Archives for February 2010
February 26th, 2010
The Bank of Spain is expected to increase the provisions it demands of Spanish lenders to cover property bought from struggling real estate developers. The central bank’s move would further dent bank profits already hit by economic recession, according to financial sources and bank analysts. In November, the central bank raised its ...
Continue reading Spanish Banks Face Higher Provisions
February 25th, 2010
Jump in UK inflation is a 'temporary deviation'. Greek prime minister likens his economy to the Titanic. Having set off from €1.15 the pound fluctuated between €1.14 and €1.1550 until the middle of the week. On Thursday it took a dive, which was extended on Friday. It opened in London this ...
Continue reading January Spending Gap Hurts Sterling
February 25th, 2010
Spanish consumers gaining confidence as consumption in Spanish households increases for the first time in two years According to the latest figures published by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) Spanish households have started to consume more. Consumption by Spanish households had been decreasing continuously since the beginning of ...
Continue reading Spanish Consumers Want More
February 24th, 2010
Buyers in Spain could be able to secure 100% mortgages for the first time during the downturn thanks to a new developer-bank partnership. Customers buying from UK-based developer Almanzora Group will be able to apply for 100% loan-to-value finance through the Bank of Andalusia on properties with discounts of up to ...
Continue reading 100% Mortgages to Boost Spanish Property Market
February 23rd, 2010
Spain tries to hide under the smokescreen of an International conspiracy, TINSA is revealed as not-quite-so independent after all, and two pieces of good news for Spanish finances. In a bizarre twist this week, Spain hit out at English-language news agencies conspiring to bring down the Euro and the Spanish economy. As ...
Continue reading No Spanish Conspiracy Theory Required
February 23rd, 2010
With Spain having spent weeks in the cross hairs of jittery world markets, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero went on the offensive on Wednesday, defending the country’s solvency and saying his government had “the will” to reduce its fast-growing deficit. But in an address to Parliament, the Socialist prime minister ...
Continue reading Zapatero Insists Spanish Economic Recovery Is Near
February 23rd, 2010
The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that Spain’s fiscal challenges are not as severe as those faced by Greece, reinforcing the message that Madrid has been delivering to the world’s financial markets. In its first official comment on the matter, the IMF told investors that Spain should not be placed in ...
Continue reading IMF: Spain Not in Same Boat as Greece
February 22nd, 2010
Spain was the last major European economy still in recession in the fourth quarter, final data showed on Wednesday. But the markets gave some cheer to the Socialist government, as signs arose that fears surrounding sovereign debt in the euro zone may be easing for now. The National Statistics Institute reported ...
Continue reading Spain Cheered by Strong Bond Issue
February 19th, 2010
Even in this dreadful recession, it is hard to imagine that the desire for apartments in Spain from North Europeans will subside. It is one type of Spanish property that will always be popular. Certainly, few things are more more desirable than owning a low maintenance, low cost (and safe) ...
Continue reading What the Spanish Coastal Law Really Means
February 18th, 2010
Recent periods of heavy selling in the Spanish stock market, in the wake of fears that worries over Greece will spread to other European nations, is reportedly being investigated by the country's intelligence service. The unit of the National Intelligence Center that deals with economic intelligence has spent the last few ...
Continue reading Spanish Intelligence Investigating Market Slurs
February 18th, 2010
If Greece is broke, can Spain be far behind? More than four times as big as Greece, Spain has received almost as much unwelcome attention from investors. This month the Madrid stockmarket has tumbled and the risk premium on Spain’s bonds has risen. Aides to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Socialist ...
Continue reading The Zapping of Zapatero
February 17th, 2010
Sterling makes the most of its I'm-not-a-euro credentials. Euro has no such defence to Greece's problems. The pound drifted down from €1.14 to €1.13 before jumping nearly two cents higher on Thursday. It peaked at €1.1550 on Friday and opened in London this morning at €1.15. Sterling has been doing its best ...
Continue reading A Panic-Free Week for Sterling
February 17th, 2010
Spain is facing a credibility crisis. Property prices are crashing, wiping out a large part of many families' wealth and leaving banks with billions of euros in loans, which look increasingly risky in a country where up to 1.5 million houses appear unsaleable. Unemployment is more than 4 million and rising ...
Continue reading Spain's Economic Blind Spots
February 16th, 2010
Did you do calculus at school? How much of it do you remember now? I remember having particular difficulty understanding integration and differentiation. I also remember thinking "When am I ever going to need this in real life?". As it happens, an understanding of differentiation would have been ...
Continue reading Differentiating Spanish House Price Data
February 16th, 2010
The reason I like the TINSA index is that, even though their graphs are based on their own valuations, their index accurately describes the trend we all know to be true. You can download a copy here. On the plus side, TINSA's index continues to decline more slowly. On the negative side, TINSA's ...
Continue reading February TINSA Index Now Available
