Euro Higher on Greek Bailout Hopes but Markets Skeptical on Spain, Portugal

The Euro pushed higher against the US Dollar amid renewed hopes that a bail-out of Greece will be announced shortly, but rising costs of protection against default in Spain and Portugal reveal skepticism about a resolution of the larger southern European debt problem.

Key Overnight Developments

• UK Retail Sales Growth Worst in 15 Years in January, Says BRC
• RICS Survey Hints UK House Prices May Decline as Supply Swells
• Euro Rebounds Against US Dollar on Greece Bailout Speculation


Critical Levels

The Euro and the British Pound added as much as 0.5% and 0.4% respectively against the US Dollar as the safety-linked greenback was sold amid recovering risk appetite on news that European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet cut short his trip to a central bankers’ summit in Australia, feeding speculation a bail-out of debt-ridden southern European economies is about to be announced. We remain short EURUSD at 1.4881 and GBPUSD at 1.5765.


Asia Session Highlights

UK Retail Sales fell -0.7% in January after adding 1.1% in the previous month according to the British Retail Consortium. BRC Director General Stephen Robertson called the outcome “an awful start to the year,” adding that the outcome amounted to “the worst January sales growth in the 15 years we’ve been running the survey.” The coldest start to the year since 1987 was cited as the reason for poor performance, with heavy snowfall keeping consumers away from shopping for all but the bare necessities. Most worryingly, Stephenson said that “customers are becoming cautious again in the face of economic and political uncertainty,” a worrying sign for the prospects of sustainable recovery in Europe’s third-largest economy.

Separately, a survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed that the number of polled real-estate agents reporting rising UK House Prices outnumbered those reporting declines by 32%, an improvement over the previous month’s 30% outcome but still below the latest peak at 35% recorded in November. However, stocks of unsold homes on agent’s books increased for the third month while the number of agreed-upon sales remained unchanged over the same period, suggesting that prices may decline as supply outstrips demand.


Euro Session: What to Expect

Germany’s Trade Balance surplus is expected to narrow to 15 billion euros in December from 17.4 billion in the previous month as exports decline -0.1%, marking the first decline in three months. Although one month of data is not enough to draw firm conclusions about the overall trend in cross-border sales, traders will nonetheless be keen to see the details of the report amid concerns that the rebound in overseas demand will fade along with global fiscal efforts. Separately, the final revision of the latest Consumer Price Index figures is expected to confirm the annual pace of inflation slowed to 0.8% in January, marking the first decline in four months.

The UK Trade Balance deficit is expected to shrink a bit to -6.7 billion points in December from -6.78 billion in the previous month. The outcome may be accounted for by a weaker currency considering the Pound fell 2.8% against the Euro in December - the largest decline in eight months – making British goods relatively cheaper (and thereby more attractive) in the UK’s largest export market.

On balance, risk sentiment is likely to remain the top catalyst for price action, with the developing debt crisis in Southern Europe being the issue du jour for the moment. News that Jean-Claude Trichet cut short his trip to a summit in Australia to return home for an ECB meeting has been feeding optimism about some kind of bail-out emerging in the near term, pushing up US equity index futures and weighing on the safety-linked US Dollar and Japanese Yen. Interestingly, while credit default swap prices for Greece backed off a bit, those for Spain and Portugal raced sharply higher. This hints that investors remain skeptical about a quick resolution of the larger southern European debt issue despite the possibility that the immediate fire in Greece will be put out in the near term, meaning firmer risk appetite may not prove lasting.

Source:dailyfx.com/

Top selling and most demanded Domains, for sell at $200 sedo.com

http://plussizegym.com http://cnneye.com http://foxsenate.com http://foxhollywood.com http://foxhollywood.online

Spain have nothing to worry about in qualifying group with Scotland, says defender Sergio Ramos

SERGIO RAMOS last night wrote off Scotland's chances of qualifying for Euro 2012 and revealed he can't believe how lucky Spain have been to draw Craig Levein's side.

