<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Stock Market News &#38; Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks &#187; Scotland</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.straightstocks.com/tag/scotland/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.straightstocks.com</link>
	<description>Leading Stock Market News, Opinions and Commentary</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:32:19 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5</generator>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
			<item>
		<title>Bank of England Governer: Regulation can not stop bank failures</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/financial/bank-of-england-governer-regulation-can-not-stop-bank-failures/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/financial/bank-of-england-governer-regulation-can-not-stop-bank-failures/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:14:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Stanczyk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Financial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alex Stanczyk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank Failures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank of england]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BOE  Deputy Governor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central bank money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis insurance;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Miles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gbp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[king]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mervyn King]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Monetary Policy Committee;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MPC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Tucker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Kingdom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[utility banking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.rapidtrends.com/?p=2277</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Obviously.
BOE King: Delusion To Think Regulation Can Stop Bank Failure
By Natasha Brereton
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said Tuesday that heightened regulation can#8217;t prevent the financial speculation that results in bank failures, and called for a serious review of the structure of the banking sector whose goal would be to eliminate institutions [...]div class="feedflare"
a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?a=fFk79TbaHJc:EqK1CAozvwk:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?a=fFk79TbaHJc:EqK1CAozvwk:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?i=fFk79TbaHJc:EqK1CAozvwk:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?a=fFk79TbaHJc:EqK1CAozvwk:7Q72WNTAKBA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?a=fFk79TbaHJc:EqK1CAozvwk:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?i=fFk79TbaHJc:EqK1CAozvwk:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?a=fFk79TbaHJc:EqK1CAozvwk:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?a=fFk79TbaHJc:EqK1CAozvwk:l6gmwiTKsz0"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?a=fFk79TbaHJc:EqK1CAozvwk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/YourFinancialFuture?i=fFk79TbaHJc:EqK1CAozvwk:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a
/div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/financial/bank-of-england-governer-regulation-can-not-stop-bank-failures/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>IBM Opens IT Services Center in U.S. &#8211; Analyst Blog</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/ibm-opens-it-services-center-in-u-s-analyst-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/ibm-opens-it-services-center-in-u-s-analyst-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:48:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zacks Market Commentaries</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stocks to Watch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Argentina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[computer hardware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Delivery Center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greenock facility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hewlett-Packard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ibm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Intel Corporation;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pune]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[service management software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sun Microsystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zacks Market Commentaries]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/24102/IBM+Opens+IT+Services+Center+in+U.S.+-+Analyst+Blog</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />
In addition to expanding its international footprint, <strong>IBM</strong> (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/IBM">IBM</a>) is also expanding domestic operations. The company has announced the opening of a services delivery center in the U.S.
<p>The new facility will maintain, monitor and support computer hardware, software and manage IT services for IBM's clients. The new center joins an extensive network of more than 80 IBM delivery centers worldwide.</p>
<p>For the new facility, IBM intends to hire up to 1,300 people by the end of 2010.</p>
<p>With an investment of $300 million in 2008, IBM built 13 Business Resilience service delivery centers in 10 countries, increasing its ability to address surging demand from businesses and governments from around the world seeking to keep their operations safe from disruption. IBM also plans to open a new collocation data center at its Greenock facility in Scotland and three new global delivery centers in Argentina.</p>
<p>To further bolster its presence in India, the company earlier opened a new Global Delivery Center (GDC) in Pune, India, which will act as the regional hub for IBM Tivoli service management software and strategy, and will provide clients with business consulting and application services.</p>
<p>We expect these centers to help increase revenue going forward. While IBM's initiative to expand its footprint in both domestic and international markets has helped it to win a number of IT deals, the IT services business is becoming increasingly competitive. In particular, IBM is facing pricing pressure from <strong>Hewlett-Packard</strong> (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/HPQ">HPQ</a>), <strong>Sun Microsystems</strong> (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/JAVA">JAVA</a>), <strong>Intel Corporation</strong> (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/INTC">INTC</a>) and <strong>Dell</strong> (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/DELL">DELL</a>).</p>
<p>Despite this, we believe IBM's new IT initiatives position the company for long term growth. Thus we maintain our Outperform rating on the stock.</p><br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=IBM">Read the full analyst report on "IBM"</a><br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=HPQ">Read the full analyst report on "HPQ"</a><br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=JAVA">Read the full analyst report on "JAVA"</a><br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=INTC">Read the full analyst report on "INTC"</a><br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=DELL">Read the full analyst report on "DELL"</a><br /><a href="http://www.zacks.com">Zacks Investment Research</a><br />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/ibm-opens-it-services-center-in-u-s-analyst-blog/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 8/25/09, ERTS, IBM, AET, EP, NE, WMT</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/drstockpick-com-stock-report-82509-erts-ibm-aet-ep-ne-wmt/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/drstockpick-com-stock-report-82509-erts-ibm-aet-ep-ne-wmt/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:41:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dr. Stock Pick</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stocks to Watch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aetna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[congressman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David W. Williams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dr Stock Pick]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[El Paso;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electronic Arts Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ibm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iphone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ipod]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Noble Corporation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nomura Services India Private Limited]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online information;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[President and Chief Executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[resiliency services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sheoma Bethea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Simmons & Company International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ty;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Walmart]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://drstockpick.com/?p=2979</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
DrStockPick.com Stock  Report!

Tuesday August 25, 2009




**************************************************************

EA Mobile(TM), a division of  Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced four new  titles available on the App StoreSM: CLUE, THE GAME OF LIFE, SNOOD(R), and the  epic sci-fi fantasy Mass Effect Galaxy(TM). EA Mobile continues to create a  variety of high-quality titles giving players [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/drstockpick-com-stock-report-82509-erts-ibm-aet-ep-ne-wmt/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The European Parliament election of 2009:  the &#8220;summer of discontent&#8221; poll?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/the-european-parliament-election-of-2009-the-summer-of-discontent-poll/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/the-european-parliament-election-of-2009-the-summer-of-discontent-poll/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:48:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Manuel Alvarez-Rivera</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bulgaria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA);]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Czech Republic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Democrats 66 (D66);]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eastern Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[El Pais]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electoral systems;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[european commission]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Parliament]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Geert Wilders;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global economy matters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grand Duchy of Luxembourg;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Great Britain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jan  Peter Balkenende]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labour Party]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manuel Alvarez-Rivera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northern Ireland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Party for Freedom (PVV);]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Party for Freedom;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Portugal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Romania]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Silvio Berlusconi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Netherlands]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Kingdom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[villa of Italian Prime Minister;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wales]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991369883287712098.post-4129750866343158750</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Manuel Alvarez-Rivera, Puerto Ricobr /br /An election is currently taking place in the 27 member countries of the European Union, to choose 736 members of the European Parliament for a term of five years. Some countries went to the polls on June 4, 5 and 6, but most are holding the election on Sunday, June 7. In addition, one of the smallest members of the EU, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, will hold a parliamentary election simultaneously with the EP poll.br /br /The European Parliament a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2009/default.htm"2009 elections website/a bills the event as "27 countries, one election," but it would be more appropriate to speak about 27 separate elections that happen to be held simultaneously across a four-day period. Even though all EU countries use proportional representation to allocate EP seats since 1999 (when Great Britain proper switched from first-past-the-post to PR), the rules vary from country to country, and the U.K. actually uses two electoral systems: closed party-list PR for England, Scotland and Wales; and the Single Transferable Vote (STV) for Northern Ireland's three EP seats (the latter since 1979, when the European Parliament became a popularly elected body).br /br /In addition, European elections tend to be dominated as much by national issues as by European issues - hardly surprising in light of the fact that the elections are contested by not by EU-wide parties but by the political parties active in each member country, which subsequently form parliamentary groups in the European Parliament that reflect Europe's major political currents (i.e. Socialist, Liberal, Conservative, Green and so on). In fact, European elections in many countries are little more than glorified mid-term elections, or in some cases (such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Portugal) dress rehearsals for general elections to be held later this year.br /br /Meanwhile, in some countries this year's European poll has been overshadowed by national scandals, such as the ongoing M.P.s' expenses controversy in the United Kingdom, and more recently the publication by the Spanish newspaper "El País" of racy photos taken in the private villa of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - who already faces a messy divorce and had previously secured a ban over the publication of the controversial pictures in Italian news media.br /br /Just as important, the EP vote is taking place in the middle of a global financial crisis that has hit the newer members from Eastern Europe particularly hard. The now-wobbly economies of many of these countries appears to have reinforced a growing sense of "buyer remorse" - or more accurately, admission remorse - among large sectors of public opinion in many Western European EU members, which already had serious reservations about bringing in countries that had considerably lower standards of living and of governmental transparency - in particular Romania and Bulgaria, the EU's two newest (and poorest) members.br /br /As it happens, the economic hardships brought about by the ongoing financial crisis appear to have created a fertile environment in many countries for right-wing populist parties preaching a thinly veiled racist and xenophobic discourse, typically anti-immigration, anti-Islamic and often anti-East European as well as anti-EU. These parties, which have developed a motivated following, may also benefit from the low voter turnout that has characterized recent European elections in most member countries.br /br /The declining turnout rates in European elections constitute something of a paradox, as the European Parliament has actually become a more powerful institution over the course of the last three decades. However, an Eurobarometer survey (a href="http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb_special_en.htm"EB71.1/a) carried out in January and February of this year indicates that while a slight plurality of respondents believes the EP's role within the European Union has been strengthened during the last decade, nearly as many say it has stayed the same or has been weakened.br /br /Moreover, the European Parliament does not yet play a role as powerful with respect to the European Commission - the EU's executive - as that of national parliaments relative to their respective governments: for example, EP approval is not always necessary for EU legislation. The less-than-straightforward role of the European Parliament within the EU - somewhat reminiscent of that of a 19suputh/u/sup century parliament under a limited monarchy - appears to be a major factor contributing to the low turnout: in the Eurobarometer survey, an insufficient understanding of the EP's role was cited as the main reason for not voting in European elections.br /br /However, a large plurality of Eurobarometer respondents indicated they would like to see the European Parliament play a more important role than it currently does; in fact, the EP's role will be significantly strengthened if the Lisbon Treaty is ultimately approved - a development that might raise the institution's relatively low profile and pave the way for higher turnout rates in future European elections. In the meantime, the sad truth remains that for many EU voters, EP elections don't even register on the radar - less than a third of respondents was aware an European election was due this year, according to the Eurobarometer survey - or simply aren't viewed as relevant: the perceptions that voting in the event would not change anything, and that the EP did not sufficiently deal with problems concerning respondents were the second and fourth most frequently cited reasons for not voting in the election; not being sufficiently informed to go to vote ranked third.br /br /European election results were not supposed to be available until Sunday evening, but in an unprecedented breach of rules, the outcome of the European vote in the Netherlands became available after the polls closed there last June 4, much to the displeasure of EU officials; preliminary figures have the right-wing populist Party for Freedom (PVV) in a strong second place, just behind the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. Meanwhile, the Labour Party (PvdA) - the junior partner in Balkenende's coalition government - suffered heavy losses, but the opposition, social liberal Democrats 66 (D66) soared to their best EP result since 1994. However, the turnout rate stood at just 36.5%, well below the 80.4% turnout in the country's 2006 general election.br /br /There is no doubt the Party for Freedom - whose leader, Geert Wilders faces prosecution for making anti-Islamic statements - has tapped into a strong undercurrent of discontent in the Netherlands (at least among those bothering to vote in the election there), but it remains to be seen how strongly and in what manner will that discontent manifest itself in other EU countries.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8991369883287712098-4129750866343158750?l=globaleconomydoesmatter.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/the-european-parliament-election-of-2009-the-summer-of-discontent-poll/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>G-20 Statement, Part 1 &#8211; Analyst Blog</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/g-20-statement-part-1-analyst-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/g-20-statement-part-1-analyst-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:39:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dirk Van Dijk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Stocks to Watch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank of england]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Central Banks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[concessional finance;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Central Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[european commission]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Stability Board;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FSF;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Bank for Reconstruction and Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Monetary Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moody's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oecd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[printing money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regulatory systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[S&P]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trade finance;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zacks Market Commentaries]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/18835/+G-20+Statement%2C+Part+1+-+Analyst+Blog</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>The following is the text of the Statement from the Group of 20 summit.  I will translate and interpret it point by point.</p>
<p>1. We, the Leaders of the Group of Twenty, met in London on 2 April 2009.</p>
<p>2. We face the greatest challenge to the world economy in modern times; a crisis which has deepened since we last met, which affects the lives of women, men, and children in every country, and which all countries must join together to resolve. A global crisis requires a global solution.</p>
<p><em>Things stink all over due to this mess, and it has gotten worse lately.</em></p>
<p>3. We start from the belief that prosperity is indivisible; that growth, to be sustained, has to be shared; and that our global plan for recovery must have at its heart the needs and jobs of hard-working families, not just in developed countries but in emerging markets and the poorest countries of the world too; and must reflect the interests, not just of today's population, but of future generations too. We believe that the only sure foundation for sustainable globalization and rising prosperity for all is an open world economy based on market principles, effective regulation, and strong global institutions.</p>
