Banco Santander, S.A. (STD) has raised $8.1 billion (14.1 billion Brazilian reals) in a record initial public offering (IPO) of its Brazilian operations as the bank seeks growth away from the ailing Spanish economy. The Brazilian arm sold 600 million shares for 23.50 reals ($13.43) per share, to the public through a concurrent offering in Brazil and New York. The price was in the middle of the expected range of 22 reals to 25 reals. Santander had initially filed to sell 525 million units, with each representing 55 common shares and 50 preferred shares, but the offering was increased by 75 million units to meet demand from investors. In the U.S., the new stock will trade on the Big Board under the ticker symbol "BSBR." Trading of the units will begin on the New York and Sao Paulo stock exchange begins today. The IPO ...

Hot New Spanish Model… for Banking

Tony Daltorio, The Investment U Research Team

There’s a hot new Spanish model that has everyone in Europe going ga-ga.

No, it’s not a runway or swimsuit model. It’s Spain’s banking model.

The Bank of Spain forced Spanish banks to follow a very conservative banking model using what they call “dynamic provisioning” requirements. These requirements forced Spanish banks to build reserves during the good times. This left the banks with capital to draw upon which is helping them survive the downturn.

The Bank of Spain also restricted local banks from piling into mortgage securities. And Spain has a small credit-card and commercial property market which limited risk exposure for the banks. But the banks did their part too. They focused on the retail market rather than risky investment banking, as did their American counterparts.

This new ‘hot’ model

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by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /br /blockquote"For what it’s worth, a key conclusion from the IMF’s new World Economic Outlook is that recessions caused by financial crisis typically end with export booms, with the trade balance improving,on average, by more than 3 percent of GDP. I find this a disturbing result: we’re now suffering from a global financial crisis, which means that the usual driver of recovery will only be available if we can find another planet to export to."br /a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/japans-recovery-again/"Paul Krugman /abr /br //blockquoteblockquoteWith results still coming in, projections show the United Progressive Alliance is likely to win about 250 seats, making it a shoo-in to form the next government and provide continuity, a stable administration and progress on key economic and corporate reforms.br /a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124247401653426893.html"Wall Street Journal/a, May 16 2009/blockquotebr /blockquotePrime Minister Manmohan Singh’s electoral victory, the biggest any Indian politician has scored in two decades, may ...

by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /The global manufacturing recession continued in April, with rates of contraction for output, new orders and employment all showing what are effectively sharp contractions by historical standards. The rates of contraction however moderated almost universally, and this is now the fourth month where this moderation has been evident. Thus, while the contraction is far from over, it is reasonable to say the it has stabilised, and the big issue is at what rate it will hold in the months to come. The initial shock has now been absorbed, but that is a far cry from saying that we already have the worst behind us. The general deterioration in employment conditions raises the concern that as the impact of the government stimulus "shocks" in their turn wane, and as national banking systems come under the impact of the additional loan defaults the growing unemployment and falling ...

NEW YORK, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — CMG Holdings, Inc., (CMG) (OTC BB: CMGO), a full service global marketing, sports, entertainment and management communications company operating in the sectors of talent management, event management and commercial rights, is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, CMGO Events Marketing, Inc. (CMGO) has completed the acquisition of the assets of The Experiential Agency, Inc.

‘We have found a great team at The Experiential Agency. I am confident that our clients will have both focus and commitment from the team as true leaders in their field. The Experiential Agency assets, including the XA brand, are nationally recognized in the event marketing industry. This transaction will strengthen CMG’s competitive position in the North American event management market and enhances our ability to expand and diversify CMG’s market penetration,’ says Alan Morell, Chairman and CEO of CMG.