The Real Madrid defender was delighted when the European Champions came out of the hat with the Scots, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Liechtenstein.

With just four opponents and little travel involved, Ramos reckons it's a plum draw.

He insists Spain will qualify comfortably as Group I winners with the Czechs grabbing the second spot Levein craves. The Scots face a daunting task and Ramos is adamant they are destined to fail. He said: "The draw has been very kind to Spain. I don't think we have anything to worry about.

"We won't be complacent - we'll be professional but I'd bet we will qualify as group winners.

"We don't have to travel too far and that will be a bonus.

"The most important thing will be our mental approach to it.

"Czech Republic will be our main rival, our biggest challenge and the toughest team to beat. Scotland have a lot of tradition but they aren't strong in Euro competition any longer.

"The games in Prague and Glasgow will be the vital ones for Spain but I'm positive qualification is solely in our own hands."

Ramos' team-mate Xavi is also super confident Spain will see off Scotland and the Czechs.

The playmaker can't wait to sample the Glasgow atmosphere again after playing at Ibrox and Parkhead in the Champions League for Barcelona.

Superior

Xavi said: "There are no easy games in any competition but if you analyse our performances during the past few years we feel obliged to finish as leaders in this group.

"We will fight to defend our title at Euro 2012. A group with just five teams is more comfortable for the players because it reduces the number of matches we play.

"My first reaction to the draw was that Czech Republic and Scotland will be our rivals in the group but we believe Spain are superior to both.

"I know all about the atmosphere in Glasgow better than most because I've played there for Barcelona against Celtic and Rangers.

"In all of those matches, victory has been complicated even for a team of Barca's stature.

"But after seeing the draw and looking at other groups, we have to be grateful for the luck we've had.

"Scotland are improving as a nation and have a new manager while Czech Republic have players in big leagues around Europe. But we are clear favourites."

Source:dailyrecord.co.uk/

Thirty Knots, With the Wind at Your Wings

VALENCIA, Spain — USA-17, the challenger for the America’s Cup, and Alinghi 5, the defender, may be stripped-down, lean racing machines, built purely for speed. But both are fully loaded.Loaded, that is, with compressive and tensile stresses in an exquisitely choreographed dance of struts, spars and cables. Made almost entirely of carbon fiber, the enormous multihulls — USA-17 has three hulls, Alinghi 5 two — are about as delicate as a house of cards. If a big enough element were to break, the whole thing could fall apart.

That could be disastrous, considering that the boats, with masts that tower a couple of hundred feet above the water, are capable of speeds of 30 knots, about 35 miles per hour, or more.

On Monday, however, the boats hardly moved at all, as inconsistent winds forced the postponement of the first race in the best-of-three series on the Mediterranean. The two teams will try again on Wednesday.

If the boats make it through the races relatively intact, it will be a testament to the skill of the sailors — and of the designers and engineers who spent several years building them, more or less on the fly as the two sides quarreled in court over the terms of the race.

“If we break it,” said Brad Butterworth, skipper of the Alinghi team, which is owned by the Swiss biotech mogul Ernesto Bertarelli, “it’ll be because of some failure of a fitting or a user mistake — something that we’ve done that’s put the boat in a compromising position where it couldn’t handle the loads.”

The America’s Cup has always been a showcase for innovation: the 1895 victor, Defender, for example, used aluminum, steel and bronze in the hull, an unheard-of combination at the time. And sailing in general, and high-level racing in particular, are no strangers to technology. But it has not been used at such an extreme scale before.

The most obvious advance can be seen rising above USA-17, which is owned by Lawrence J. Ellison, president of the software company Oracle. It looks as if someone wrenched a wing off a large jetliner and perched it, tip up, atop a trailer hitch on the boat’s middle hull.

Wing sails, as they are called, have been around for years, and one was even used to great advantage in the 1988 America’s Cup. But at 223 feet, this one is much bigger than others (and bigger, in fact, than any airplane wing) and more controllable, with nine adjustable flaps.