<p><em>It would be nice if everybody could grow and get richer.  Lets not forget about the poor countries that have been hurt even more than the rich countries by this crisis, even though it was not their fault.  However, we will not fundamentally alter the overall global economic system.</em></p>
<p>4. We have today therefore pledged to do whatever is necessary to:</p>
<ul>
<li>restore confidence, growth, and jobs;</li>
<li>repair the financial system to restore lending;</li>
<li>strengthen financial regulation to rebuild trust;</li>
<li>fund and reform our international financial institutions to overcome this crisis and prevent future ones; promote global trade and investment and reject protectionism, to underpin prosperity; and</li>
<li>build an inclusive, green, and sustainable recovery. </li></ul>
<p>By acting together to fulfill these pledges we will bring the world economy out of recession and prevent a crisis like this from recurring in the future.</p>
<p><em>Nice set of goals.  However, what is meant by do "what ever is necessary" to repair the financial system.  Calls for stronger regulation of markets are good and very much needed.  The international financial institutions they are referring to here are the World Bank, the IMF and their regional counterparts.</em></p>
<p>5. The agreements we have reached today, to treble resources available to the IMF to $750 billion, to support a new SDR allocation of $250 billion, to support at least $100 billion of additional lending by the MDBs, to ensure $250 billion of support for trade finance, and to use the additional resources from agreed IMF gold sales for concessional finance for the poorest countries, constitute an additional $1.1 trillion programme of support to restore credit, growth and jobs in the world economy. Together with the measures we have each taken nationally, this constitutes a global plan for recovery on an unprecedented scale.</p>
<p><em>This is a major increase in support for the IMF and is a very useful step.  It actually means that the calls to help out the poor countries that are suffering from this are not just platitudes, but that the major countries of the world are actually prepared to help.</em></p>
<p><em>Restoring growth and jobs</em></p>
<p>6. We are undertaking an unprecedented and concerted fiscal expansion, which will save or create millions of jobs which would otherwise have been destroyed, and that will, by the end of next year, amount to $5 trillion, raise output by 4 per cent, and accelerate the transition to a green economy. We are committed to deliver the scale of sustained fiscal effort necessary to restore growth.</p>
<p><em>I will note that the vast bulk of that $5 trillion is coming from a handful of countries, most notably the U.S. and China, with honorable mentions to Japan and the U.K. Continental Europe is effectively trying to free ride off the increased aggregate demand from the countries that are actively stimulating their economies. I would however read this clause as an endorsement of the Obama Strategy. </em></p>
<p>7. Our central banks have also taken exceptional action. Interest rates have been cut aggressively in most countries, and our central banks have pledged to maintain expansionary policies for as long as needed and to use the full range of monetary policy instruments, including unconventional instruments, consistent with price stability.</p>
<p><em>A pat on the back for the central bankers.  This is an explicit endorsement of the use of Quantitative Easing (central banks buying long term government bonds and effectively printing money) which is being implemented by the Fed and the Bank of England.  I would also see this as a call for the European Central Bank (ECB) help out a bit more.</em></p>
<p>8. Our actions to restore growth cannot be effective until we restore domestic lending and international capital flows. We have provided significant and comprehensive support to our banking systems to provide liquidity, recapitalize financial institutions, and address decisively the problem of impaired assets. We are committed to take all necessary actions to restore the normal flow of credit through the financial system and ensure the soundness of systemically important institutions, implementing our policies in line with the agreed G20 framework for restoring lending and repairing the financial sector.</p>
<p><em>We have thrown lots of money at the banks to keep the system afloat and are prepared to continue throwing money at the banks.</em></p>
<p>9. Taken together, these actions will constitute the largest fiscal and monetary stimulus and the most comprehensive support programme for the financial sector in modern times. Acting together strengthens the impact and the exceptional policy actions announced so far must be implemented without delay. Today, we have further agreed over $1 trillion of additional resources for the world economy through our international financial institutions and trade finance.</p>
<p><em>Yes, it has been a lot of money we have thrown at the banks.  So far we have been helping out private commercial banks.  However given the scale of this problem we also need to significantly increase the resources of the IMF and World Bank (mostly IMF).</em></p>
<p>10. Last month the IMF estimated that world growth in real terms would resume and rise to over 2 percent by the end of 2010. We are confident that the actions we have agreed today, and our unshakeable commitment to work together to restore growth and jobs, while preserving long-term fiscal sustainability, will accelerate the return to trend growth. We commit today to taking whatever action is necessary to secure that outcome, and we call on the IMF to assess regularly the actions taken and the global actions required.</p>
<p><em>The sun will come out tomorrow.  We think this plan will work, but perhaps the IMF can give some progress reports from time to time.</em></p>
<p>11. We are resolved to ensure long-term fiscal sustainability and price stability and will put in place credible exit strategies from the measures that need to be taken now to support the financial sector and restore global demand. We are convinced that by implementing our agreed policies we will limit the longer-term costs to our economies, thereby reducing the scale of the fiscal consolidation necessary over the longer term.</p>
<p><em>We are sure we can pull back from the fiscal stimulus before it bankrupts us and from the monetary stimulus before hyperinflation breaks out.  You don't get to be a head of state by lacking in confidence, and this was a meeting of 20 heads of state or government.</em></p>
<p>12. We will conduct all our economic policies cooperatively and responsibly with regard to the impact on other countries and will refrain from competitive devaluation of our currencies and promote a stable and well-functioning international monetary system. We will support, now and in the future, to candid, even-handed, and independent IMF surveillance of our economies and financial sectors, of the impact of our policies on others, and of risks facing the global economy.</p>
<p><em>If the independent surveillance of the economy by the IMF applies to the U.S. then this is big news.  More likely there are no teeth to this.  If the U.S were any other country, the IMF would have long ago pressed us to nationalize the banks, clean them up and sell them off.</em></p>
<p><em>Strengthening financial supervision and regulation</em></p>
<p>13. Major failures in the financial sector and in financial regulation and supervision were fundamental causes of the crisis. Confidence will not be restored until we rebuild trust in our financial system. We will take action to build a stronger, more globally consistent, supervisory and regulatory framework for the future financial sector, which will support sustainable global growth and serve the needs of business and citizens.</p>
<p><em>Deregulation was a VERY bad idea when it comes to financial institutions.  With the world now interconnected more than ever before, regulations need to be strengthened and made more consistent across boarders.</em></p>
<p>14. We each agree to ensure our domestic regulatory systems are strong. But we also agree to establish the much greater consistency and systematic cooperation between countries, and the framework of internationally agreed high standards, that a global financial system requires. Strengthened regulation and supervision must promote propriety, integrity and transparency; guard against risk across the financial system; dampen rather than amplify the financial and economic cycle; reduce reliance on inappropriately risky sources of financing; and discourage excessive risk-taking. Regulators and supervisors must protect consumers and investors, support market discipline, avoid adverse impacts on other countries, reduce the scope for regulatory arbitrage, support competition and dynamism, and keep pace with innovation in the marketplace.</p>
<p><em>Everyone has to regulate, no trying to lure financial activity to your country by promising to look the other way when institutions take on excessive risk in the hunt for short term profits.</em></p>
<p>15. To this end we are implementing the Action Plan agreed at our last meeting, as set out in the attached progress report. We have today also issued a Declaration, Strengthening the Financial System. </p>
<p>In particular we agree:</p>
<ul>
<li>to establish a new Financial Stability Board (FSB) with a strengthened mandate, as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum (FSF), including all G20 countries, FSF members, Spain, and the European Commission;<br />that the FSB should collaborate with the IMF to provide early warning of macroeconomic and financial risks and the actions needed to address them;<br />to reshape our regulatory systems so that our authorities are able to identify and take account of macro-prudential risks;</li>
<li>to extend regulation and oversight to all systemically important financial institutions, instruments and markets. This will include, for the first time, systemically important hedge funds;</li>
<li>to endorse and implement the FSF's tough new principles on pay and compensation and to support sustainable compensation schemes and the corporate social responsibility of all firms;</li>
<li>to take action, once recovery is assured, to improve the quality, quantity, and international consistency of capital in the banking system. In future, regulation must prevent excessive leverage and require buffers of resources to be built up in good times;</li>
<li>to take action against non-cooperative jurisdictions, including tax havens. We stand ready to deploy sanctions to protect our public finances and financial systems. The era of banking secrecy is over. We note that the OECD has today published a list of countries assessed by the Global Forum against the international standard for exchange of tax information;</li>
<li>to call on the accounting standard setters to work urgently with supervisors and regulators to improve standards on valuation and provisioning and achieve a single set of high-quality global accounting standards; and<br />to extend regulatory oversight and registration to Credit Rating Agencies to ensure they meet the international code of good practice, particularly to prevent unacceptable conflicts of interest.</li></ul>
<p><em>That is a long list of reforms and areas for tighter supervision.  Mostly it amounts to more international cooperation on regulation, in a more formal and institutionalized way.  The call for regulation and oversight of the Credit Rating agencies (i.e. Moody's and S&#38;P) is long overdue, as their lack of action and incompetence was a major factor in this whole mess occurring.  All big financial institutions, including hedge funds need to be regulated.</em></p>
<p>16. We instruct our Finance Ministers to complete the implementation of these decisions in line with the timetable set out in the Action Plan. We have asked the FSB and the IMF to monitor progress, working with the Financial Action Taskforce and other relevant bodies, and to provide a report to the next meeting of our Finance Ministers in Scotland in November.</p>
<p><em>We hope we can get our act together by November.</em></p>
<p><em>That is about half of the statement, I will have a follow up post on the rest of it.  In general the basic thrust of the statement is that it endorses aggressive government actions, both on the fiscal and monetary front to address the crisis.  It calls for much stronger regulation.  Perhaps the most significant news is a very large commitment to strengthening the resources of the IMF to help some of the emerging economy's deal with the fallout of this mess that they did not create.</em></p>
<p></p><a href="http://www.zacks.com">Zacks Investment Research</a><br />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/g-20-statement-part-1-analyst-blog/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Global Recession Puts Golf Industry Deep in the Rough</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/global-recession-puts-golf-industry-deep-in-the-rough/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/global-recession-puts-golf-industry-deep-in-the-rough/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Don Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrea Sartori;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AT&T]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Britain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Building Materials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camilo Villegas;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Champions Tour Ginn Championship;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contrarian profits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David  Beckham;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Denver]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dromoland;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dublin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dublin's 
Luttrellstown Castle;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EUR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[George W Bush]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[golf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gross Domestic Product]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guangzhou]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hong Kong]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illinois]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IMG;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ireland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jack Nicklaus;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ladies Professional Golfers Association;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Libertyville;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lumber Co .;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mark Nolan;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morgan Pressel;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Golf Foundation;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northern Trust]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northern Trust Open;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pennsylvania]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PGA tour]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Professional Golfers Association;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real estate slump]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rick Jacobson;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Riviera Country Club;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert  Allen Stanford;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Burns;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RYDER]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ryder Cup;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Simon Brown;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stanford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stanford Financial Group;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the 250th anniversary of the birth of national poet 
Ro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tiger Woods Foundation;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tiger Woods;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. Securities and Exchange  Commission]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Kingdom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Victoria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vijay Singh;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wall street]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.contrarianprofits.com/?p=14016</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[pThe global economic meltdown has struck golf industry, dragging on tourism and travel, delaying golf course construction, and curbing club membership rolls./p
pNow, even the crown jewels of the sport – the a href="http://www.pga.com/" target="_blank"Professional Golfers Association/a (PGA) and a href="http://www.lpga.com/" target="_blank"Ladies Professional Golfers Association/a (LPGA)  – have been tarnished by financial scandal and sponsorship defections/p
pThe most recent scandal to hit Wall Street had PGA Tour players concerned about more than just tournament highlights as they teed off Thursday at the a href="http://www.northerntrustopen.com/" target="_blank"Northern Trust Open/a at a href="http://www.therivieracountryclub.com/html/index.cfm" target="_blank"Riviera Country Club/a in Los Angeles./p
pMany tour members at Riviera were struggling to comprehend the potential implications of the financial scandal involving tournament sponsor a href="http://www.stanfordfinancial.com/" target="_blank"Stanford Financial Group/a, and that  company’s chairman, a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Stanford" target="_blank"Robert  Allen Stanford/a./p
pAs reported by strongemMoney  Morning/em/strong on Friday, the a href="http://www.sec.gov/" target="_blank"U.S. Securities  and Exchange#8230;/a/p]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/global-recession-puts-golf-industry-deep-in-the-rough/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Donald Coxe – Have commodities started to outperform?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/donald-coxe-%e2%80%93-have-commodities-started-to-outperform/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/donald-coxe-%e2%80%93-have-commodities-started-to-outperform/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:36:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Prieur du Plessis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank banks;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Banking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brazil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Britain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Citibank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cnn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CRB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Rosenberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dennis Gartman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[donald coxe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dow 30]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food preparation;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global warming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gold mining stocks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[helpful tools;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ibd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investment Banks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investors business daily]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Korea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Las Vegas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lehman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[life-support systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[metal ores;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monstrous products;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nevada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Year's Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nouriel roubini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oecd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil And Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil and gas transports;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil breaking;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil contango;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil demand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil stocks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rahm Emanuel;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ranked group;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[retail and wholesale food;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Royal;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[S&P]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Senate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow storm;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solar energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sovereign Wealth Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The  good news;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trafalgar Square;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Kingdom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USDA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VIX]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wall street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[webcast site;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[White House]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[William Herschel;]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.investmentpostcards.com/2009/02/12/donald-coxe-%e2%80%93-have-commodities-started-to-outperform/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This post features a transcript of the latest webcast by Donald Coxe. He has recently resumed his weekly audio commentaries and the link to this is also provided.

