The Color of the Market

Emerging Markets

Other Forums:
What's New
Bond Discussions
Newslink

Posted by BradyNet ( Friday, March 12, '04 )

*NEW* Stay on top of important market events with the IdeaGlobal/BradyNet Economic Calendar

GLOBAL MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

Argentina plays chicken with IMF 03-12-04 (BBC) A key date in Argentina's sometimes tense relationship with the International Monetary Fund is 9 March.

Argentina set for fresh IMF cash 03-12-04 (BBC) Argentina has received the green light from the International Monetary Fund for fresh funding of $3.1bn (£1.7bn).

G10 Central Bankers to Examine Recovery 03-12-04 (Yahoo) Top central bankers will put the global economic recovery under a microscope on Monday amid some concerns that risk-hungry investors were driving markets higher than fundamentals might justify.

No More Excuses on Jobs 03-12-04 (NY Times) ARTICLE TOOLS E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Format Most E-Mailed Articles Columnist Page: Paul Krugman Forum: Discuss This Column E-mail: krugman@nytimes.com READERS' OPINIONS Forum: Join a Discussion on Op-Ed Contributors TIMES NEWS TRACKER Topics Alerts Economic Conditions and Trends Unemployment Recession and Depression As job growth continues to elude the U.S. economy, we're hearing two main excuses from the Bush administration and its supporters:

Greenspan Warns Against Trade Limits 03-12-04 (Yahoo) Federal Reserve (news - web sites) Chairman Alan Greenspan (news - web sites) said on Thursday that U.S. hiring should soon pick up,

Greenspan sees US creating more jobs "before long" 03-12-04 (Yahoo) US job growth should pick up before long as the economic recovery gains momentum, Federal Reserve (news - web sites) Chairman Alan Greenspan (news - web sites) said as he repeated his warning about protectionism.

U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to $43.1B 03-12-04 (Yahoo) America's trade deficit mushroomed to an all-time high of $43.1 billion in January as sales of foreign-made goods hovered near record levels.

LATIN AMERICA

Agrarian Reform in Brazil 03-12-04 (Yahoo) The main leader of the Landless Workers Movement (MST), economist João Pedro Stedile, remains hopeful that President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva will fulfill his promise, spelled out in the National Plan for Agrarian Reform,

Brazil makes progress on debt 03-12-04 (Yahoo) Barely a year and a half ago, Brazil was on the edge of disaster. Its debt burden seemed to be lurching out of control, default and an Argentina-style economic meltdown seemed imminent.

EASTERN EUROPE

Global Markets: Euro Shares Remain High 03-12-04 (Yahoo) European shares hit 20-month highs in Europe on Monday, following falls on most Asian bourses, while the dollar was nursing heavy losses against the euro after Friday's weak U.S. jobs data.

Newest messages appear on top.

03-12-04 victorn: <your opinion was not followed by the desired event> i know this very well. yet if my opinion had been followed, no 3/11 would've happened. so spaniards should thank their great visionary leader, aznar, for what happened. personally, nobody that i know of was there, so this sad event doesn't affect me. from a selfish perspective i could tell you that if such attacks continue in pp-controlled areas, then catalonia has to gain from this. it would be a peaceful and stable place in the middle of a war zone.

03-12-04 Glutt: so investors dumped GX stocks and along with them IDIOTS who called that 24.88bn a plain cash profit IMHO

03-12-04 spurs: Pilly, my point wasnt whether the Stern gang were bad or brought about Isreals existence. My point was at the time Israel was being formed, the Zionist settlers were in conflict with the civil authorities. In this case the British. Where guns were being brought into the country by Jews ahead of the 48 war, the job of the British was to arrest the people bringing guns in, and confiscate the guns. It wasnt just the Stern gang, that the British would have considered terrorists, but all militant zionists.

Im not judging the past. Im pointing out that it was but a moment ago in historical terms that the first Zionists were(in British eyes) committing terrorists attrocities against a civil authority whose legitimacy was mandated by the league of nations...

