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Thursday, January 2, 2014
Greek Tyropita Migrates to USA
Washington Post: Better Numbers But Problems For Greece in 2014
Can Greece repair its reputation?
Privatizations and Debt : Lessons From The Greek Fiasco
I believe in the future of Greece
Gamesa sells Greek wind farm
Greek Dec mfg PMI up to 49.6
10 Things You Need To Know This Morning (DIA, SPY, QQQ)
Good morning! Here's what you need to know.
Stocks in Asia were mostly higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.1%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.29%. Korea's Kospi dropped -2%. European stocks were lower across the board, and Turkey's BIST 30 index continued to plummet thanks to the ongoing corruption crisis there; it was down more than -2%. U.S. futures were up. The first Global PMI Day of 2014 continues to roll along nicely, as purchasing mangers around the world have released mostly positive surveys of manufacturing activity. So far out of 17 countries reporting, just two have turned in readings below 50, meaning they're contracting. South Korea's PMI figure hit a seven-month high, and Indonesia and Vietnam's PMI surveys saw their largest gains since April 2011. Even PMI for Greece, one of the two countries that printed below 50, climbed to its highest level in more than four years. The most disconcerting PMI survey came out of France, which was the other country to come in below 50, hitting a seven-month low of 47.0, with sharp drops in new orders, output, and employment. Markit's Jack Kennedy commented, "Anecdotal evidence suggested that lingering uncertainties continue to hold back the spending and investment that are necessary to support a recovery in the sector." Turkey's PMI fell sharply, to 53.5 from 55.0 in November. We already mentioned how Turkish stocks were plummeting today. The Turkish Lira is also getting hammered, with the dollar spiking to new highs against the sovereign. Turkey's Deputy PM recently told CNBC-e that the country is facing a "mini coup" from factions linked to a Pennsylvania-based cleric who has been accused of attempting to create a "state within a state," though there is disagreement about the nature of his followers, and the situation seems to be more about a power struggle. Jefferies' David Zervos has a pretty good track record on investing calls — most of which also happen to rhyme. Last year, for instance Zervos told clients to go long "Spoos and Blues," or long stocks and the Euro. Today, he basically says go long risk all risk assets, in the form of riding the tech stocks surge, because there's very little to suggest the economy would turn south. In a new note, he writes: "It’s time to go fully risk on and dump the hedge!! And what better way to play for a Fed induced liquidity blow-off bubble top than with one of the original bubble babies of the past – QQQ’s. We are still a long way from the peaks of 13 years ago!! It’s finally time for “Spoos and Q’s.” Wells Fargo downgraded Apple to "market perform" from "outperform" while keeping its valuation range at $536 to $581. Analyst Maynard Um cited pressure on gross margins and limited market opportunity, as well as a shift in power to wireless providers. Shares were down close to 1% pre-market. We get four big economic data points today. Weekly jobless claims fell to 339,000 from a revised 341,000, though the data likely suffered from seasonal noise. Then at 9 a.m. we get the US PMI, which is expected to decrease slightly to 54.5 from 54.7. At 10 a.m., we'll get both the Institute of Supply Management's latest manufacturing survey, which is expected to climb slightly to 57.3 from 57.0; and construction spending data, which is expected to have climbed 1% in November. The first legal pot sales took place in Colorado and went off without a hitch. "It's kind of a relief, frankly," a Denver city councilman told the Denver Post. "This could have gone a lot of different ways. So far, so good." BI's Haley Hudson was on hand to cover the day live.Join the conversation about this story »
GLOBAL PMI DAY: 15 OF 23 NATIONS REPORT ACCELERATED MANUFACTURING GAINS
Fifteen of 22 nations reporting manufacturing data saw gains accelerate in December.
At the beginning of each month, Markit, HSBC, RBC, JP Morgan, and other data gathering institutions publish the latest local readings of the purchasing managers index (PMI). Each reading is based on surveys of hundreds of companies in each country.
We'll be covering most live as they come out.
About two-thirds of countries reporting data have seen faster expansions than in November. The global index also edged higher.
As a general rule, manufacturing PMI™ surveys are always released on the first working day of each month, construction PMIs on the second working day and services PMIs on the third working day.
These are not the most closely followed data points. However, the power of the insights is unparalleled.
Jim O'Neill, Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, believes the PMI numbers are among the most reliable economic indicators in the world.