Please visit my website (by clicking on the heading above) for the full article, as well...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/donald-coxe-%e2%80%93-have-commodities-started-to-outperform/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How ‘Contango’ Can Guide You To Profits In Oil Market</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/how-%e2%80%98contango%e2%80%99-can-guide-you-to-profits-in-oil-market/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/how-%e2%80%98contango%e2%80%99-can-guide-you-to-profits-in-oil-market/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:13:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Contrarian Profits</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Argentina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Citigroup Inc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contrarian profits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Frontline Ltd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goldman Sachs Group Inc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heidmar Inc.;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[insurance costs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J. Aron & Co;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Keith Fitz-Gerald]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morgan Stanley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Options ' Paul Forchione;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return ETF;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Phibro LLC;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tanker group operator;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Teekay Corp.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The United States Oil Fund LP;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. Gulf Coast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[veteran trader;]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.contrarianprofits.com/?p=12069</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[pstrongKeith Fitz-Gerald/strong says investors have the chance to profit from the contango phenomenon in oil markets. The implied higher future oil prices mean an opportunity to buy oil-related ETFs now at a bargain price. For a safer option, Keith picks two oil transportation companies that pay healthy dividends./p
pThis from a href="http://www.moneymorning.com"  class="alinks_links"Money Morning/a:/p
blockquotepMany investors have given up on oil, fearing that a fall from grace precludes a rise in price from the ashes. But it’s worth noting that the oil markets are right now in a rare state of  ’super contango,’ which suggests that the markets expect far higher prices by next year./p
pHere’s what you need to know./p
pIn case you’re not familiar with the term, ‘a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contango"contango/a‘ denotes a normal and very specific condition#8230;/p/blockquote]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/how-%e2%80%98contango%e2%80%99-can-guide-you-to-profits-in-oil-market/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Repsol, Lukoil and Sacyr Vallhermosa Also Try Their Hand At Happy Families</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/global-economics/repsol-lukoil-and-sacyr-vallhermosa-also-try-their-hand-at-happy-families/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/global-economics/repsol-lukoil-and-sacyr-vallhermosa-also-try-their-hand-at-happy-families/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:14:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Edward Hugh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acciona SA;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ACS;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aigues;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Angel Romero;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Argentina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bancaja;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank asset acquisitions;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank assets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank bailout]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank of Spain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank support;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barcelona]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brazil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[British Airports Authority;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[British Airways]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bulgaria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Calyon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catalan savings bank;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catalonia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Colonial (10.086 billion euros) Realia;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[communications system;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[construction giant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corriere della Sera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Criteria Caixacorp;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Criteria fall;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[December and January;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dollar bank-bailout;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edward Hugh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EFE;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eiffage;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[El Economista;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[end-September;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Endesa SA;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Enel SpA;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ERG SpA;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EUR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[euro bank loan;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Central Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Expansion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[external buyer;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Communications Commission]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fenosa;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fernandez Ordoñez;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fiscal and monetary policy tools;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gatwick airport;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gbp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Glasgow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goldman Sachs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hsbc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HTML]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iberia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IBEX 35]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Shuvalov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Monetary Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Italy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Italy's Enel SpA;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Itinere;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jose Luis Zapatero;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jose Manuel Entrecanales;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[La Caixa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London's Gatwick airport;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lukoil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Madrid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mediobanca;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Metrovacesa;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michel Camdessus;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miguel Sebastian;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[much banks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natixis;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nicolas Villen;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[OAO Lukoil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil majors means;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peru]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ppstrongAnd As Spain's Government;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[present oil reserves;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[property developer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[property group;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Urbis;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renta SA;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Repinves;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Repsol YPF;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Respol;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reyal Urbis;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Romania]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RUB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sacyr Vallhermosa;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergey Ignatief;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spain Incorporated]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spain's Economy Ministry;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spain's Fund for Acquiring Financial Assets;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spanish government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spanish Senate;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. Petersburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stanstead airport;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[State Credit Institute;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tremon;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.K. Competition Commission;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Kingdom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unlisted savings bank;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urbis;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VEOLIA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991369883287712098.post-8095413603097220572</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /blockquote“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”br /Tolstoy/blockquotebr /Well this strongis/strong an interesting little fable of modern family life, even if all the families involved may not be ones which many of my readers would normally wish to belong to.br /br /As is now reasonably well know Russian private oil company Lukoil is currently making a bid for the shares in Spanish energy company Repsol which are owned by the deeply indebted Spanish property company Sacyr Vallhermosa.br /br /Shares in what is Spain's fifth biggest builder, and which currently occupies the somewhat ignominious position of being Spain's worst-performing stock this year, jumped the most in two years last Thursday (20 November) on reports they were about to sell their 20 percent stake in Repsol YPF to the Russian oil company OAO Lukoil. Sacyr, which said last week it was in talks over the possible sale of the stake, rose as much as 14 percent after EFE newswire identified Lukoil as a possible bidder. Lukoil is also reportedly willing to buy a further 9% of Respol stock owned by Criteria Caixacorp, the investment company established by Catalan savings bank La Caixa.br /br /In fact Sacyr spent 6.5 billion euros building up their the Repsol holding, between October and December 2006, paying an average of 26.71 euros a share for the stake. It is estimated that the proposed sale of the shares may fetch 20 percent to 30 percent more than their current market value of 4.9 billion euros. To give an idea of what this means, we might bear in mind that Repsol shares closed in Madrid on Thursday at 13.61 euros, and rose 2.3% on Friday, while the Spanish newspaper El Economista reported that Lukoil was offering Criteria and the other shareholders 28 euros a share for the combined stake which constitues just under 30 percent of Repsol. An offer at this price would value the combined stake at about 10.2 billion euros, and would mean that Sacyr would walk away covering their initial investment almost completely, which in these hard times must seem almost incredible. I mean, you might like to ask yourself just why it is that Lukoil is able and willing to pay so much. Certainly Russian investors were asking just this very question since Lukoil shares dropped on the news - falling 4.6 percent to 778.74 rubles on the Micex stock exchange in Moscow on Friday (for my explanation of the apparent analogy more on this topic below).br /br /But before going further there is perhaps one other little detail which is worth including at this point, and that is that since the combined stake of Sacyr and Criteria falls just short of the 30% mark which would give Lukoil effective control of the energy company (and make it obligatory to make a takeover offer to the other shareholders I think) it should not surprise us to find that the midewives of the deal are busy trying to identify those extra few shares which would push Lukoil over the 30% stake mark, and various names are being bandied around - like Mutua Madrileña (who have a two percent stake) or even La Caixa itself, since they effectively control another 6.1% of Repsol through their subsidiary company Repinves.br /br /strongIt's The Income Balance That Matters, Silly!/strongbr /br /Now before we go into all the gory little details as to why exactly it is that Sacyr Vallehermosa find themselves so pressed to sell, perhaps a little of the background macroeconomics would not go amiss here.br /br /Basically, as I a href="http://spaineconomy.blogspot.com/2008/11/spanish-crisis-in-nutshell.html"explain in more detail in this post/a, the principal problem facing Spain's economy at the present time is financing the large external deficit, which has been running at around 8-9,000 million euros a month (8 to 9 billion in anglo saxon language, or around 10% of GDP) for most of this year. This deficit was previously financed by an inflow of mortgage funding when external investors were willing to supply this, but since these investors became increasingly nervous following the US sub prime turmoil in August 2007, Spanish banks have had problems funding the deficit (and funding mortgages) as we have been seeing via the dramatic slowdown in the Spanish economy that this reluctance to lend has produced.br /br /Now.......br /br /The principal way to resolve this external deficit is to have a major macroeconomic correction such that exports start once more to be larger than imports, but this process is a huge and painful one, and it is not surprising that the patient, lead by the country's government, and the prime minister, is extremely reluctant to enter the operating theatre. So we struggle on, month by month, but the monthly deficit still has to be paid. And this is where the sale of Repsol to Lukoil comes in. The issue is not that Lukoil being a non-Spanish company is a disadvantage (which is why the a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iAkHk7fw1xGSq1kl9YDf6ge3eepA"sort of criticism of the proposed deal which is coming from the PP/a is also completely out of touch with reality), but rather that it is absolutely essential to find an external buyer to raise more liquidity for the Spanish banking system, and if no other bidder is in a position to pay Sacyr what they need to make the sale viable for them, then Lukoil it is, "por las buenas o por las malas", as they say in Spanish. When you are up against the wall, and the only question is "do I shoot you today or tomorrow", the answers you give are not always coherent and well-thought-out ones.br /br /However, just how dangerous trying to handle the Spanish problem in this way actually is, can be seen from the fact that one of the country's flagship companies is effectively being sold off for less than two monthly installments on the current account deficit (the August deficit was 6 billion euros). The problem really is that Sacyr has to sell (see more details below) but there is no ship left among what used to be called the "new Spanish armada" who still has the creditworthiness needed to be able to buy. Gas Natural (who were one of the last stalwarts) had their Long-term Issuer Default rating of 'A' and Short-term IDR of 'F1' placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch last July after they announced they would need a new 19 billion euro syndicated loan to finance their acquisition of a sizeable chunk of energy company Fenosa from another debt laden Spanish construction giant ACS.br /br /Essentially going about things in this way eventually becomes totally unsustainable. Let me explain a little more. It is important to understand that the external accounts of a country are divided into two parts - a current account and a financial account - rather like the finances of a houshold can be divided into long term and a short term components like the acquisition of a property and the monthly mortgage installments which finance it. Well basically the structure of national financing isn't that different. Spain Incorporated can raise funds on the capital account by selling the shares of Repsol to an external purchaser, but we should never forget that these shares will then pay dividends, and these dividends will subsequently show up on the current account under the monthly income balance heading.br /br /Now normally, in a developed economy, the income balance should hover around the neutral zone, as external investments attract income, while FDI etc from abroad carry associated outflows. Indeed I would say that the normal difference between a developed and a developing economy is in the underlying dynamics of the income section of the current account.br /br /Well......br /br /It is precisely when we come to examine this aspect of the Spanish case that we see the extent of the hole that has just been blown in the flagship's main bulkhead, since the income balance (which was never perfect) has been turning steadily negative (which was only to be expected with all those loans coming in) since the early years of this century, and now runs at a monthly outflow of 3 billion euros, or thereabouts. That is to say, the first 3 billion of any goods and services surplus which Spain eventually does manage to generate will be earmarked to pay interest and dividends on loans and shares previously sold to finance the property and merger boom. So roll your sleeves up lads and lasses, since there is a lot of sweating to be done to work off all this accumulated excess fat. Or maybe you would prefer to try a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liposuction"liposuction/a?br /br /br /pa href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SSkjtZwvxCI/AAAAAAAALh0/wzYdEIMWblc/s1600-h/spain+income+account.