Like an airplane wing, it provides lift, although largely in a horizontal direction. And like an airplane wing, the slots between the main elements and the flaps add to the lifting power.

But the wing also solves a basic problem of sailing: how to take full advantage of the wind without overturning. The flaps can be adjusted to maximize lift on the wing’s lower end, generating a lot of power, and to reduce it up top, generating less heeling, or tipping, force.

“You can shift the center of the force up and down the wing very quickly,” said Russell Coutts, chief executive of BMW Oracle. “So when you’ve got too much power, then you can unload the top of the wing.”

The wing designers use the same principles, and much the same software, as airplane designers, said Mike Drummond, the team’s design director. (One member of the team also does work for Boeing, though not on wings.)

“You have to understand the aerodynamic principles well and how to apply them,” Mr. Drummond said. “If you have the skills to design an airplane, you have the skills to design a yacht. Now we could have a good crack at a windmill.”

Load-shifting can be done with more traditional sails, too, by changing their shape, which is accomplished in part by having a flexible mast. But even with technology — one system uses image-recognition equipment to “read” lines on the sails to see if they match prescribed curvatures — shape-changing is difficult. It is easier with a solid wing.

Alinghi 5 uses traditional sails, but that is not to say it is any less innovative than BMW Oracle’s boat. It has a flexible mast, one that is nearly 200 feet tall, and some of the biggest sails anywhere. Like most advanced racing sails, they are a sandwich of polyester film sheets with a filling of carbon fibers providing strength. The fibers are laid out in radial lines calculated to match the loads, and where the fibers come together in areas of maximum stress the sail has a distinct look, as if it has been dusted with ashes.

Source:nytimes.com/

New York court to hear case over America's Cup champion Alinghi's sails

VALENCIA, Spain — The New York supreme court has set a date of Feb. 25 to hear BMW Oracle's complaint that Swiss rival Alinghi breached America's Cup rules by having its sails made abroad.

The American challenger alleges that Alinghi's sails are made in the United States, a breach of the Deed of Gift which calls for boats to be constructed in the country of origin.

Alinghi claims its sails are constructed in Switzerland

The best-of-three grudge match is still scheduled to start as planned on Monday even though an Alinghi victory could be reversed if BMW Oracle wins the court case.

Talks to resolve the issue broke down several weeks ago.

The 33rd edition of the sailing classic has been mired in legal fights since July 2007

Source:AFP

Spain's super-judge closer to being charged

MADRID -- The magistrate known for indicting Osama bin Laden and Augusto Pinochet may have knowingly acted without jurisdiction by probing Spanish Civil War atrocities, a court said Thursday in a ruling that takes Spain's most famed judge a step closer to being put on trial himself.

Those atrocities - the killings of tens of thousands of civilians by forces loyal to Gen. Francisco Franco during the 1936-39 war and in the early years of the Franco regime - were covered by an amnesty passed by Parliament in 1977, two years after Franco died.

But Garzon ignored this and in 2008 launched his probe anyway, Lucio Varela, an investigating magistrate at the Supreme Court, wrote in the 55-page ruling.

A five-judge panel at the court will eventually decide whether to drop the case or let Varela decide on bringing charges and putting Garzon on trial. If convicted of knowingly acting without jurisdiction, Garzon could be suspended from the bench for years.

Garzon has denied any wrongdoing. He began his probe in the summer of 2008 but reluctantly bowed out a few months later in a dispute over jurisdiction, transferring the case to provincial courts.

His short-lived probe was Spain's first official one ever of a dark and largely unexplored chapter in the country's past, and it was widely seen as seeking an indictment of the Franco regime itself.

Last year a conservative group called Manos Libres filed a complaint against Garzon for having launched the investigation in the first place, and the Supreme Court agreed to study it. Varela was assigned to the case.

He wrote Thursday that Garzon "consciously decided to ignore or push aside" the will of the Spanish Parliament in decreeing the 1977 amnesty to help the country move toward reconciliation.