‘Through this transaction, CMGO has strategically added the

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by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /The performance of the worldwide manufacturing sector remained very weak in February. Although the JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI rose further from December's record low, at 35.8 it was still well below the critical no-change mark of 50.0. Rates of decline eased for production and new orders, but accelerated to reach a new survey record for employment.br /blockquote"The PMI edged higher for a second successive month in February. The data are still pointing to marked declines in output and new orders, but the gains in these indexes indicate that the rate of contraction has begun to ease in global industry. Production cuts are likely to remain deep near-term while companies reduce inventory." David Hensley, Director of Global Economics Coordination at JPMorgan/blockquotebr /br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SaweWTZ7AnI/AAAAAAAAM4E/mTNmx1ft-QM/s1600-h/global+pmi.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308651429277926002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 228px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SaweWTZ7AnI/AAAAAAAAM4E/mTNmx1ft-QM/s400/global+pmi.png" border="0" //abr /br /Employment declined ...

Adele Ferguson | October 18, 2008 Article from:  The Australian

IN 2002, legendary investor Warren Buffett warned that derivatives were time bombs and “financial weapons of mass destruction” that could harm not only their buyers and sellers, but the whole economic system.

Instead of heeding this oracle’s warnings, financial institutions rejoiced in these ticking bombs, which have now blown up, leading to estimates that the global banking system will lose up to $1.4 trillion before the crisis is over.

The world financial system is leveraged beyond comprehension. It is estimated that between $US500 trillion ($732 trillion) and $US700 trillion worth of derivatives are outstanding.

Compare this with the total economic activity (GDP) of the world, which is about $US50 trillion, and even a 5 per cent drop in the value of the derivatives is beyond the rescue capability of the world’s central banks, according to financial author Bert Dohmen in his Prelude to Meltdown.

These

...

Adele Ferguson | October 18, 2008 Article from:  The Australian

IN 2002, legendary investor Warren Buffett warned that derivatives were time bombs and “financial weapons of mass destruction” that could harm not only their buyers and sellers, but the whole economic system.

Instead of heeding this oracle’s warnings, financial institutions rejoiced in these ticking bombs, which have now blown up, leading to estimates that the global banking system will lose up to $1.4 trillion before the crisis is over.

The world financial system is leveraged beyond comprehension. It is estimated that between $US500 trillion ($732 trillion) and $US700 trillion worth of derivatives are outstanding.

Compare this with the total economic activity (GDP) of the world, which is about $US50 trillion, and even a 5 per cent drop in the value of the derivatives is beyond the rescue capability of the world’s central banks, according to financial author Bert Dohmen in his Prelude to Meltdown.

These

...

Thursday February 26, 2009 Navivest

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) today announced that for fiscal year 2008, it lost 24.1 billion British pounds, the largest corporate loss ever in UK history. The losses reflect a 16.2 billion British pound write-down on acquisitions it made, including its $102 billion takeover of Dutch banking group ABN Amro in 2007 and a 7.9 billion British pounds operating loss.

The bank also announced that it will be putting 325 billion British pounds of its assets into a British government backed insurance plan.

Under the insurance plan through which the British government is looking at covering about 500 billion pounds in toxic assets from British banks, RBS will be responsible for the first 19.5 billion pounds and the government will be responsible for 90% of any losses beyond that, with RBS bearing responsibility for the rest.

The news is being welcomed on both sides of the Atlantic, with

...

Alex’s Notes: Sign of the times? Who said Gold isnt money again?

Oh wait, its just a barbarous relic, I forgot.

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Osmium offers new share class denominated in gold,
Superfund develops similar fund amid concern about currency exposure

By Alistair Barr & Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Last update: 2:23 p.m. EST Jan. 28, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Osmium Capital Management Ltd. is launching a new class of shares in its Special Situations hedge fund that will be denominated in gold as the firm tries to attract more money from investors in the midst of a global financial crisis.

The Osmium Special Situations Fund, run by former ABN Amro trader Chris Kuchanny, already has share classes denominated in U.S. dollars, euros and British pounds. The fund currently oversees $178 million.

Full article

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