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5271784101730305058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SSkjtZwvxCI/AAAAAAAALh0/wzYdEIMWblc/s320/spain+income+account.png" border="0" //abr /br /And of course, the more we go down the road of selling off the country's underlying assets (and, of course there is plenty more to come here, see below on Acciona, Endesa and Enel, or think of the recent agreement to sell Iberia to British Airways due to Caja Madrid's urgent need for liquidity - Caja Madrid is Iberia's largest single shareholder) to pay for petrol for all the SUVs we have been buying with the loans we sold, the worse the long term position becomes.br /br /br /strongSacyr In Danger Of Having To Make Firesales/strongbr /br /Rumours have been growing in investor circles of late that Sacyr Vallehermoso could be in such a tight financialcorner that it may forced into fire sales as time passes, if it fails to find buyers for assets it has put on offer to try to cover the massive debts it has hanging over it. Sacyr's share price has lost 69 percent of its value since the beginning of the year - as compared to a 39-percent slump in Spain's main IBEX stock index.br /br /br /Like many Spanish builders, Sacyr borrowed heavily during the final years of the boom in an attempt to diversify out of residential property as the nine-year-long domestic housing boom clearly started to wind down. But as in so many other cases, those who buy near the end of a wave buy dear, and risk, if things don't go right, having to sell cheap, very cheap, unless of course a gleaming white knight in shining armour like Lukoil gallantly comes to your rescue (or is it so gallant, see below). Sacyr had net debt of 18.3 billion euros at end-June, or eight times market value. The ratio of net debt to net equity was 5.3, outweighing peers like Ferrovial at 3.9 and ACS at 1.2.br /br /Sacyr thus announced on September 12 that it was putting assets up for sale, including its toll road unit Itinere and the 20 percent stake it has in Repsol YPF, all part of a major effort to pay down some of the debts. However, outside Lukoil no firm expressions of interest have materialized, and analysts are suggesting that this is because the prices being asked are far too high, as evidently it is hard to get good prices for assets in a bear market accompanied by a credit crunch. But this raises of course, the not simply incidental issue of why exactly it is that Lukoil is willing to pay so much over the going market rate, but we will get to that part later./ppSacyr did have around 347 million euros of debt maturing in the second half of 2008, but they have so far managed to refinance this, although there are somewhere in the region of another 2 billion euros worth set to expire in 2009, and worries about the difficulties which are likely to be associated with this process during the deep recession which Spain is now entering are putting a lot of pressure on the company.br /br /br /Sacyr has been attempting to cover next year's debt haemorrage using a mixture of renegotiation, housing sales, dividend payments and the possible sale strategic assets, like its road toll unit Itinere. Citi infrastructure fund had been reported to be showing some interest in a possible purchase of Itinere, but there has been no concrete evidence of progress.br /br /Press reports and analysts say the asking price for Itinere is in the region of 3.9 billion euros plus debt, and this sum is 400 million euros greater than the value of Itinere's failed initial public offering last April. Analysts tend to be rather dismissive of this kind of approach in the present climate./pblockquote"They were unable to do an IPO at 3.5 billion euros and four months later theybr /want to sell it for 3.9 billion? It's a joke," said an analyst at a major bankbr /who asked not to be named./blockquotepbr /Apart from the asking price there are also clauses in existing Itinere loans that require a renegotiation of terms if it changes ownership, which also are reported to present a stumbling block to any Citi-type deal.br /br /br /But the main problem which Sacyr faces right now is the current performance of Repsol itself, since the 5.1 billion euro bank loan which partially funded their purchase of the Repsol stake was guaranteed with Repsol shares, and on a margin trade basis. So when Repsol's share price falls, Sacyr must stump up more guarantees, putting further strains on the group's liquidity. And, of course, Repsol shares have been having a very hard time of it recently, evening fell by as much as 20 percent in a single day on October 22 over concerns about the energy company's exposure to Argentina, which is itself getting into ever deeper water with the international investment community: a further Argentine default would be the last thing that Repsol (and naturally Sacyr) need right now. Subsequently Repsol stock has regained some of the lost ground (and is now trading at around 15 euros) but this is still a far cry from the 26.7 euros a share Sacyr paid in 2006.br /br /Sacyr has so far pledged 40 percent of its rental property business Testa as additional collateral for debt taken out to buy the Repsol stake, and Goldman Sachs in a recent note suggest that as long as Repsol's share price remains above 12.9 euros per share, Testa will cover the collateral under current terms, but in Sacyr's present state that is a very wobbly if. And if Testa shares become no longer sufficient, then Sacyr will have to reconvene with banks to discuss alternative collateral, and this they need like a hole in the head, hence all the haste and attention being lauded on the Lukoil suitor.br /br /Analysts are agreed the longer it takes to sell assets to shore up its balance sheet, the more worrying Sacyr's borrowing levels will become and the greater the risk of fire sales.br /br /br /Spain's leading water company Aigues de Barcelona (Agbar) has also expressed an interest in the water division of Valoriza part of Sacyr's environemntal division. Valoriza is valued at around 1 billion euros. Agbar and Sacyr do not seem to be in actual talks at the present time, since the sum involved is insufficient to materially change the main problem, and Sacyr is more focused on Itinere and its Repsol stake. The Spanish newspaper Expansion reported that the sale process of Valoriza is being handled by Italy's Mediobanca and that as well as Agbar interest has been shown by Veolia which is a former partner of another Spanish builder - FCC - and operates in the environmental services business in Spain.br /br /Any eventual sale of these units would not be the first such move by Sacyr to keep moving ahead by selling assets, since back in April Sacyr sold its stake in French builder Eiffage, following a bungled takeover bid, and in the process cutting its borrowing by 6 percent.br /br /br /Sacyr representatives also recently met with lenders on its Repsol loan - who are lead by Banco Santander - to discuss the collateral clauses in their agreement. In principle under the original terms of the loan up until December 21 Sacyr have to put up collateral equal to at least 105 percent of the total loan, after that date this figue increases to 115 percent. In addition the interest rate on the loan rises to 1.10 percentage points more than euribor benchmark rates from the present 1 percentage point after the same date, and this is another reason why Sacyr would like to see their Repsol stake turned into history before xmas.br /br /The company has already pledged the maximum amount, 1.275 billion euros, of shares from its property unit Testa Inmuebles en Renta SA allowed under the terms of the loan. Sacyr began using Testa stock in January after Repsol, whose shares were initially assigned as collateral, declined below the 20 euro a share watermark, according to a regulatory filing Sacyr made on January 23 2008. Repsol fell to 12.92 euros on Oct. 28, the lowest in more than five years, and are down 40 percent over the past year. Sacyr has fallen 71 percent this year, the largest fall of any of the 35 most-traded stocks included in Spain's IBEX Index. /ppstrongSo What About Lukoil, Why Should They Be So Interested In Repsol?/strongbr /br /On the face of it the justification for Lukoil's interest in Repsol is not as self-evident as it at first appears, but then little in modern Russia ever is./ppLukoil has itself been struggling from a liquidity crunch back home in recent months, as the price of oil has dropped and lack of investment by the Russian oil majors means that field depletion is leading to ever lower levels of domestic output. Indeed the price of Urals crude, which is Russia's principal export blend, was down 68 percent from the July peak last week, hitting the "bargain basement" level of $44.80 a barrel./ppLukoil, which already owns refineries in Bulgaria and Romania, agreed in June to pay 1.35 billion euros to buy into an Italian refinery with partner ERG SpA. Lukoil, which has $1.9 billion in debt and loans scheduled to mature this year (although obligations will drop to $609 million in 2009 and $525 million in 2010) had only $1.66 billion in available cash at the end of June. So what is going on here?/ppWell, as I have said, Russia is facing its own credit crunch and construction slump, and as a result Vladimir Putin did recently introduce his own $180 billion dollar bank-bailout and loan guarantee scheme. Could it be that Lukoil want, in some shape and form or another, to take advantage of this potential funding to acquire the Repsol stake? Well, there are reasons for imagining that there might be a very strong incentive we haven't yet touched on for them to do just this. The principal reason among such reasons (or the bitter and compelling inner logic of the issue) was basically put under the spotlight by the recent announcement (and large gaffe) made by central bank Chairman Sergey Ignatief when he said that Russia's currency (aka the ruble) had a "certain tendency toward weakening'' . Since the ruble normally trades in a tighly controlled trading band this widely interpreted as meaning that the ruble is about to be devalued, and while estimates of the extent of the devaluation vary, something in the 15% to 20% range would be a good guess, I think./ppViewed in this light, a loan of some 6 or 7 billion euros (denominated in rubles) under the Putin bank bailout and credit guarantee scheme wouldn't look to be too bad a proposition, especially if it was subsequently to be repaid in rubles following a substantial devaluation. (I mean I don't think I will get here into any rather Machiavellian type of speculation about how a hypothetical demand for 7 billion euros from the central bank foreign exchange reserves - which are of course a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=aR_rE_uKvhts"under considerable pressure right now/a - would effectively constitute a very large "devaluation put", and offer us all the hallmarks of being a self-fulling declaration of intent). And don't start imagining that such an idea is very far fetched, since IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus effectively had to resign at the end of the 1990s following continuing scandals about IMF support loans being diverted into currency speculation. And that such activity is not entirely dead in today's Russia was confirmed by last week's threat by a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=aTZFxMOewjZU"First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov/a that Russian banks who convert government aid into foreign currency rather than lending to troubled companies would risk losing access to state funding . /ppObviously, in addition to any incidental gains they may make in the forex markets, Lukoil would also gain access to Repsol's extensive refining capacity - 1.23 million barrels a day according to their website - which includes five refineries in Spain, three in Argentina and one in Peru. Repsol also has holdings in another refinery in Argentina and two more in Brazil. And indeed the deal has a certain logic from the Repsol point of view, since the tie-in with Lukoil would give access to Russian supplies while the company currently relies on South America for about 95 percent of its present oil reserves. But then, as is normally the case, nothing in life ever comes free, and in this case the strings attached are important ones, very important ones./ppstrongSpain's Builders Up To Their Eyes In Debts/strong/ppbr /Obviously Sacyr is far from being alone in its current "tight fix". Acciona SA, is another Spanish builder struggling under the weight of a growing mountain of debt. Acciona came to international prominence when it bought joint control of power company Endesa SA last year together with Italy's Enel SpA. Well, the Madrid-based builder said July 30 that first-half net income fell 15 percent to 314 million euros as the takeover had increased debt costs, with Acciona net debt rising to 17 billion euros in Q2, up from 10 billion euros a year earlier. Acciona has recently stated it is in talks with creditors in an attempt to refinance the debt it contracted to make the purchase of the Endesa stake, but strongly denied that it has already committed to selling the stake in 2010. This denial followed a report on Spanish financial website El Confidencial that Acciona has assured its creditors that it will exercise an option it has to sell the 25 percent stake in Endesa to Italian partner Enel in 2010.br /br /Despite the denial the decision to sell would be a logical one, and appears as if it may well form part of an agreement Acciona have reached with a group of banks lead by Banco Santander not to link Endesa's share price to the collateral required for the 7.1 billion euro in loans it received for the stake buy, as previously agreed. The 2 loans were due to have expired on 31 December 2012, but Acciona was obviously anxious to get the conditions changed./pblockquote"Acciona has not committed to exercising the March 27, 2010 put option but thatbr /does not mean that the company will not exercise it on that date or at a laterbr /date," the Spanish builder said in a statement to the stock market regulator. /blockquotepUnder the previous contract Acciona needed to give additional guarantees in the case that Endesa stock fell below 25 euro per share and this had been the case since October 6. Such guarantees -or margin calls - disappeared under the new contract. In exchange the new contract increased interest rates on the entire sum of the debt - doubling the premium when compared with the previous rate of 60 basis points over Euribor. Thus we find ourselves in exactly the same position vis-a-vis margin calls as Sacyr has with Repsol. The 21 syndicated banks behind the principal Acciona loan include Santander, ING, La Caixa, RBS, Caja Madrid, Calyon and Natixis, and the loan effectively financed the original 25 percent stake that Acciona took in Endesa following a 42.5 billion euro bidding contest in alliance with Italy's Enel which currently owns some 70 percent of Endesa. At the time Enel and Acciona came out in front of competing bids from Germany's E.ON EONG.DE and Catalonia-based Gas Natural.br /br /br /Back in July the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that Enel was in talks to buy out Acciona for 10 billion euros, adding the point that any such deal would needs the approval of Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Zapatero - so Zpt is going to be busy, a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=aUXnCHZ4Tqc0"since he has already flown to St Petersburg/a. Corriere also suggested that Endesa's development was currently being paralysed by an ongoing dispute between the two principal shareholders. The paper stated that there was an urgent need to find a solution to overcome the repeated obstacles raised over Endesa board decisions by Jose Manuel Entrecanales, who is chairman of both Acciona and Endesa. Enel has plans to expand Endesa outside of Spain, while Acciona is simply looking to sell its stake to pay down some of its 18 billion euros of debt, according to the paper.br /br /Valuation of Acciona's stake in Endesa depends on valuation of Endesa's wind power generating plants, which Acciona would like to acquire. Any finally agreed exit price for Acciona would also need to take account of the put option it holds to sell the Endesa stake by October 2010 to Enel at a price of 10 billion to 12 billion euros.br /br /br /Meantime another Spanish building dynosaur - Ferrovial - labours on with its heroic attempt to try to sell its Stanstead airport holding in the UK - but at least in this case the asset being disposed of does not form part of Spanish national patrimony. The Spanish builder that spent $20 billion buying the British Airports Authority is taking longer than anticipated to sell London's Gatwick airport because of the global financial crisis, according to its Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Villen. /pblockquote``It's difficult to say where we are in this crisis,'' Villen said in anbr /interview in New York late on Nov. 14. ``In this financial crisis it will alwaysbr /be more difficult for potential bidders of this asset to obtain financing. So Ibr /think it's going to be a lengthier process than usual.''br //blockquotepBAA currently provides poor service and has failed to plan for extra capacity, according to a recent report from the U.K. Competition Commission, adding a recommendation that the company be stripped of the capital's Gatwick and Stansted airports and either Glasgow or Edinburgh in Scotland. Both Heathrow and Gatwick had a drop in traffic of about 0.5 percent in the first nine months of the year, described by Villen as a "moderate decline" when compared with earlier economic crises, when traffic fell by 3 percent or more. /ppFerrovial had a third- quarter loss of 17 million euros, which compared with a year earlier profit of 49.6 million euros. The company's total debt fell 5.4 percent from a year earlier to 28.6 billion euros in September.br /br /Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (or FCC) - Spain's third largest builder - on the other hand had net debt of 8.51 billion euros at the end of the first quarter, 54 percent more than a year earlier, and up from 7.97 billion at the end of 2007./ppstrongAnd It's The Same Picture Among Property Developersbr //strongbr /Spanish property group Tremon last week became the first major property developer to follow in the footsteps of a href="http://spaineconomy.blogspot.com/2008/07/spanish-builder-martinsa-fadesa.html"Martinsa Fadesa/a, and file for administration after failing to meet debt payments, causing a fall in the shares of those banks which have total exposure of around 1 billion euros to the company. Tremon is thus the second large Spanish property group to seekbr /administration this year following the July decision of Martinsa Fadesa. Among Tremon's biggest creditors are Banco Popular, which has an exposure of around 200 million euros exposure, unlisted savings bank Bancaja with 100 million and Banco Pastor which has 95 million. /pblockquote"Our debt is up to 1 billion euros, and more than 90 percent is held by abr /pool of 16 banks. Administration was filed last thing on Friday," saidbr /lawyer Angel Romero, who is acting as Tremon's spokesman./blockquotepOther Spanish property companies with large debts are Metrovacesa (6.991 billion euros), Colonial (10.086 billion euros) Realia (2.26 billion euros) and Reyal Urbis (4.672 billion euros)br /br /br /Spanish property firm Metrovacesa recently stated they expect to meet the terms of a 3.2 billion euro syndicated loan by the end of the year. At the end of September, Metrovacesa's core earnings were 2.13 times its financial costs, below the minimum limit of 2.25 times the company is obliged by creditors to meet by the end of 2008. Among other conditions attached to Metrovacesa's 3.2 billion euro loan is that the company maintain its 6.9 billion euros of debt at no more than 55 percent of asset value. The company said its debt stood at 54.4 percent of assets on Sept. 30 when it published its third-quarter results. If Metrovacesa does not comply with the conditions of the syndicated loan, the banking syndicate can order its immediate repayment and order the company to talk to its creditors.br /br /Spanish stock market regulator CNMV last week requested Metrovacesa to provide it with details on where it stands with repaying the syndicated loan, as well as with refinancing 810 million pounds worth of borrowing with HSBC, the money was used to buy the bank's London offices. Metrovacesa stated in reply that the company was still in talks with several financial entities over refinancing the HSBC debt, which falls due at the end of November, but had yet to reach a deal. /ppReal estate company Reyal Urbis also recently reached a deal with creditors to refinance debt of 3.006 billion euros. In a statement to the Madrid stock exchange regulator, Real Urbis stated it had obtained two new credit lines which gave it "the necessary liquidity for its operative management". The new deal refinances two syndicated loans signed in 2005 and 2006 in addition to other loans and debt issues. Under the new financing terms, the company has been able to postpone the next payment on its debt until October 2011 and signed up to twice-yearly payments after that date until 2015. Thus it seems there is a tendency to postpone into the future - to 2011 at least - and then perhaps at that point a critical moment will be reached in all this, assuming that is that it doesn't come before, which if we look at the very dramatic state of the contraction in the Spanish economy is a possibility which certainly can't be excluded./ppIn 2015 - should we get that far - the company will then have to pay off the remaining 40 percent of the debt. One of Spain's largest developers, formed through the merger of Urbis and Reyal in 2007, Reyal Urbis said it had net debt of 5.5 billion euros when it reported its first-half results. /ppAnother Spanish real estate company, Colonial, recently reported a nine-month net loss of 2.475 billion euros after taking charges for plunging asset values. The loss compared to a profit of 356.9 million euros for the same period last year. Group sales for the nine months to end-September dived 23.7 percent to 472.8 million euros, but still the "walking dead" real estate firm managed to put through a debt restructuring in September. Funding banks had previously taken partial control of Colonial earlier this year when some of its shareholders failed to meet obligations. Residential land sales fell by over a half in the fisrt nine months of 2008 and Colonial's net debt stood at 8.975 billion euros as of the end of September. /ppstrongAnd As Spain's Government Sells Bonds......br //strong/ppSpain's government still effectively seems to be in denial about where all of this more or less inevitably leads, and is still trying to keep alive the ailing builders and property developers on an emergency life support ("reanimator") system by selling government debt to guarantee the ever more risky private variant. Thus last Thursday (20 November) the (previously-postposed) first special "reverse auction" was held and the Spanish government bought 2.115 billion euros of bank assets out of a maximum possible of 5 billion euros. Spain's Economy Ministry said a total of 4.562 billion euros of assets had been offered. Spain's Fund for Acquiring Financial Assets (FAAF) held the reverse repo auction for investment grade, 2 year asset-backed-debt issued after Aug 1 2007. It plans to purchase up to a further 5 billion in 3-year mortgage-backed debt in December.br /br /The government has said it plans to buy up to 50 billion euros in bank assets in 2008 and 2009 to provide a market for longer-term bank debt which institutions cannot sell to investors or the European Central Bank. The head of the State Credit Institute (ICO) Aurelio Martinez argued after the auction that some banks may have felt inhibited from participating due to fear of being stigmatised. FAAF received 70 bids worth 4.56 billion euros from 28 banks. Of those, 51 bids from 23 different banks were accepted, the rest were rejected after failing to meet criteria ranging from their size and interest rate to the participation of the bank in lending markets. Questions are being raised by analysts about the effectiveness of the fund given the limits on how much banks can sell, the stigma attached to sales, and the comparative ease of borrowing more anonymously from the European Central Bank./ppThe other side of this particular coin is however the little question of just how all this bank funding is going to be paid for. To some extent this became clearer this week since the day before the auctions the Spanish government previously paid its first visit to debt markets for funds in connection with the programme, and the first programme-specific auction was duly held on Wednesday 19th November. Remarkably the sale generated quite strong demand and even revealed comparatively stable spreads. Indeed demand was such that the Spanish treasury was able to issue 200,000 euros more in debt than initially anticipated in the special 4.4 billion euro sale to cover bank asset acquisitions. /ppThat outcome is especially surprising as it compared with a disappointing demand in a sale of new 10-year German bunds held the same day, and which met fewer bids than the sum issued. Amazingly even the spreads remained stable. Investor appetite may be cautious in view of the high levels of uncertainty surrounding sovereign issues and debt levels over the next few years, and may be showing a preference over debt with a somewhat