03-12-04 Glutt: <Earnings
Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for 2003 were $12 million, compared to a loss of $297 million for 2002. Global Marine EBITDA was $30 million, compared to $29 million in 2002. Telecom EBITDA for 2003 was a loss of $18 million, compared to a loss of $326 million in 2002. Net income in 2003 was $24.730 billion, which included a net gain of $24.842 billion related to the reorganization. This net reorganization gain in income resulted from the accounting impact of recording the company's new debt and equity structure, the write down of pre-petition liabilities and deferred revenues from prior period IRU sales, vendor settlements, restructuring costs, retention plan costs and professional fees related to the bankruptcy. Pursuant to Regulation G, a reconciliation of EBITDA to the company's net income for the relevant periods is included in the attached financial statements. > here is the original which really shows 24.88bn and where it comes from, so … as I said it is not what it meant to be because <This net reorganization gain in income resulted from the accounting impact of recording the company's new debt and equity structure, the write down of pre-petition liabilities and deferred revenues from prior period IRU sales, vendor settlements, restructuring costs, retention plan costs and professional fees related to the bankruptcy.>

03-12-04 victorn: arlequim that was a reference to the spanish civil war and to the former spanish colonial wars. contrast these two events with events where spain has no biz whatsoever: ww i and ww ii, for example. fortunately, the country stayed out of both world wars. a similar situation occurs in iraq. spain has no biz in iraq.

03-12-04 danni: PAXWAX no problem i work with credit of the bank like

03-12-04 carib: Vic: I know what you think. Until now, your opinion was not followed by the desired event. I have no advice to give to the new spanish PM. I think he will know what to do.

03-12-04 Glutt: Pax <Global Crossing Ltd., the telecommunications company that emerged from bankruptcy court in December, reported a breathtaking quarterly profit of $24.88 billion. > I think Pilly once commented on this BS number. I can assume that could be sales but profit? I do not believe it. For correct information I would suggest use original source which is web site of GX: http://www.globalcrossing.com/xml/n... I wonder how a company with revenue base of around 3bn could produce a stunning profit of 24bn. Good question for journANALs and ANALysts who wrote their BS which caused confusion I suppose. Otherwise did they mean 24mn instead of 24bn???

03-12-04 victorn: carib <do not assume we agree on <what you are told>> the ploblem is that what i am told by the media is the same as what you are told by the media. lots of focus on the innocent madrid victims, little focus on the thousands of innocent people killed by coalition forces.

03-12-04 victorn: carib <it's rather stamina, courage, resolve> i see. then they should have the <resolve> to pull out of iraq.

03-12-04 arlequim: <if spaniards have to die, it should be only for internal matters that relate to spaniards.>?

Sorry to interupt Victorn, but since it sounds very peculiar to me & there are dozens of people been killed daily im my town by their own neighbours, I guess that your approach can give us some more confort.

03-12-04 carib: Vic: then do not assume we agree on <what you are told>,. I normally hold the opposite opinion, I see facts differently, I come to opposite conclusions.

03-12-04 Glutt: <03-12-04 carib: Glutt: Unibanco= brasilbank Unicredito=italybank...> ops sorry, sleepy morning so confused oranges for apples. Surely I thought about Unicredito Milano.

03-12-04 victorn: carib <do not attribute your own opinions> it is not my opinion, it is what i am told, which is different.

03-12-04 carib: Vic, no gut is not <common sense>..it's rather stamina, courage, resolve.

03-12-04 victorn: United States may not be able to count on Colombia as an ally in covert invasion plans for Venezuela; Colombians are already tied up with rebel plans for assault on Bogota.

03-12-04 savonarola: vic...ZP promissed to take the troops out as early as June 04, if elected.

03-12-04 carib: Victorn: <we all know that>. No we do not: do not attribute your own opinions to others who think otherwise.

03-12-04 victorn: carib <Spaniards usually claim to <have more guts> than Italians> i don't think this has anything to do with guts. but if guts is defined as having common sense, then i would agree with your statement. spain should pull out the troops as it is the sensible thing to do.

if spaniards have to die, it should be only for internal matters that relate to spaniards. spain is not the chambermaid of america.

03-12-04 PILLZ: Spur, I don't want to desillusioned your father memory, but it is not because Stern grout made a few terrorist attack that Isreal exist, in fact all parties where against them, they even killed Israelies to defend their arm ship, the existance of Israel is a natural processus, because it is the people army, no one Israelly is not concerned about it (only not the dingo orthodoxs), if the Palestinian really want to have a state and peace, they had already could have it 55 years ago...till today, but their leaders have more to win with terror then with peace, no more no less..