Over the past decade Garzon gained fame worldwide as the most prominent symbol of Spain's doctrine of universal jurisdiction, which holds that heinous crimes like torture or terrorism can be tried in this country even if they are alleged to have been committed elsewhere and had no link to Spain.

He used it in 1998 to go after Pinochet, having the ex-despot arrested during a visit to London, although Britain ultimately refused to extradite him to Madrid for trial. Garzon indicted bin Laden in 2003 over the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the U. S.

Source:washingtonpost.com/

Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher set pulses racing in Spain

Causing a stir: 35,000 saw Fernando Alonso drive a Ferrari for the first time at the Ricardo Tormo racetrack in Spain Photo: GETTY IMAGES
On Wednesday the queues on the motorway out of Valencia leading to the Ricardo Tormo circuit stretched back over 4km as 35,000 fans turned up to watch the third and final day.

There was no doubting who they had come to watch. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was making his Ferrari bow and the Spaniard's presence, alongside that of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, piqued local interest.

There was even a dash of celebrity with golf star Sergio Garcia driving 60km from Castellón to watch his friend in action for the Scuderia.

"It is a great day," Garcia said. "I got to know Fernando quite well and I follow him when he is racing. I love F1."

Alonso was non-committal regarding Ferrari's chances this season, despite the F10 going quickest on all three days of the test. "I think maybe if we topped the times the three days is related to fuel load or whatever," he said. "I'm very cautious. But I found the car easy to drive and I feel good. It was very emotional, my first time in a Ferrari."

Source:telegraph.co.uk/

Eurozone periphery’s banks under pressure

Spain’s leading index dropped in afternoon trade on Thursday, over growing concerns over the budget deficit and growing debts. The fall followed a slide in Portuguese banking stocks as the country’s bonds slumped on growing concerns over the budget deficit and growing debts, drawing attention to other Eurozone periphery nations.

Spain’s Ibex 35 index lost 5.2 per cent to 10320.4, its lowest level since July 2009

Portugal’s Millennium BCP, the country’s biggest listed bank, extended its heavy losses after a sell-off by foreign funds fearful of a sudden rise in the cost of funding for the nation’s banking sector after Portuguese bond spreads over German Bunds were at their widest level for 10 months. Its shares fell to six month lows, down 5.8 per cent to €0.73. Its shares have slid 8.9 per cent since the start of the week.

Banco Espirito Santo fell 5.1 per cent to €3.80. Earlier the cost of insuring Portuguese government debt against default rose to a record high of €216,000 per €10m of exposure.

Portuguese stocks outside of the banking sector were also affected. Cable provider ZON Multimedia dropped 5.5 per cent to €3.80 while EDP Renovaveis the renewable energy unit of Portuguese utility EDP-Energias de Portugal declined 4.2 per cent to €5.92.

The selling came after the European Commission entered new territory by placing Greece’s economic and budgetary policies under closer surveillance than has been applied to any other eurozone country.

Analysts at BNP Paribas said: “The EC endorsement of the Greek fiscal plan provided little comfort as the market is now turning its attention to the other countries at the periphery of Europe, particularly Portugal and Spain.“

Market rumours that Spain was set for a downgrade, although denied by rating agencies, put the country’s stocks undder pressure.

Spain’s Santander, the eurozone’s biggest bank, weakened 3.8 per cent to €9.83 in spite of its having beaten profits forecasts. The bank diversified into emerging markets such as Brazil to offset the losses from a tough domestic market. BBVA, Spain’s second biggest listed bank lost 3.8 per cent to €10.37.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s Allied Irish Banks fell 5.5 per cent to €1.16 while Bank of Ireland dropped 5 per cent to €1.24.

Greek banks continued to weaken. EFG Eurobank lost 4.1 per cent to €6.13, Piraeus Bank fell 2.9 per cent to €6.02 and National Bank of Greece lost 3.3 per cent to €15.47.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web

Source:ft.com