shorter maturity horizon. Anecdotal evidence (as encountered by the author of the present post) also suggests that many Spanish people may be seeing treasuries as a "safe haven" against a banking system where lack of reliable information makes them nervous about using deposit accounts./ppSpain has said it plans to issue issue up to the full 50 billion euros earmarked for this kind of bank support in public debt (thus raising around 5% of GDP in new debt) over the next two years. Spain's deepening economic problems has caused the spread between 10-year Spanish bonds and the benchmark German bund to widen to 60 basis points in October from 8 bps a year earlier. /ppThe much smaller yield differential on shorter term debt was reflected in a yield of 2.7 percent on the Spanish two-year debt sold on Wednesday which compared favourably with a rate of 2.71 percent in the secondary market the previous day. This paper traded in a band of 2.503/687 on Thursday in the secondary market and its spread against comparative German debt remained steady at 25 basis points. /ppSpain is to hold further auctions December and January to sell bonds and bills. Of course it is not clear who exactly is buying this paper. If it is the Spanish themselves then it will be of little avail (as per the above external financing argument), but Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian did tell Reuters on October 20 that Spain was appealing to Arab sovereign wealth funds to buy the bonds. With what success we have no idea./pp/pp.....strong...The Government Deficit Rises Sharplybr //strong/ppAs a result of all this selling Spain's budget numbers are deteriorating fast and could hit the EU 3 percent fiscal deficit limit as early as by the end of this year, according to a statement from central bank governor Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordoñez before the Spanish Senate last week. The limit itself is only a technicality at this point in time, but it is astonishing to learn that in the space of less than one year Spain will have gone from a budget surplus equal to 2 percent of GDP to a deficit of 3 percent. This is a shift of 5 percentage points in a year, and of course, if this continues into 2009 and 2010, then the debt to GDP levels will start to shoot up rapidly.br /br /Fernandez Ordoñez may well not tell you (a href="http://spaineconomy.blogspot.com/2008/11/fernandez-ordoez-says-no-deflation-in.html"as I say here/a) the whole truth, but he normally does tell you the truth and nothing but the truth, andn he is thus fast becoming one of the main sources of reliable information in what is now a worm-infested Spanish communications system (just as another piece of anecdotal evidence here, I was to have travelled to the Basque Country tomorrow to appear on a regional TV programme about the merger between local cajas Kutxa and BBK, but the programme was cancelled - for the second time now - for the simple reason that the production team could find absolutely no one apart from me who was willing to talk in front of the cameras about this kind of topic. Thus hundred of Tertulias, thousands of empty words, and little in the way of cool clear light on the subject. The wheels of metaphysics turn round and round, but I see no motion in the drive shaft...). Anyway, Fernandez Ordoñez has been quick to pick up on the fact that the government's present forecast of 1 percent growth next year — unveiled just weeks ago in the 2009 budget — is already well out of date and the budget provisions need to be revised accordingly, and on the basis of much more realistic economic forecasts. If they don't start to do this, then the spreads will inevitably only start to rise further and faster as investors get more and more paniky about the actual underlying debt dynamics in the absence of any kind of realistic information./pblockquote"We must make a downward revision of prospects for economic growth in the nextbr /few quarters," Fernandez Ordoñez said. /blockquotepI think everyone now accepts what Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero explicitly said last Thursday: namely that Spain will inevitably exceed the European Union budget deficit limit as it tries to spend its way out of recession. EU budget rules specifically allow for countries to breach the deficit limit of 3 percent during exceptional circumstances, and Zapatero rightly said such conditions existed in Spain, where the economic contraction is about to become much sharper than elsewhere in Europe. /pblockquotep"Whether it (the deficit) goes to 3.5 or 4 or 4.2, we will have to wait to seehow the economy develops," Zapatero said during a press conference. "The Spanish government is not going to resign itself to recession, we're going to try to grow and provide jobs,' he said. "We're going to use the public deficit to keep social promises"/p/blockquoteOf course, Zapatero is right here, Spain does need to use its fiscal leverage - Spain's debt to GDP ratio was around 20 percentage points below the EU average at the start of 2008 - to address the probelms. But just one more time Bank of Spain Governor Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez is also right in urging Zapatero to show some sort of fiscal prudence and hold back some public funds in case (I would say for when) conditions get even worse. Ordonez is explicitly expressing his fears that a focus on short-term, emergency measures, without a total restructuring plan, may rule out deeper structural labour and service market overhaulswhich will be needed in the future to raise competitiveness and promote long-term growth.br /br /I will be even more explict. As I have argued here, and in numerous other posts, the present Spanish depression is being caused by deep-seated structural problems, and not by transitory cyclical ones. Thus, using fiscal policy as if this was simply a classical problem of the business cycle is a big mistake, on my view, and is needlessly using up vital ammunition which will be badly needed to take us through the battlefields which lie ahead.br /br /We are now facing an economic slump of unprecendented proportions in Spain, and more than likely an ongoing problem a href="http://spaineconomy.blogspot.com/2008/11/inflation-is-dead-in-spain-fasten-up.html"of outright price deflation/a. To fight this combination using the traditional fiscal and monetary policy tools simply will not work - they are likely trying to drain an ocean with a teaspoon. We need new tools, fresh thinking, and a complete change of course. And the sooner we get them the better.br /br /Well, this has been a very lengthy post. If anyone else has actually arrived this far, I can simply thank you for your patience and your perseverence. You are undoubtedly the kind of enduring person the new Spain is going to badly need. I hope you have learnt as much in reading this as I have learnt in the doing the background research which was necessary for writing it.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/global-economics/repsol-lukoil-and-sacyr-vallhermosa-also-try-their-hand-at-happy-families/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Despite The &#8220;Sudden Stop&#8221; Kazakhstan Won&#8217;t Be Calling On The IMF For Help</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/global-economics/despite-the-sudden-stop-kazakhstan-wont-be-calling-on-the-imf-for-help-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/global-economics/despite-the-sudden-stop-kazakhstan-wont-be-calling-on-the-imf-for-help-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:17:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Edward Hugh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aberdeen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aberdeen City Council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agreed finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agricultural Products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Almaty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Almaty Mayor Akhmetzhan Yesimov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AO Corporation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AO Kazkommertsbank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arcelor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Astana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Australia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Balkhash smelter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank  sales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank access]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank balance sheets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank creditworthiness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank lending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank reserve holdings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank TuranAlem JSC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank-rescue fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barcelona]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Berlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Borovoye forest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Britain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BTA Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caucasus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Central Asian Republics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central bank data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central bank estimates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central bank holds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central bank notes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Citigroup Inc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Consumer Lender]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[convenience services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[corrosion-resistant steel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CRB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Credit Suisse Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deutsche Bank Ag]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dewey & LeBoeuf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dinara]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dutch government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edil Mamytbekov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edward Hugh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy conference last week]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy producer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eni]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Exxon Mobil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fitch Ratings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food Service Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Frankfurt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gbp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goldman Sachs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[higher oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[higher-value products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iceland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Industry and Trade Ministry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ING Groep NV]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Monetary Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investment Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Italy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JPMorgan Chase & Co.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JSC Alliance Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JSC Halyk Savings Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JSC Kazkommertsbank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kapchagai Lake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Karim Masimov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazakh consulate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazakh government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazakh Prosecutor General's Office]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazakhstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazakhstan government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazakstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazazh government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazkommertsbank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Klara Nurgaziyeva]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kyrgyzstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[KZT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[last central bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latvia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mafia networks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ministry of Industry and Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongolia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moody's Investors Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Bank of Kazakhstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Oil Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[national statistics agency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NFRK]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[northeastern oil hub]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nursultan Nazarbayev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil And Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil and gas condensate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil and gas conference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil field]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil fund revenues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil output]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil production]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Refineries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil reserves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil sector]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil sector—and]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil town]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil-led economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[physical and social infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[process central bank reserves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Provost Peter Stephen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ratings agencies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RBC Capital Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Record Oil Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renaissance Capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Republic of Kazakhstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sailing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samara]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scottish Highlands]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Kuyanov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soviet Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Standard Chartered]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Standard Poors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Switzerland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tajikistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tashkent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TemirBank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the 10th anniversary of the founding of the new capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[time crude oil production]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkmenistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US Census Bureau]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Us Federal Reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uzbek Agency of Work Migration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uzbek government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uzbekistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Western Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[would.be buyers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zurich]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991369883287712098.post-5991203392706626040</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Edward Hugh: Barcelona<br /><br /><br /><blockquote>"The Kazakh government is ready to step in,'' Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim Masimov said this morning <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601095&#38;sid=aYWhYUSe6Fwo&#38;refer=east_europe">in a telephone interview with Bloomberg</a> "The Kazakh banking system with the support of the government and central bank will fulfill all obligations to international investors.....We have our own specific plan to survive without any external support....I don't think we need support from the International Monetary Fund or overseas.'' </blockquote><br /><br />Well that is good news, so at least we know that one of the CIS and CEE economies won't be looking to the IMF for bail-out support in this crisis which is presently growing by the day. So Kazakstan, that country which is reputedly host to reserves of approximately 95% of the elements in the periodic table, with a population of around 15 million housed on a surface area greater than the whole of Western Europe, is going to be able to look after itself. But hang on a minute, just where is Kazakhstan, and just what have they been getting up to over there, and why the hell should I take Karim Masimov's word for it, when just about all the other Iceland Look-alike show contestants seem to be saying the same? After all, didn't those extermely bright and able young people over at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto say in a report only last week that, along with Latvia, the country's $100 billion oil-led economy is among the most vulnerable to the present global credit crisis and the skid-row economic trajectories that go with it simply because of its excessive reliance on short-term foreign borrowing. And isn't it the case that the cost of protecting Kazakhstan government debt against default has more than doubled this month - to over 1,000 basis points (or 10%), the level for borrowers that investors term ``distressed,'' according to CMA Datavision credit-default swap prices. Only Ukraine, which as we know is already seeking IMF support, is classified as being a bigger risk among European emerging-market governments. Surely all those highly dedicated, bright, and extremely able young people who are doing all that trading know what they are about, don't they?<!--more--><br /><br /><strong>Kazakhstan The Country</strong><br /><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_ngczZkrw340/SDM2r7MkCxI/AAAAAAAAFu8/s7k7MH_eScY/s1600-h/kazakh+map.jpg"><img style="center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_ngczZkrw340/SDM2r7MkCxI/AAAAAAAAFu8/s7k7MH_eScY/s320/kazakh+map.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Kazakhstan, officially known as the Republic of Kazakhstan, could with some accuracy be described as "no mans land" since it actually lies between two worlds, straddling as it does both Central Asia and Europe. It could also be described as a form of no-mans land in another sense, since a large part of its historic population has been nomadic, and rural, and up to very recently the majority of the countries urban population have been migrants who have arrived from "elsewhere".<p>Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world by size, it is also the world's largest landlocked country, with a territory of some 2,727,300 km² (which is greater than the whole of Western Europe). It is bordered by Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and China. On the other hand, and despite its enormous size, Kazakhstan has a comparatively small population. No one actually has an exact idea of the actual size of the Kazakhstan population (not to mention the thorny issue of just how many foreign migrants live and work there), but the US Census Bureau International Database list the current population of Kazakhstan as 16.763 million, while sources drawing their data from the United Nations (like the IMF which I have relied on for the chart below) give a 2008 estimate of 15.135 million. In any event the current population level, after falling in the early 1990s as ethnic Russians left, has now stabilised, and is virtually stationary. This virtually stagnant population constitutes, as we will see, a significant problem for a country with such a massive resource base, and such enormous economic and development potential as Kazakhstan would seem to have.<br /><br /></p><p><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_ngczZkrw340/SDF-lbMkCiI/AAAAAAAAFtE/Amr5jkQqNEY/s1600-h/kazak+population.jpg"><img style="center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_ngczZkrw340/SDF-lbMkCiI/AAAAAAAAFtE/Amr5jkQqNEY/s320/kazak+population.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>Record Oil Revenue Boom</strong><br /><br />Kazakhstan is the biggest energy producer in Central Asia and the country's $100 billion economy has in fact grown at an average of 10 percent a year rate since 2000 (see chart below), in particular as the price of oil has surged. This rapid GDP growth produced a rapid increase in per capita income as well as national creditworthiness, and these in turn sparked in their wake a substantial construction boom. Indeed it has precisely been the bursting of this boom in the autumn of 2007 - on the back of the seize-up in global wholesale money markets which followed August's financial turmoil in the USA - which lies at the heart of Kazakhstan's current growth slowdown. Kazakhstan's economy expanded at a 'mere' 5.3 percent rate in the first quarter of 2008, half the pace achieved in the same period a year earlier, following a dramatic curtailment in bank lending, and if Kazakhstan is still able, despite all the problems we will see below, to maintain some sort of growth momentum at this point it is undoubtedly the result of the oil and other commodity resources which the country has at its disposal, and indeed as part of its initial response to the present crisis the country increased crude production by an annual 6.3 percent in the first four months of the year, according to official government data.