Now back to bizzz

BFT reported fourth quarter results last night. The company announced a change in its accounting treatment from an “estimation-based deferral” method to a “modified cash basis” method that is meant to better reflect its business. This forced BFT to record a $581 million noncash charge in the quarter. Although it doesn’t seem like the company will restate prior period results, we estimate that on a pro forma basis the accounting change reduced 2002 revenue and EBITDA by $55 million, while 2003 revenue was reduced by $25 million and EBITDA by about $45 million. It seems the line item most impacted by the change was the products and services line, which includes personal training services. BFT said the change was approved by its lenders and that it is in compliance with covenants. Certainly, we are not clear on the total effect of the accounting change, and expect management to clarify these issues on this morning’s conference call. Nonetheless, assuming the account change was effective in 2002, BFT saw fourth quarter revenue improve 6% on the strength of higher products and services sales, but rising costs hurt profitability as EBITDA fell 13% to $29 million from $34 million (EBITDA includes finance charges earned). For the full year 2003, we estimate EBITDA of $131 million fell 8% from 2002. At this level of profitability, year-end leverage stood at 5.6x versus 5.1x in 2002. EBITDA covered interest 2.2x in 2003. Under the company’s previous accounting treatment, third quarter 2003 leverage was 4x and coverage was almost 3x. BFT will host a conference call at 9 AM EST; the call-in number is (800)-553-5260.

03-12-04 victorn: paxy I'm sure if the u.s. had economic interests that would justify another iraq-iran war, they would gladly go for it and, if necessary, kill a few hundred thousand people in the process. after all, innocent people killed by u.s. policy are just a detail. we all know that, even ozy who did not respond to the simple question i asked him: is it ok for the u.s. to kill innocent people in afgh and iraq?

03-12-04 wally: <
CARACAS (AP) - La fuerte recesión económica que enfrentó el país durante el 2003 golpeó con mayor intensidad al sector industrial que reportó la quiebra de 1.889 empresas en un año, revela un estudio del Consejo de Industrias de Venezuela (Conindustria).

El parque industrial venezolano que para el 2002 alcanzaba a 6.792 empresas, se redujo al cierre del 2003 a 4.903 compañías.

Alterno al problema de quiebra de parte del sector industrial se suma el hecho de que las empresas activas sólo están utilizando menos del 50% de sus equipos y maquinarias debido a la fuerte caída de la demanda interna.

De acuerdo a cifras del Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV) la inversión cayó durante el 2003 en 38,9%.

La quiebra del 28% del parque industrial originó que unas 60.140 personas pasaran a engrosar la lista de desempleados que a diciembre del 2003 alcanzaba a 2 millones de personas.

Según cálculos del Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas (INE) en el sector industrial están laborando unas 260.000 personas.

Una encuesta que realizó Conindustrias entre 300 industrias reveló que el 92% del sector no proyecta realizar inversiones durante este año lo que hace entrever que la actividad económica no mejorará durante el 2004 a pesar de las grandes inversiones que ha previsto el gobierno para recuperar el aparato productivo e incrementar el empleo.

Entre los factores que señalan los empresarios como limitantes de la inversión figuran la "inestabilidad política e institucional", "la baja demanda" y el "control de cambio" que mantiene el gobierno desde febrero del 2003.

El presidente de Conindustria, Lope Mendoza, declaró la situación de la industria "sigue siendo crítica pues todas las variables han venido en descenso, en especial el número de establecimientos manufactureros y el empleo".

La economía venezolana sufrió al cierre del año pasado una contracción de 9,2% del producto interno bruto (PIB), lo que constituyó una significativa caída en comparación con el 2002 cuando el aparato productivo descendió 8,9%.

El BCV atribuyó la severa recesión económica a la "paralización de la industria petrolera" durante el paro que realizó la oposición entre finales del 2002 y comienzos del 2003 para presionar la renuncia del presidente Hugo Chávez.

La huelga opositora paralizó gran parte de las operaciones de la corporación estatal Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). No fue hasta marzo del 2003 cuando la empresa pudo recuperar por completo sus actividades y elevar su producción a 3 millones de barriles al día.

Venezuela, que es el quinto productor de crudos del mundo, tiene una gran dependencia del petróleo debido a que genera más del 30% de los ingresos del gobierno y 70% de las entradas del país por exportaciones.

