 is} about 18 trillion grains. To get that would sow the entire Earth 65 times.

Sometimes I think that some banks have been passed as the prince's story, which first promised the money and then we have estimated and that is not what they had or had human form that he had.

In February 2006 there was a political controversy in the United States following the purchase of the management of six major ports by a Dubai state-owned. The President Bush hailed the operation but the Congress, arguing national security, managed to go delaying the agreement until finally a U.S. company took over the contract. Many Americans were afraid that Dubai-ally regarded by the government but in Muslim-majority manage something as important as the safety of the major seaports of the country.

However, in the financial world, the main U.S. lead months and months looking for money regardless of their origin. The liquidity crisis of confidence and has given back to the tortilla and not know what Americans think of walking but no executives do not disclose financial problems to the savings (and therefore also the management of pensions in a country where they are mostly private), the decision to grant credits and direction of investment by major banks in the world (in the list of those who have received money from Asia are also the Swiss UBS and Britain's Barclays) are largely mediated by governments that are dictatorships (such as UAE and Kuwait or China where there are elections but women could not vote), representing a population largely anti-Western and whose geostrategic interests (such as Chinese) are conflicting with the USA interests.

To top the liquidity available in the U.S. for equities (in the fixed income process is not well) according to official figures has been largely designed by fund managers to buy outside the country:

In the first eight months investors Americans took 68 bn. $ Of equity funds, of which 51.8 bn. were funds that invested in U.S. stock market. A year ago was much worse: entries from 81 bn. $ In equity funds with sales of 16.4 bn. funds that invested in U.S. stock market.

That is, in 2007 bought a large amount of money outside the U.S. and made money out of the bag USA. It could have been by $ distrust toward a thought (that was correct until very recently) of higher returns on assets in yen and € but it is symptomatic: USA managers draw money from the American equities even uptrend and now begging for money Arabic and Chinese.

Should not because the U.S. authorities in their efforts to monitor these flows interventionist? And investors should not arise in Asia that might not be best to buy where there sell? And the big question: Will there be enough money in the world to address this or as the story will have to wait 65 crops?

PS: And since today is a day in which as noted is consummated a change in the chairmanship USA and we're talking about miscalculations might be interesting to recall the cost of the Iraq intervention that the Nobel JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ estimated in March this year and $ 3 trillion according to some voices that should already be in the 4 billion. Money which, remember, has been thrown sunk by as many taxes they pay to state that some companies have won contracts in Iraq, will not arrive or 10% of that figure. Who says that the reason for all the depth of this crisis can not be in this cost themselves when U.S. authorities argue that less than 1 trillion will fix the financial crisis?

And to complete the usual summary of the press in which we are all aware of as he lay on the economy Obama's victory:

• Oil soared more than 10% and again surpasses the $ 70 per barrel
• Martins offers some creditors to pay only 50% of its debt in exchange for being the first to recover
• The price of housing down more than 10% after 14 months of fall and placed in a minimum of three years
• The foreclosure moratorium for the unemployed will cost between 100 and 400 million
• Obama's victory opens the way for a new relationship with Spain
• The march green: Gamesa, I. Renewable, EDF, EDP and Acciona raised on the stock exchange before the new 'President'
• Fagor sacrificed pay extra to pay for retirement
• Solbes: Spain has "exhausted" the scope for anti-measures
• The sale of assets to E. ON of Endesa profit shoots a 243.8%
• Caja Madrid announced the postponement of the banks placers Cibeles

Written by Droblo on November 5, 2008 with 259 comments
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The week in the markets (23-30 October)

Personal comment

Sometimes it seems that markets have entered a dynamic so strange that even acting against what would be logical: OPEC lowers production and instead of rising, oil low, the stock market collapses and gold instead of serving Value refuge, also collapses, USA has the largest deficit in the world, which will be maintained for years, with a central bank that is assuming the risk millionaire asset that nobody wants and that its currency, the dollar reaches maximum years . I'm beginning to think that facing the end of the year and more than likely departure of money from investment funds what is happening is simply that all positions are rolled back in search of liquidity. And of course, as lower the percentage is more active and feedback movement. And also to push sales in other non-stock, hence, not hedges. But that same process also works the other way around because if the market rises there is less interest in selling, it's like the one that has a debt and has only one floor, according to the low price of the floor more quickly is worth before they sell it unless debt but if you have the floor suddenly rises in price no longer needs to sell it because you can get the liquidity it needs with the assurance that floor without the need to get rid of him. This causes a lot of volatility.