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_ngczZkrw340/SDLOD7MkCwI/AAAAAAAAFu0/59VrLnUzQeI/s1600-h/kazak+GDP.jpg"><img style="center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_ngczZkrw340/SDLOD7MkCwI/AAAAAAAAFu0/59VrLnUzQeI/s320/kazak+GDP.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Now one of the most curious details about the present slowdown in Kazakhstan, has been the fact that at the very same time as the economy started to lose velocity the central bank found itself busy struggling to curb an inflation rate which was steadily shooting onwards and upwards towards the outer stratosphere, as revenue from record oil prices pushed up domestic demand, and the resulting construction and consumption boom drove up wages far beyond normal "productivity-gain" rates of increase (remember, there are not THAT many people in the country, and much of the population is rural and unskilled in relation to the needs of a modern technological and services economy). In fact inflation hit year-on-year rates of increase approaching 20% in the autumn of last year (see chart below), although it had dropped by to an annual 18.2% by September.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SPupoH1aKEI/AAAAAAAALIk/8XnywiqEf3c/s1600-h/kazakh+inflation.png"><img style="hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SPupoH1aKEI/AAAAAAAALIk/8XnywiqEf3c/s320/kazakh+inflation.png" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />So, as well as containing the property bust, the Kazakh authorities have also had to conduct an inflation fight (more details below). So  far from lowering rates like the US Federal Reserve has been able to do, Karakhstan's central bank was forced to raise the key interest rate to 11 percent in December 2007, at a time when annual inflation was riding at almost 19 percent, the highest for the country in over eight years. The refinancing rate was then maintained at the 11% level until it was finally lowered to 10.5% at the last central bank meeting in July.<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Not Just Energy - Vast Resource Potential</strong><br /><br />The fact that Kazakhstan's industrial output growth has lost a lot of  momentum in 2008 as the slowdown in the building industry provoked a slump in cement and other materials production should not take our minds too far away from the fact that the underlying potential in Kazakhstan is enormous. In fact while industrial output growth was reduced to an annual 3.8 percent growth rate in the January-June period, it was at least still growing.<br /><br />The low point seems to have been hit back in January, when cement production which, not surprisingly, was among the hardest hit sectors, was down 26 percent year on year, the sharpest January fall in five years, as growth in the construction industry stalled, brought to a halt by the fact that the Kazakh banks, who had been struggling to borrow from abroad following the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market, virtually stopped lending to homebuyers and builders. <br /><br />Copper and rolled-iron output also declined an annual 13 percent in January while output from oil refineries and manufacturing industry decreased an annual 2.9 percent as the problems rolled in. Thus there is evidence of a very sharp shock initially hitting the local economy. On the other hand, since the country is resource rich and the given that first half of 2008 saw a very significant global commodities boom, there were other economic sectors to fall back on, and mining production was up 6 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter, bolstered by an increase in natural gas and coal output, which climbed 15 percent and 11 percent respectively. At the same time crude oil production went up by an annual 5.4 percent. <br /><br />Apart from oil and gas Kazakhstan has a huge array of potential resource reserves just waiting to be tapped. Among these there is copper. London-listed Kazakhmys accounts for the bulk of Kazakh copper output - and this was down 17.5 percent year-on-year in January-April. Industrial output in Karaganda region, home to Kazakhmys and Arcelor Mittal mines and smelters, declined 5.5 percent year-on-year in January-April.<br /><br />Kazakhmys reported that their first-quarter output fell 9.9 percent on "severe winter weather'' and repairs at its Balkhash smelter. Production of finished copper plates, or cathodes, from the company's ore fell to 75,500 metric tons, from 83,800 tons a year earlier. These drops in output are, of course not entirely associated with the credit crunch, but they do give an idea of the challenging and volatile environment in which the mining and extraction industries work in Kazakhstan. Realistically speaking it seems quite likely that output in these sectors will return to more normal levels during the second-half of 2008, having alreadt rebounding significantly from the low point reached in the first-quarter.<br /><br />On the other hand industrial output in capital Astana and commercial hub Almaty, where most construction activities are based, was down 13.2 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively, in January-April, and this activity may well take much longer to recover.<br /><br />Kazakhstan has also had to cut its 2008 oil production forecast to 67.6 million tonnes (1.35 million barrels per day) from a previous estimate of 70 million tonnes citing maintenance works and transport bottlenecks. The country is able to produce a lot of oil, but it does have a large problem getting that oil to the places where people want it. Three major pipeline routes - the Atyrau-Samara and Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) links to Russia, and the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline to China - carry Kazakh crude off towards its end destinations, but none of these are proving sufficient to the demands on them.<br /><br /><blockquote>"It is impossible to transport crude out of Kazakhstan without some difficulties," Senior Associate Klara Nurgaziyeva from law firm Dewey &#38; LeBoeuf told an oil and gas conference last week in the Kazakh financial capital Almaty.</blockquote><br /><br />This means output is likely to remain roughly stationary since the country produced 67.5 million metric tons of oil and gas condensate in 2007. Kazakhstan has 3.3 percent of the world's proven oil reserves and 1.7 percent of its gas, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy.<br /><br />Kazakhstan also has around 15 percent of world's uranium, most of which is processed at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Oskemen, a formerly secret city south of Siberia known in Russian as Ust Kamenogorsk. Management at the Ulba plant are currently planning to invest $850 million, 6.5 times the plant's projected annual cash flow - and offering to trade domestic mineral rights to joint-venture partners in China, Japan and Russia in return for the technology they need in a bid to make Kazakhstan the world's biggest supplier of atomic fuel for civilian nuclear reactors. If successful, Kazatomprom would consolidate the market for its 983 million pounds of recoverable uranium deposits, second in importance only to Australia's, and become less reliant on the raw ore's spot-market price by supplying higher-value products needed to fuel the next generation of reactors.<br /><br />However one more time let us not forget the natural environment in which all this is situated, since Kazatomprom's East Mynkuduk mines, which are 1,180 kilometers (733 miles) west of Almaty, lie beneath a semi-desert, where camels idly graze is surface temperatures which range from minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit) in winter to 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) in summer. Kazakhstan is currently uranium ore's third-largest producer, behind Canada and Australia, both of which it plans to surpass by 2010.<br /><br />On top of oil and uranium Kazakhstan also has 38 percent of the global supply of chromites, used to produce corrosion-resistant steel; 22 percent of all lead; and 16 percent of known silver reserves, according to Renaissance Capital, a Moscow-based investment bank. And on top of all that there is its bauxite, copper, iron and gold. Indeed, while it is not entirely true that Kazakhstan is home to 95% of the elements in the periodic table, the statement isn't that much of an exaggeration.<br /><br />But what is obvious if we look at the large swings in output which followed the financial shock of last autumn is that the institutional environment is all important. A simple gung-ho "you've got the reources, we've got the money" investment plan won't work without both serious structural reform and systematic  inward migration, as we have been seeing. Kazakhstan looks in many ways like the United States did in the middle of the nineteenth century, with lots of spare land and huge resources to be developed, but where the "carrying capacity" of the country in a modern globalised economic environment far exceeds the resources of the native and nomadic peoples who constitute the historic population. Above all Kazakhstan needs the skilled labour force to leverage these resources and it needs to management and infrastructural support to make things work.<br /><br /><blockquote>In a smoke-filled bar in the Kazakh financial capital Almaty, the laughter of Scottish ex-pats is loud and boisterous. More than three thousand miles (5,491 km) separate the Scottish Highlands and the Central Asian steppe, but a mutual interest in oil and gas has created a surprising alliance. Residents estimate that around 400 Scots live in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan, a resource-rich country roughly the size of western Europe.<br /><br />Most come from Aberdeen, Britain's northeastern oil hub, and they bring with them their technical expertise."We're going to try attract Kazakhs to Aberdeen over the next few years and look at initiatives, and create further investment in Scotland from Kazakhstan," Lord Provost Peter Stephen of the Aberdeen City Council told an energy conference last week in Almaty. He said over 100 companies from in and around Aberdeen are active in Kazakhstan, and the Scottish oil town even has a Kazakh consulate to serve the hundreds of Kazakhs who go to Scotland to train up for the oil business. The Kazakh-British technical university, set up by a group of Scottish universities seven years ago, occupies a grandiose columned building in the centre of leafy Almaty, which housed parliament before the capital was moved to Astana.</blockquote><br /><br />Despite these evident problems there was, however, no shortage of "ready, willing and able" funding available during the boom, and foreign investment flooded the country after the discovery of the Kashagan oil field in 2000. At the time of discovery it was the largest new field unearthed in 30 years, containing 13 billion barrels of recoverable crude, according to Rome-based Eni, Italy's largest oil company, which is currently contracted to develop the Kashagan field along with Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell .<br /><br />However, the local authorities have not been totally irresponsible with the new found wealth from the commodities boom, and buoyed by the surging prices, Kazakhstan's National Oil Fund has been busily soaking up the government's share of the new petroleum revenue. As of November 2007, it had amassed $20.1 billion, according to central bank data.<br /><br />Kazakhstan is also the world's fifth-largest wheat exporter, and even though on April 15 the government placed a temporary ban on wheat exports in an attempt to control inflation, it made it clear that it would once more allow unlimited grain exports after the ban expired in September (a promise which was subsequently kept).<br /><br />Apart from manpower all these resources also need, as I have been saying, infrastructure, and Kazakhstan is keeping itself busy building roads as well as pipelines. The Kazakh government is currently out looking for investors to build or maintain 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) of roads at a projected cost of 541 billion tenge ($4.5 billion), and doing it in the extremely practical way of accepting financed construction in exchange for operating concessions. One of the planned roads will connect the capital Astana with the regional mining center Karaganda to the southeast, while two more will run from the financial capital Almaty to Kapchagai Lake and Khorgos on the Chinese border. The government also plans to build a ring road around Almaty. The state may build a fifth road from Astana to the Borovoye forest in the north and again seems likely to seek an investor to maintain the road in exchange for operation concessions.<br /><br />The government also plans to upgrade 2,552 kilometers of roads at a cost of 900 billion tenge to create a highway that would allow freight from Chinese manufacturers to be delivered directly to European markets. The first phase of the upgrade will cost 789.3 billion tenge and is scheduled for completion by 2013. A second phase will be finished in 2016. Kazakhstan has announced it already has agreed finance of 472 billion tenge ($3.93 billion) from banks to start the works.<br /><br /><strong>The Financial Sector</strong><br /><br />Banks dominate the financial system in Kazakhstan, accounting for 80 percent of total assets. They are mostly locally and privately owned, although foreign participation has increased recently. The system is highly concentrated, with the largest five banks accounting for 78 percent of market share. Banks are very reliant on external financing, with external liabilities making up about 45 percent of the aggregate balance sheet. Easy access to external funding fueled very rapid domestic credit growth, which expanded at an annual average rate of 70 percent from end-2004 to August 2007, bringing bank credit to around 75 percent of GDP by end-2007. Lending was mainly to the household, trade, and construction sectors (the oil sector is not reliant on domestic banks for its financing).<br /><br />But then, just as the good times were really letting themselves roll, and as does tend to happen with all fairy-tale, too-good-to-be-true-type, stories reality pocked its ugly nose yet one more time into other people's business, and all that lending came to a  "sudden stop", almost as quickly as it had started, and confidence in Kazakhstan's banks suddenly plumetted, as investors got nervous that something similar to what had been going on in the US sub-prime case might have been happening.<br /><br />Or perhaps it was just the speed with which the debt had risen, the speculative nature of a lot of the activity that followed from it, and the front loading of much of the debt towards short term maturities that frightened people. Anyway the consequence was that household deposits contracted sharply during the August–October period while nonresidents sold about $4 billion worth of tenge assets — mostly held in central bank notes — putting in the process significant downward pressure on the value of the tenge.<br /><br /></p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SKxBcSIT4xI/AAAAAAAAHh0/w-ntr_T3zEI/s1600-h/kazak+5a.jpg"><img style="center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SKxBcSIT4xI/AAAAAAAAHh0/w-ntr_T3zEI/s320/kazak+5a.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Credit Downgrades</strong><br /><br />However, at the heart of  the present economc slowdown in Kasakhstan, and just behind the sudden drop in confidence about Kazakhstan's ability to meet its obligations, we should not be surprised to find the construction slump which the imposition of last autumn's credit crunch last gave rise to.  Concern about the rate of Kazakhstan's domestic credit expansion does, in fact, go all the way back to an IMF report of October 2006 which argued that the rapid pace of "credit growth and external borrowing in Kazakhstan was making lenders more vulnerable to external shocks such as a reduction in the availability of financing".<br /><br />As is so often the case,  such early warnings were not heeded, indeed quite the contrary, and when the credit crunch finally did arrive the consequences were always going to be pretty severe. Basically the European wholesale money markets, which had during the boom times been looking so favourably on each and every project which the wonders of the mind made it possible to dream up in Kazakhstan suddenly slammed their doors closed, and a number of local banks, who were in the uncomfortable situation of struggling night and day to try to borrow from overseas financial institutions (just like the Hungarian and Ukrainian banks in the last two weeks), had little alternative but to effectively cease lending to homebuyers and builders in September 2007.<br /><br />Obviously the blame here can be shared out around a number of parties. Domestic authorities who did little to restrain the property and lending boom, and the international investor community who, it seemed, only needed to hear the long list of Kazakhstan's undoubted natural resources to drool and march up to put their money on the table without any kind of serious due reflection as to the serious infrastructural and instititional problems the country was almost bound to have.<br /><br />And when the stop came, it came abruptly. Kazakhstan bank sales of Eurobonds and syndicated loans, which had totaled $8.63 billion during the first eight months of 2007, suddenly plummeted to an estimated $300 million in the three months from October to December. Hence my references throughout this post to Kazakhstan's "sudden stop".<br /><br />And the list of those who had previously been busying themselves arranging the deals for Kazakhstan's banks looks just like a who's who of international finance: New York-based Citigroup Inc., the largest U.S. bank by assets, edged out Amsterdam-based ING Groep NV (you know, the ones who have just been bailed out by the Dutch government), as the top underwriter. New York-based JPMorgan Chase &#38; Co., the third-largest U.S. bank; Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's largest lender; and Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-biggest, were all at the front of the queue.<br /><br /><br />Kazakhstan banks also attracted international equity investors. In November 2006, JSC Kazkommertsbank, Kazakhstan's biggest bank by assets, sold $846 million of global depositary receipts in London. JSC Halyk Savings Bank, majority owned by President Nazarbayev's daughter Dinara and her husband, followed in December with a $748 million sale. JSC Alliance Bank, the country's largest consumer lender, sold $704 million of global depositary receipts in July 2007. All three are based in Almaty, the country's financial center.<br /><br /><br />The outside money helped the country's banks grow their assets 10-fold between 2002 and 2007, to $94.7 billion as of Nov. 1 2007. It also left the banks vulnerable when investors began retrenching.<br /><br />From August through October 2007, $6.8 billion in foreign currency flowed out of the country - 28 percent of the central bank's total reserves. With the country's banks largely shut off from international borrowing, the ratings agencies started to get nervous. Standard and Poor's started the ball rolling by lowering Kazakhstan' foreign currency rating in October. By November the cracks were becoming visible, with the construction industry slowing rapidly.<br /><br /><br />The evolving situation lead to an ongoing series of "reappraisals" of Kazakh bank creditworthiness on the part of the ratings agencies, with Standard and Poor's following its initial October downgrade of the country's foreign currency-denominated debt rating (by one level to BBB-) by a revision on the outlook on Kazakh banks to negative in December. Fitch Ratings also changed its outlook on Kazakhstan's long-term issuer default ratings to negative in December, and even the Kazahstan sovereign rating outlook was revised to negative by S&#38;P in late April 2008.<br /><br />Moody's Investors Service joined the act, and reduced the credit ratings of six Kazakh banks, including TuranAlem, in November because of concerns they wouldn't be able to refinance about $40 billion of international debt. Kazkommertsbank and Bank TuranAlem were cut to Ba1, one step below investment grade. Halyk was lowered to Baa3, the lowest investment grade, while TemirBank dropped to Ba2 from Ba1.<br /><br />In an attempt to stop the haemorrage the government stepped in and provided lenders with almost $11 billion of emergency cash, reducing in the process central bank reserves by almost a quarter. The government also moved to place new limits on local banks' foreign debt (according to the new regulation they will now be able to accumulate only up to a maximum of four times their capital base - beginning July 1, 2009). This move is expected to cut dependence on borrowing from abroad, although as a result commercial lending growth may slow to 13 percent this year according to central bank estimates, possibly reaching as much as 8.22 trillion tenge ($68.4 billion), compared with 7.26 trillion tenge in 2007. However - in a "worst-case-scenario" - the central bank warned that banks may post a 9.5 percent drop in commercial lending in the country this year, should access to foreign capital markets not be made available again.<br /><br />At the same time the Kazakhstan government indicated during the summer that it was prepared to lend $4 billion to banks to ensure liquidity. The banks also were expected to get "about 300 billion tenge ($2.48 billion) of free money" due to a decision to reduce the size of bank reserve holdings with the central bank. The government has also said it will continue to purchase shares of Kazakh companies listed on foreign exchanges until they reach pre-August 2007 levels. Looking at the MCSI Kazakhstan core index, it would seem to me that they still have some distance to travel if this objective is to be achieved.