Los analistas estiman que la economía podría sufrir este año un crecimiento de 6% del PIB gracias a la activación de la industria petrolera y las significativas inversiones que realizará el gobierno para activar el aparato productivo.<<<>>>>

03-12-04 carib: <Spain is not Italy>..true. Spaniards usually claim to <have more guts> than Italians. Let us see if it's true.

03-12-04 savonarola: apagon...<No Referendum in Venezuela. Posted>

could you expand?

03-12-04 victorn: paxy, i agree with carib's post but i think it's incomplete, as he does not mention state terrorism. such groups fighting for power tend to associate themselves according to the common enemies they have. on the one hand we have state terrorists: the u.s. + spain + uk + others. On the other hand we have eta + bin laden + farc + others. the part of the story that carib does not mention is obviously the former: state terrorism & co.

03-12-04 PaxWax: <Vic>, I'm sure if you ask Saddam REAL NICE, he might be willion to go back and head the Iraqi governmentr again and kill a few hundred thousand more dissidents, Kurds, Turcomans and Shiites. ¿Pretty please, Sadamcito?

03-12-04 savonarola: pax...<Furthermore, all further electioneering has been called off>

Something with which I do not understand why ZP agreed.

Had I been him I would have come out and said very clearly that this might not have happenned if Spain would not have joined that supid war.

03-12-04 carib: Glutt: Unibanco= brasilbank
Unicredito=italybank...

03-12-04 carib: Pax: I must have got mails from 100 "nigerian princes" interested in wiring me a minimum of 10 million $... I guess none of them was attacked by "sicari", unfortunately... :-( None of them wired the promised funds!

03-12-04 PaxWax: <Vic> ~ sure. I posted the same yesterday. But why not just look at <Carib's> opinion which I think is on the right track.

03-12-04 victorn: spain is not italy. troops should come home. :-)

Up to 90 percent of Spaniards opposed the war a year ago and two-thirds now want troops to come home, according to polls.

03-12-04 PaxWax: <Danni> ~ there are some things I?d rather not post on internet, because anyone can read this site, and draw conclusions. Besides, they can scroll back and get most of the information they need about most of us here. Fortunately or unfortunately, my "godzillions" are less than yours, so I hope not to be a victim of a kidnapping or terrorist or "sicario" attack.

03-12-04 victorn: paxy, i think that while the govt keeps saying it is eta, that will increase votes for the pp. if they say it is bin laden, then it will increase votes for all other parties- those who did not support the invasion of iraq.

MADRID (Reuters) - Bombs killing nearly 200 people have injected a deadly new element into Spain's weekend election and could swing voters depending on whether the attacks were the work of Basque guerrillas or Muslim militants.

If the government's initial suspicion ETA was behind the blasts is right, that could benefit Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's ruling Popular Party (PP) which has campaigned on its tough line against the separatist group, analysts said.

If, however, some indications al Qaeda could have been behind the attacks gain credence, many Spaniards might point a finger at the PP for stirring Muslim wrath by backing Washington and London in Iraq.

03-12-04 carib: I do not think we know the full story is Spain yet. One cannot rule out arabs and rogue <etarras> running joint operations. Terrorists normally love each other. The point is killing them, separately or jointly, if necessary. Personally, as I do not live or pay taxes in Spain, I do not care much if PP or PSOE win the elections: I do not love either, but both are acceptable. I would just hate to see an electoral result determined by a bunch of murderers..

03-12-04 PaxWax: <Vic> ~ it almost always is ETA, and besides, at the beginning everyone thought it was ETA, including Polanco's <Cadena SER> radio stations, always hostile to the PP. I have already posted that it didn't bear ETA's hoofprints, but perhaps it wasn't meant by them to do so. Right now I'd rather think about the victims' families, and leave the pennysimple ANAL-ysis to others, and the investigation to the specialists.

03-12-04 apagonazo: No Referendum in Venezuela. Posted

03-12-04 victorn: paxy <probably you did not hear Aznar's speech today, in which he said that no possibility was ruled out> i heard part of it, but consider that immediately after the attack they said it was eta, because it's convenient for them to say so.

Index of older articles by date
*NEW* Historical archive from 1998-1999

Please read our disclaimer.

General Correspondence: bradynet@bradynet.com Questions/Problems? support@bradynet.com