But why not just the irrationalities: Now the stock market likes that the crude will rise and depressed when low and the same with the €, unlike that for months, Cepsa (much smaller and lower profit at least 7 times) has come to worth more on the stock exchange that Repsol by the sharp drop of it, (this reminds me of when they arrived in Telepizza worth more than Domino's Pizza or Terra more than BBVA) and according to Bespoke 10% of companies that have submitted results in line with Expected been completed on the day of publication with an average drop of 1.80% (as if the results had been ill). However, the biggest example we know that Volkswagen had reached a EGY 90 when the Dax has a PER this year of less than 8 and Daimler has it at 3.7 and have even more value for capitalization that all companies producing cars of world together. Are we really learning something from all this if we continue to promote bubbles as dangerous as these?

Beyond these factors, there is a rational exercise we can make each of us self-polls. There are many securities that are in 2002 prices and are tempting us to make some investment but ask ourselves: Is the economy better or worse than in those years? And most importantly, our confidence in leaving the rut, Is now higher or lower than then? Then I remember that the biggest economic problem was the fear of terrorism and that it would start a war in Iraq ... now we still have more that all the problems we have been talking for months: credit crisis, high inflation, housing bubble and so on. and joined it in recent weeks: Stop worrying figures, emerging markets to the brink of collapse, public deficits to astronomical assumed by mismanagement of the banks and so on. I mean, what's the same bag goes up, that's something unpredictable at least for me, but since then it is clear that the real economy is not invited to optimism. Yet it must be stressed that in the USA have left two data consecutive home prices that give a respite to the bearish trend, at least in that sector and in this country ...

The summary of the week can be summarized in a nutshell: On Friday marked minimum annual all bags that I still except the Chinese and, curiously, the Dow Jones and SP500. On Monday, China, all European and Brazil signed the new minimum but not American. Tuesday marked the first bars minimal Japan and China but no more. However, if we take into account the future it that both the Dow Jones SP500 marked as the minimum of 5 years and a half but perhaps there were some concerns that they did not want to be in regular time mark. On Tuesday, with rumors of a sharp drop in rates in Japan, the USA had the second highest increase in history. On Wednesday, rose much Europe but not USA, which broke the increases in minutes from the descent of the EDF. And on Thursday, thanks mainly to Japan, continued to climb. ¿Conclusion? After so many vicissitudes week (Thursday to Thursday) has had a very positive (except on Ibex and China that ended flat to lower in recent days by 6% in total, all have had remarkable progress) and many believe has already passed the worse in October and has complied with its reputation for month of the crash but also from the soil ... I keep seeing that the resistance of speaking last week (1000's sp, 10 thousand of Ibex and the Dow, 5000's Dax) are still there and only have been overtaken, on Thursday for a few minutes, the Dax, who this week has behaved in plan rate banana republic by the theme of Volkswagen.

And just months and despite what has been disastrous and it has not observed any statistically negative-except for those who want to invest we can be confident that it will comply with these average data showing that November is the best month of year for the stock market since 1980:

However, against my usual, I will "get wet" a little more: to bet on a possible upward rally in November or even early January and be more secure is important to see what makes the bags on the first day of November . If you go up, does not mean anything special but if you fall, it is better to keep out of the bag because that means the funds are still undoing positions (the term that is becoming fashionable is "desapalancamiento") and not spend the cash to equities. So my advice is to wait until the end of Monday or Tuesday that the opening of comprobéis not dropped before they come to buy, if you decide to buy.

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Written by Droblo on October 31, 2008 with 247 comments
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