<br /><br /><br />Kazakhstan banks' foreign liabilities rose 490 percent in dollar terms between 2004 and the start of 2008 - to $13.5 billion - as they used their investment-grade ratings to borrow abroad and lend to consumers and real-estate developers, according to CreditSights. This debt has now become impossibly difficult to refinance because of investor wariness about all but the highest-rated debt. Kazakhstan's central bank holds about $20 billion of reserves and the country's oil fund has about $15 billion, so if push comes to shove they should be able to ensure Kazakh banks have sufficient funds to meet their obligations.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SPzuy6ABrwI/AAAAAAAALJE/3jcqvuIX4Q0/s1600-h/kazakh+MSCI.png"><img style="hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SPzuy6ABrwI/AAAAAAAALJE/3jcqvuIX4Q0/s320/kazakh+MSCI.png" border="0" /></a><br /><br />By June, credit-default swaps on Kazkommertsbank had surged to 694 basis points from an earlier 225 basis points, according to CMA DataVision. CDS contracts, which are used to speculate on a company or country's ability to repay debt, increase when perceptions of credit quality worsen. But this was very small beer, and the position has recently deteriorated quite alarmingly, with the cost of protecting bonds issued by BTA Bank, Kazakhstan's biggest lender, have more than doubled in the past month to 3,685 basis points (or 36.85%), while credit-default swaps on AO Kazkommertsbank cost 2,800 basis points (or 28%), according to prices at the time of writing from CMA Datavision.<br /><br /><br />All kinds of assets and revenue flows have been used as collateral in a desparate attempt to secure refinance for the debt, and one of the most innovative examples of this is the package that Bank TuranAlem JSC, Kazakhstan's second-largest lender, put together last October - via ABM Amro and Standard Chartered - to sell $750 million of bonds in a DPR (diversified payment rights) securitisation scheme backed by foreign currency remittances from migrants. The deal is the largest bond sale of its kind ever by a Kazakh bank. The bonds were sold in four portions. Three were guaranteed by bond insurers and carried top ratings from Moody's Investors Service and Standard &#38; Poor's. The other bond, which isn't guaranteed, is rated Baa3 by Moody's, the lowest level of investment grade, and an equivalent BBB- by S&#38;P.<br /><br /><strong>Construction Slump</strong><br /><br /><br />After several years of rapid rises, Kazakhstan property prices are now declining, most notably in Almaty where the prices of existing homes are reportedly down (on IMF estimates) by anything up to 40 percent from their peak. This decline has partly corrected previous overvaluation, although the price adjustment may have further to go, particularly if credit availability and household incomes continue to weaken.<br /><br />As well as the banks, Kazakh homebuyers also found themselves suddenly left out in the cold by the global credit shortage. In Almaty, the Kazakhstan's biggest city, about 30 people were to be seen on March 18 in protest at the hole in the ground which was to be found where their new apartments were supposed to have been. Work stopped on the project after builder AO Corporation Kuat declared it was unable to get further funding.<br /><br />About 29,000 people had prepaid for apartments which were uncompleted when the September squeeze arrived, and credit for Kazakh builders suddenly dried up. More than 140 housing projects were halted in Almaty alone, forcing the government to say it was going to provide $4 billion of emergency funding to get contractors working again. Kazakh construction companies had sold 280 billion tenge ($2.32 billion) of unfinished apartments by September, including 170 billion tenge financed by mortgages, according to government statistics.<br /><br /><br />Homebuyers have been receiving some help from the government, which in March 13 agreed to provide $500 million to help banks finance loans to builders in Almaty, although many are vociferous in saying that the money has not been arriving to them as promised. The governments announced $4 billion emergency investment program also includes funds to purchase 6,000 uncompleted apartments in Astana, the capital. <p>Prices for residential property soared 30.2 percent in 2007, reaching a record average mid-year  high of 161,300 tenge ($1,338) per square meter, up from 123,900 tenge in 2006, according to the Astana-based state statistics agency. In the financial capital, Almaty, the average price was 345,200 tenge.<br /><br />The drop in prices from these peaks and the sudden drying up of credit has caused numerous problems for would.be buyers, and Bank TuranAlem, Kazakhstan's second-biggest bank by assets, received $81.2 million last December from the state emergency investment program simply to finance the completion of unfinished construction projects. <br /><br />The most recent government bailout of the construction sector was announced during the summer - just two weeks before the celebrations of Nazarbayev's 68th birthday and the 10th anniversary of the founding of the new capital Astana on July 6 - following the announcement by a  group representing people who had purchased apartments in the unfinished buildings that they were planning a protest march to be held in Astana bang in the middle of the  official festivities.<br /><br />The Industry and Trade Ministry have said that there were 939 residential buildings, with 45,130 apartments pre-paid by homebuyers, under construction as of last January. Minister Edil Mamytbekov said in July that the cases of 4,558 homebuyers in 18 buildings "remain problematic'' because of conduct for which the builders in question had been "charged with crimes.'' The Kazakh Prosecutor General's Office said 123 construction companies that received 104 billion tenge ($865 million) in pre-payments from homebuyers were behind schedule or haven't even begun work on new apartment buildings.<br /><br />Assets of "careless construction companies,'' including buildings and vehicles, have been seized to compensate lost investments of homebuyers and the government, according to the Prosecutor General's Office. Criminal investigations have been opened into eight companies. A total of 285 companies are building 407 residential projects in Kazakhstan and have received 231 billion tenge in pre-payments from more than 50,000 individuals and companies, prosecutors said. Of 200 ``problem'' projects delayed by at least six months, 110 are located in the capital Astana and 42 in Almaty.<br /><br />The July rumpus was provoked by the fact that at the start of the summer the Kazakh government had spent only 51 billion tenge to complete stalled residential projects, a fraction of the bailouts promised by Prime Minister Karim Masimov in the autumn of 2007, according to data made public by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on June 23. The government had said on Nov. 14 2007 that it would spend $1 billion by the end of 2007 and another $3 billion in 2008 to "provide economic stability and growth'' by supporting the real estate market and small and medium-sized businesses. Following publication of this data, and some international press coverage, Masimov said that his original emergency investment program was in the process of being expanded, and his government announced plans to spend 17.2 billion tenge to complete residential projects in Astana. <br /><br />President Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed the state to step in and finish projects, ``which have no source of financing,'' to ``help to reduce social tension,'' according to Edil Mamytbekov, a deputy minister of industry and trade, on June 20. President Nursultan Nazarbayev  also said it was necessary to take ``tough measures against careless builders". As a result the Almaty mayors office announced on July 26 that another 46.4 billion tenge had been allocated to support residential projects in Almaty. The state had already invested 22.4 billion tenge and was going to spend the remaining 24 billion tenge by year's end, according to the announcement.<br /><br />In April, however, the government had announced that the state development holding Kazyna would distribute 59 billion tenge to commercial banks during 2007 to finish 131 buildings in Almaty. Sergei Kuyanov, spokesman for Almaty Mayor Akhmetzhan Yesimov, declined to comment on the discrepancy between the numbers when question by journalists in July. </p><p><br /><br /><br />Whatever the complications of the present situation and the ins-and-outs of putting the construction and banking problems straight, we should not lose sight of the fact that Kazakhstan has, large financial resources which will surely help it weather the current situation. Official foreign currency assets totaled $46 billion in early June, comprising NBK reserves of $21 billion and oil fund (NFRK) assets of $25 billion. Commercial banks also have foreign assets of which about $3.5 billion are thought to be liquid. Total foreign assets broadly match foreign liabilities when the intracompany debt of the oil sector is excluded, while liquid foreign currency assets comfortably cover potential short-term foreign currency drains.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Favourable Demographics But Migrants Needed, And  With Them Modern Citizenship Rights</strong><br /><br /><br />The chart you will find below is known as a “heat chart”. It depicts the ongoing changes in Kazakhstan's age structure. Each dot represents the number of people in any given age group at any given point in time. A dark red dot represents the largest concentration of people, by age, in a particular year while deep blue dots show the lowest concentrations. A single dark red dot is the equivalent of almost 406,000 people while each deep blue dot represents nearly 23,000 people.<br /><br /><br />In the upper left-hand corner of the chart the bright reds and yellow areas depicts the population boom that started in the mid 1970s and lasted until the late 1990s. The remnants of that boom extend downward from left to right across the chart. The band also narrows as this population segment ages. This is simply a reflection of the reduction in the total numbers in the population bulge cohorts as out-migration  has taken its toll.<br /><br />Many ethnic Germans and Russians, for example, left Kazakhstan during the years following the end of the Cold War. In the lower left-hand side of the chart there is a preponderance of dark blue dots, indicating a relatively small number of people over the age of 60 years. Over time these dark blue dots are replaced by light blues and greens, a pattern reflecting a gradual but steady increase in the number of elderly people.<br /><br /></p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SKxLFHIV0rI/AAAAAAAAHh8/DQxtGVBZGAY/s1600-h/age+structure.jpg"><img style="center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SKxLFHIV0rI/AAAAAAAAHh8/DQxtGVBZGAY/s320/age+structure.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Kazakhstan’s population has fluctuated notably over time, rising during the 1980s and then declining during the 1990s (mainly due to outward migration). A low point occurred in 2001 but population has been rising since, with the upward trend expected to continue through 2020 when total population is projected to reach an all-time high of 16.7 million – reflecting a natural increase of 1.8 million between 1980 and 2020 - before the long run impact of below replacement fertility locks-in, and the population starts to decline.<br /><br />The number of potential workers (those between 15 and 64 years of age) will gradually "peak" - after having increased by a total of 1.9 million between 1980 and 2020 , while the number of those over 60 will nearly double, growing by more than 1 million in absolute terms.<br /><br />The Kazazh government, being aware of the country's enormous resource wealth and the need for a labour force large enough to exploit it, is taking a different view on this situation from its CEE peers, and is actively promoting the idea that the country's population should rise to around 20 million by 2015. Clearly given the fact that Kazakh fertility (1.89 tfr 2007) is already below replacement, and heading downwards, this target is only achievable via significant inward migration. However, while much of Kazakhstan's large surface area is desolate and uninhabitable, the densly populated urban areas currently lack the physical and social infrastructure necessary to accommodate any such lincrease in numbers. So to hit its "optimum" level of economic and social development the country needs both a positive migration policy and substantial infrastructural development in order to be able to adequately accommodate the new population.<br /><br />Migration is nothing new for Kazakhstan, since its "no mans land" type location has meant that it has long been a transit point on the migration route of people back-and-forth between Asia and Europe. Kazakhsytans importance was only enhanced by the fact that historically it was used by Moscow as destination point to which colonists, dissidents, and other minority groups could be sent. Such groups included Volga Germans, Poles, Ukrainians, Crimean Tartars and Kalmyks.<br /><br />Soviet-era policies were also designed to encourage the movement of ethnic Russians to the periphery of the then Soviet Union. As a result, by 1980  Russians had the largest nationality (exceeding even the Kazakh population) , and constituted slightly over two-fifths of the total.<br /><br />After the fall of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan's German population emigrated en masse, lured by better economic prospects, ethnic ties to their original homeland and Berlin’s generous programmes for resettlement. More than a quarter of Kazakhstan's ethnic Russian population returned to Russia during the 1990s, and the departure of such a large number of Russians had a particularly dramatic impact owing to their concentration in key urban areas (particularly in the then capital Almaty) and in specific occupations. In Almaty and a few other cities, Russians significantly outnumbered ethnic Kazakhs; they had their own cultural life, spoke their language freely and never even stopped to learn the local language. They also enjoyed a privileged occupational status, accounting for a disproportionate number of managers, scientists, professors, engineering-technical specialists, and other high-wage, high prestige professions. Filling the gaps created in Kazakhstans human capital resource base by the subsequent exodus of this population now constitutes one of the most important development challenges facing the country.<br /><br />In order to facilitate the rapid population growth the government understands that the country needs, they have, as I say, set targets to increase the population from 15 million in 2005 to 20 million in 2015, including introducing programs for the return migration of 4.5 million ethnic Kazakhs - so called "oralmans" - from neighbouring countries in Central Asia, Turkey, Mongolia, and China. Although 374,000 oralmans have returned to Kazakhstan in recent years, this is not proving to be a hugely successful programme and the bulk of Kazakhstan’s current population growth is rather the result of illegal migration from other neighbouring countries in Central Asia.<br /><br />At the present time the majority of migrant workers coming to Kazakhstan are Uzbeks and Kyrgyz nationals, although the number of Tajik migrants currently  working in Kazakhstan is small in comparison compared with the size of their presence in Russia. Since the mid-1990s, Tajiks have been fleeing their country in significant numbers and the have mainly entered Kazakhstan either as refugees or externally displaced persons. <br /><br />Tajik migrant workers in Kazakhstan are engaged mainly in seasonal agricultural employment. Many of them often work irregularly. According to some sources around 12,000 Tajik citizens were residing illegally in Almaty in 2006. Many Tajiks are working as traders in markets, selling agricultural products.<br /><br />Large numbers of migrants from the other Central Asian countries are drawn to Kazakhstan quite simply because it is easier to move there than it is to move to Russia; xenophobia is much less rife; and the rhythm of economic development makes it very attractive in salary terms. According to official estimates, about 500,000 migrants from other Central Asian Republics work in Kazakhstan. At the CIS summit in October 2007, the Kazakh government distinguished itself by promoting a resolution which involved a  series of legal and social protection measures for migrants.<br /><br /><br />According to a recent study by Marlène Laruelle of the Central-Asia Caucasus institute, more than half of Kazakhstan’s Central Asian migrants are comprised of Uzbeks, while around 200,000 are Kyrgyz and around 50,000 Tajiks. The majority of migrants are concentrated in four regions: Almaty, Astana, Atyrau and southern Kazakhstan. In the first two regions, migrants are chiefly employed in the construction industry, while in Atyrau, several tens of thousands of workers (according to some sources, at least 30,000 Uzbeks) work in the oil industry. In southern Kazakhstan, predominantly Uzbek migrants are employed in the agriculture, especially in cotton fields. In Kazakhstan, a kilogram of cotton pays US$0.40 compared with only US$0.05 in Uzbekistan. As for the Kyrgyz, a large number of them work on tobacco plantations.<br /><br />According to Laruelle, nearly a third of the migrants work in the construction industry, another third in convenience services (the food service industry, small business, home repairs services), and the other third in agriculture. The highest salaries are in the construction sector (about US$200 per month), whereas those in agriculture earn a lot less (about US$80 per month). Although the overwhelming majority of migrants are male, there are now an increasing number of female migrants: in 2002, women made up only 15 percent of Uzbek migrants to Kazakhstan, but by 2004 they were nearly a quarter. Kazakhstan has had labour shortages in sectors largely staffed by women, such as agriculture, the tertiary sector of the food service industry, and domestic services.<br /><br />Central Asian migrations to Kazakhstan can be divided into three categories: daily, temporary, and permanent. The first takes place notably in the border regions of southern Kazakhstan, where an increasing number of Uzbeks commute to work on the Kazakh side of the border during the day, and return home at evening. Regular border closures and administrative complications at customs often trigger tensions among villagers who have become economically dependent on being able to cross the border.<br /><br />The border post at Zhybek Zholy, for instance, is crossed by more than 4,000 Uzbek migrants every day. But for the majority of migrants, leaving for Kazakhstan is temporary. The length of stays thus vary largely depending on available opportunities: mostly they last between two and eight months, with construction work being seasonal, mainly in spring and summer, and while work tends to be concentrated in the autumn. Many hope to return to their own countries after accumulating sufficient capital to construct a house or start up a small business. However, there are a growing number of migrants who decide to stay on a permanent basis. Between 1999 and 2004, more than 130,000 Uzbeks, drawn by higher living standards (an average Uzbek salary is around US$40 dollars, compared to 250 in Kazakhstan), moved to Kazakhstan permanently.<br /><br />The Kazakh authorities are fully aware of the size of the migratory phenomenon and do nothing to actively resist these flows. Indeed the government has stated on multiple occasions that its citizens are not in competition for the work done by migrants because the latter fill a specific social niche, as they tend to take the poor paying jobs normally refused by Kazakhstani citizens. The authorities nevertheless are seeking to reduce illegal immigration and to encourage legal migration.<br /><br />Thus, in 2006, the Minister of the Interior finally legalized 164,000 migrants from other CIS countries, despite having initially announced that the number would be only 100,000. Out of these, nearly 120,000 were from Uzbekistan, 23,000 from Kyrgyzstan, 10,000 from Russia and nearly 5,000 from Tajikistan. Astana’s open policy on migration has also led to the naturalization of many migrants: in 2005, more than 20,000 persons were granted Kazakhstani citizenship, three-quarters of these from Uzbekistan, 10 percent from Kyrgyzstan, and 5 percent from Tajikistan.<br /><br />Although migratory relations between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are good, managing migratory flows between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has proved more difficult. Tashkent refuses to acknowledge the scale of the phenomenon. The Uzbek state has a monopoly on the legal dispatching of workers abroad, meaning each migrant is obliged to obtain official authorization from the Uzbek Agency of Work Migration. Since 2006-2007, the Uzbek government has also sought to hive off some of the financial flows of its “Gastarbeiters”. According to a government resolution “On registration of citizens seeking employment abroad”, Uzbek labor migrants have to come back to Uzbekistan, go through registration and pay customs dues before returning to work abroad. As a result, the majority of Uzbeks leave without legal permission and thereafter are unable to seek protection from their home state. This situation promotes human trafficking and the organization of mafia networks by recruiters who go from door to door asking for volunteers to work in Kazakhstan.<br /><br />Working conditions for Central Asian migrants in Kazakhstan are still relatively poor, a fact which is not that surprising given the kind of work they do. And legislation dealing with all this immigration continues to be largely inadequte, being light on penalties for those employers who abuse the system while failing to guarantee minimum social rights for newly arrived migrants. <br /><br /><br /><strong>Main Risk Factors</strong><br /><br />Returning now to the economic front, and to Karim Masimov's assurance, the principal short-term risks to Kazakhstan's slow landing would seem to be threefold: (i) a prolonged period of tight conditions in global financial markets; (ii) a substantial drop in oil prices and other commodity prices, and/or; (iii) a major domestic event that triggered a loss of confidence in the banks. All or any of these could easily cause a process which was now largely under control to become much less so.<br /><br />Looking forward, growth is expected to remain relatively subdued. Assuming limited bank access to external financing and only modest deposit growth, credit within the economy is likely to decline in real terms. Nonoil GDP growth is forecast by the IMF to slow to 4.7 percent this year, from 9.2 percent in 2007, with spillovers from the oil sector partly mitigating the impact of the credit crunch. Oil output should support somewhat stronger overall growth of close to 5 percent in 2008. A strengthening in growth to 6.25 percent is projected next year assuming global financial conditions improve and pressures on bank balance sheets are reduced. The current account is even projected to move into surplus in 2008, following the large deficit last year, due to higher oil and commodity prices and much slower import growth. With banks repaying debt, the external debt/GDP ratio is projected to fall sharply this year, and appears to be on a sustainable path under a range of scenarios, while the overall government budget surplus is projected to increase to 6.75 percent of GDP in 2008 due to strong oil revenue growth.<br />Exchange rate stability is a central policy objective of the NBK. At present, exchange rate stability is viewed as essential for maintaining depositor confidence, limiting the risks from the large foreign currency exposure of the corporate sector, and helping reduce inflation. The central bank noted that downward pressures on the exchange rate had abated since the turn of the year, and its foreign currency reserves have been rising, in part due to the decision to delay the automatic conversion of oil fund revenues into foreign currency assets. The country’s official foreign assets (NBK reserves and NFRK assets) are now well above the level reached prior to the onset of market volatility in August 2007. Intervention in the foreign exchange market has been substantially scaled back (as a share of total transactions) in recent months, although the NBK stands ready to intervene in the market if downward pressures on the exchange rate re-emerge. The authorities continue to view the exchange rate regime as a "managed float with no predetermined path for the exchange rate."<br /><br />The NFRK continues to be managed prudently, and the government does not<br />expect to draw on the Fund beyond the amount of the guaranteed annual transfer to the<br />budget. The assets of NFRK consist of a stabilization portfolio of about $5 billion (invested in short-term debt securities) and an investment portfolio (invested in longer-term debt and equity securities). While the NFRK fulfils both a stabilization and savings role, at present the government has no intention to use the Fund’s assets to help cushion the downturn. Indeed, the government spent only 86 percent of the guaranteed transfer from the NFRK last year, and expects the mandated transfer to be adequate to meet spending needs this year.<br /><br />The exchange rate regime in Kazakhstan has been reclassified from a managed<br />float to a conventional peg under the IMF’s de facto classification system. This is due to the very limited movement of the tenge against the U.S. dollar since last October. At present, the IMF take the view that there is no clear evidence of either over or undervaluation of Kazakhstan’s real exchange rate when compared to its estimated equilibrium level.<br /><br />Kazakhstan fiscal position is very strong. It has a large budget surplus and low public debt. And external debt has been reduced from 92.8% of GDP in 2007 to an estimated 67.9% in 2008, with the IMF forecasting a further reduction to 59.6% in 2009. The IMF said the following <a href="http://www.imf.org/external/np/ms/2008/092608.htm">in their most recent concluding Mission statement in September</a>:<br /><br /><br /><br /><blockquote>The strong budget position in Kazakhstan has provided scope for the government to use fiscal policy to support the economy as growth has slowed. We believe that the increase in spending in the recent supplementary budget is appropriate, and that the automatic fiscal stabilizers should be allowed to work, with any revenue shortfalls due to a weakening economy being accommodated in the near future rather than offset with expenditure cuts to meet budget targets. Going forward, the government's recently announced three-year budget plan maps out a transparent path for fiscal policy over the medium-term. We believe, however, that it is important that the government not commit to further large increases in public sector wages and pensions in future years given uncertainties about budget revenues—particularly from the oil sector—and the stage of the macroeconomic cycle in two or three years time.</blockquote><br /><br />The Kazakh government is to buy as much as $5 billion of distressed assets from banks in the next two years and will seek to spur growth by spending up to $10 billion from the National Oil Fund on agriculture and development projects. The government is also going to release 52 billion tenge ($430 million) for a bank-rescue fund.  <br /><br />However, not everything is going to be plain sailing. Oil has now tumbled to as little as $72 a barrel, down is down $75 — or 51 percent — since catapulting to a record high of $147.27 on July 11.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SPtA9K4LDII/AAAAAAAALHQ/uR3TNgi1Ww8/s1600-h/india+nymex.png"><img style="center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SPtA9K4LDII/AAAAAAAALHQ/uR3TNgi1Ww8/s320/india+nymex.png" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Commodity prices continued their downward march last week, with the Reuters/Jeffries CRB Index of 19 raw materials from coffee to silver, dropping 3.6 per cent amid concerns that the global economy was heading into recession. The abrupt falls in commodities - the RJ-CRB index hit its lowest level in four years - even engulfed gold , which closede last Friday at a one-month low of $775 a troy ounce,<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SPs_GDQ9MpI/AAAAAAAALHA/drhyjnYzGz8/s1600-h/india+RJ.png"><img style="center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SPs_GDQ9MpI/AAAAAAAALHA/drhyjnYzGz8/s320/india+RJ.png" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />And property prices continue to fall, which prices in the Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty are now down at 15 percent from a year ago (according to the national statistics agency) and more like 40% according to sources cited by the IMF. Net income at Kazakhstan's 36 banks fell 47 percent the first eight months of this year as lenders put aside more money to cover bad loans. So there should be no doubt that conditions in Kazakhstan at this point are "tight".<br /><br />However, in contrast with Iceland, Kazakhstan has $49.5 billion of reserves to weather its crisis in the short term. That includes $27.6 billion in the National Oil Fund created eight years ago to guard against a drop in oil prices.  The existence of this fund means that the Kazakh  government could repay all $13.7 billion of foreign debt due in the second half this year, including $9.3 billion owed by banks. The reserves would also cover the $16.9 billion of debt maturing next year, including $6.9 billion owned by banks, according to a recent report by Goldman Sachs, which cites National Bank of Kazakhstan data. <br /><br />We should also stop for a moment and think about the implications of assuming that oil and other commodity prices will not rebound as we move through 2009. The implication here would be that global demand would have dropped and stayed down. If we go for that scenario, this would seem to imply a generalised recession in the developed economies of almost unprecedented depth (at least in post WWII terms). While not doubting that some individual countries (Spain, for example) may be in for a very rough ride indeed, I am not convinced that conditions will universally deteriorate to this extent. We will have a recession in 2009, but hope fully it will not be so deep as to send Kazakhstan off into Iceland-type bankruptcy.<br /><br />Let me put this another way, if the recession is so deep that Kazakhstan goes off into receivership, then I dread to think what the situation will look like almost universally across the CEE. <br /><br />So then, to return to my original question which was posed at the start of this post: should we simply believe Karim Masimov when he tells that Kazakhstan won't be needing that IMF help? Well no we shouldn't, since among other things he would be saying that, wouldn't he - and if you don't believe me just look what the rest of East European walking wounded are saying as they amble in.<br /><br />But we don't have to take Masimov's word for it in this case, since there are other, more objective evaluations of the situation available. So why don't we close by taking a look at what the IMF themselves have been saying, in this case in their September 28 Mission Concluding Report. At this point in time their assessment and judgement is good enough for me, especially since I think the principal arguments they advance make a lot of sense.<br /><br /><blockquote>Kazakhstan <strong>has large financial resources to help it weather the current situation, and medium-term economic prospects remain favorable</strong>. Official foreign currency assets, comprising central bank (NBK) reserves and oil fund (NFRK) assets, reached $48 billion at end-September, well above the mid-2007 level. The current account balance has strengthened significantly this year, and oil production is set to increase substantially in the years ahead.<br /><br />As at the time of the Article IV consultation discussions in April, we believe that in the short-term policies should remain focused on managing risks to the outlook and setting the stage for the resumption of strong and sustained growth. Since our last visit, <strong>the authorities have continued to skillfully handle the difficulties the economy has faced</strong>, and we welcome the policy steps that are being taken in the monetary, fiscal, and supervisory areas to strengthen the resilience of the Kazakhstani economy. Nevertheless, considerable challenges remain, and these have been heightened by the renewed bout of global financial market volatility. </blockquote>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/global-economics/despite-the-sudden-stop-kazakhstan-wont-be-calling-on-the-imf-for-help-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>China Agritech, Inc. (CAGC.OB) Retains Grayling Global as Investor Consultant</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/china-agritech-inc-cagcob-retains-grayling-global-as-investor-consultant/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/china-agritech-inc-cagcob-retains-grayling-global-as-investor-consultant/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:02:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>QualityStocks</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small & Micro Cap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anhui]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bangkok]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beijing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Birmingham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bristol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brussels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cardiff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China Agritech Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chongqing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dublin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grayling Global]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harbin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Huntsworth plc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ireland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Singapore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Kingdom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xinjiang]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yu Chang]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://Blog.QualityStocks.net/?p=12785</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Organic fertilizer company, China Agritech, Inc. (OTCBB: CAGC), announced that it will continue its working relationship with investor relations consultant Grayling Global.
Graying Global will continue to &#8220;conceptualize and implement a comprehensive communications program to strategically raise the visibility of the company&#8217;s growth story and explain its financial performance to shareholders, potential investors and the financial [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/china-agritech-inc-cagcob-retains-grayling-global-as-investor-consultant/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Norwegian Fisheries?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/norwegian-fisheries/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/norwegian-fisheries/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:21:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Roger Nusbaum</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Denmark]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fish oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Glintir Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iceland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ireland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leroy Seafood Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MHG]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Norway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peru]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shellfish processing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vietnam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532070.post-152238951888556124</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So I was trolling the Glintir Bank website (the same Glitnir that was saved by the government of Iceland) and found an <a href="http://www.glitnirbank.com/services/seafood-industry/seafood-stockwatch-indices/">index for fishery stocks</a>, most of which are Norwegian. There's almost enough Norwegian fishery stocks to create an ETF (Claymore, can I get a hollah?).<br /><br /><ul><li>Marine Harvest MHG.OL or MNHVF.PK<br /></li><li>Austevoll AUSS.OL</li><li>Cermaq CEQ.OL or CRMQF.PK<br /></li><li>Leroy Seafood Group LSG.OL or LYSFF.PK<br /></li><li>Salmar SALM.OL</li></ul> Obviously fishing stocks are recession proof and bear market proof as everyone keeps eating. Well we might keep eating but the stocks have all been crushed this year. Marine Harvest is the top performer down only 20%. Three of them are down 50% and if you go back one year Marine Harvest is down 60%.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZckZ-8naz0/SOluCHdxjWI/AAAAAAAABiA/Ihhh0CE6DMY/s1600-h/Norwegian+fishery.JPG"><img style="pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZckZ-8naz0/SOluCHdxjWI/AAAAAAAABiA/Ihhh0CE6DMY/s400/Norwegian+fishery.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>MHG sells just about every edible fish you've ever heard of in Norway, Ireland, Chile, Canada, the Faroes (small island nation in Europe west and I think north of Denmark) and Maine.<br /><br />AUSS has operations in Norway, Chile and Peru. It operates fishing boats, makes fishmeal, canning fish, extracting fish oil and freezing fish.<br /><br />Cermaq focuses on "aquaculture" which makes R&#38;D a big priority. I can't tell from a glance of the website if it is more of a pick and shovel type of company or does a lot of fishing too. Besides Norway it does business in Vietnam, Chile, Canada and Scotland.<br /><br />The Leroy Seafood Group site was also tough to navigate but they seem to be involved in farming, aquaculture and distribution with offices in Norway, Turkey, China, Japan and the US.<br /><br />Salmar does salmon farming and shellfish processing and it looks like it has all of its operations in Norway.<br /><br />As the world appears to ending, <span style="italic;">intentional hyperbole</span>, why write about publicly traded Norwegian fisheries that are down a lot? Well the world probably is not ending. If the thread that many, including me, are working with that the US may not offer normal market returns once the bear ends that means looking elsewhere. A Norwegian fishing company might be one answer at some point.<br /><br />Or maybe not, I don't know. But the task for anyone is to continue to explore and learn. I just found these by accident. There are all sorts of segments we don't know about and while we cannot learn about all of them we can study some of them and maybe include one or two at some point in the future.<br /><br />Being defensively positioned does not mean putting your head in the sand and shutting 'er down. In case it is not clear, I am not suggesting anyone buy any of the names mentioned. They exist, that's all and if you read the entire post you know as much as I do.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/norwegian-fisheries/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>CTS Corporation (CTS) Senses Opportunity</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/cts-corporation-cts-senses-opportunity/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/cts-corporation-cts-senses-opportunity/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:01:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>QualityStocks</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small & Micro Cap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Albuquerque]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ball-grid array technologies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bangkok]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CTS Corporation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Diversified Electronics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dongguan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electronics equipment customers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electronics manufacturing services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elkhart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Glasgow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indiana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kaohsiung]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Londonderry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matamoros]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mexico]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Hampshire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Mexico]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york stock exchange]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ontario]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[product solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Republic Of China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Santa Clara]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sensor products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Singapore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Streetsville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taiwan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thailand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tianjin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://Blog.QualityStocks.net/?p=11933</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana, CTS Corporation is a designer and manufacturer of electronic components and sensors. Trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), they are also a provider of electronics manufacturing services to various clients. As part of the Diversified Electronics industry in the Technology sector, CTS Corporation has a market capitalization of $448.29 [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/small-cap-and-micro-cap-stocks/cts-corporation-cts-senses-opportunity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The World is Protesting High Oil Prices, thus DUG</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/the-world-is-protesting-high-oil-prices-thus-dug/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/the-world-is-protesting-high-oil-prices-thus-dug/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:16:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ted Gottsegen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Market News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stocks to Watch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hong Kong]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nepal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil And Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil and gas prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Proshares]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Truck Drivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Oil]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">620 at http://thestockmasters.com</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<div id="wideImage" class="image">
<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/10/world/10fuel.600.jpg" width="281" height="150" align="right" />The world is all pissed off about high oil and gas prices; protesting is happening inÂ Scotland, Hong Kong, Nepal and Europe as I write.Â  Spanish truck driversÂ are blockading their countryâ€™s border with France for crying out loud. There's only one way to play it - <strong>UltraShort Oil &#38; Gas ProShares</strong> (AMEX:<a href="http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&#38;q=AMEX:DUG" target="_blank">DUG</a>). 
<p><a href="http://thestockmasters.com/DUG-061008.html">read more</a></p></div>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/current-market-news/the-world-is-protesting-high-oil-prices-thus-dug/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