Here's the scorecard for Thursday so far:
South Korea: HSBC Manufacturing PMI — 50.8, up from 50.4 in November; a seven-month high
China: HSBC Manufacturing PMI — 50.5, down from 50.8 in November, and a three-month low
Vietnam: HSBC Manufacturing PMI — 51.8, up from 50.3 in November; the sharpest expansion of output since April 2011
Taiwan: HSBC Manufacturing PMI — 55.2, up from 53.4 in November; also the greatest expansion of output since April 2011
Indonesia: HSBC Manufacturing PMI — 50.9, up from 50.3 in November; the fourth-straight month of gains
Spain: Markit Manufacturing PMI — 50.8, up from 49.8 in November; output rises at fastest pace since May 2011
India: HSBC Manufacturing PMI — 50.7, down from 51.3 in November; business conditions improve for second month in a row
Ireland: Investec Manufacturing PMI — 53.5, up from 52.4 in November; firms raise output for fourth month in a row
Netherlands: NEVI Manufacturing PMI — 57.0, up from 56.8 in November; new orders increase at sharpest rate since April 2011
Poland: HSBC Manufacturing PMI — 53.2, down from 54.4 in November; employment continues to rise at solid pace
Turkey: HSBC Manufacturing PMI — 53.5, down from 55.0 in November; index remains above long-term average
Czech Republic: HSBC Manufacturing PMI — 55.4, up from 54.7 in November; eighth-straight month of expansion
Italy: Markit/ADACI Manufacturing PMI — 53.4, up from 51.1 in November; output growth hits 32-month high
France: Markit Manufacturing PMI — 47.0, down from 48.4 in November; index at seven-month low
Germany: Markit/BME Manufacturing PMI — 54.3, up from 52.4; index at two-and-a-half-year high
Eurozone: Markit Manufacturing PMI — 52.7, up from 51.6 in November; 31-month high
Greece: Markit Manufacturing PMI — 49.6, up from 49.2 in November; output expands for second-straight month
UK: Markit / CIPS Manufacturing PMI — 57.3, down from 58.1 in November, which had been a 33-month high
Australia: Ai Group PMI — 47.6, unchanged; contraction continues
Brazil: HSBC Manufacturing PMI — 50.5, up from 49.7 in November; output climbed for the fourth-straight month
U.S.: Markit Manufacturing PMI — 55.0, up from 54.7 in November; output at highest level since March 2012
Canada RBC Manufacturing PMI — 53.5, down from 55.3 in November; a four-month low
Mexico: HSBC Manufacturing PMI — 52.6, up from 51.9 in November; output growth accelerates to 10-month high
Worldwide: JPMorgan Manufacturing PMI — 53.3, up from 53.1 in November; 32-month high
Join the conversation about this story »
EU presidential stint will challenge Greek leaders
Italian, Greek navies rescue hundreds of would-be migrants
Turkey hopes Greece will continue supporting its EU bid
Greece beats target for taking up EU co-financing funds
Greek wind power market picks up again
Greek Cyprus broadcaster airs ex-leader's message
'Greek Pony' Maker Namco is Back in the Game
Another 4000 Suspensions in Greek Public Sector
Greek Wind-Powered Electricity Capacity Grew 6.6 Percent in 2013
Greece seeking 'a new narrative for Europe,' Venizelos says
Greece Readies Next Round With Troika
ATHENS – Another year and another set of tense talks with international lenders looms for Greece as Jan. 1 broke, coinciding with the beleaguered government taking the rotating, six-month symbolic helm of the European Union Presidency. While the government was preparing for the pomp and circumstance, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras was readying his negotiating guns […]
The post Greece Readies Next Round With Troika appeared first on The National Herald.
Samaras Says Bailout Ends, Recovery Begins
ATHENS – Almost four years after Greece began receiving the first monies from what would be $325 billion in two rescue packages from international lenders, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said as the bailout ends that the country will begin to get back on its feet. That would be welcome news – if it happens – […]
The post Samaras Says Bailout Ends, Recovery Begins appeared first on The National Herald.
Greece Fears Terrorism Spike Coming
ATHENS – After unknown gunmen peppered the home of the German Ambassador with a spray of bullets, Greek law enforcement officials are worried it could signal the start of a new wave of terrorist activity against targets ranging from politicians to bankers, journalists and businesses. Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias said Greece would stand firm […]
The post Greece Fears Terrorism Spike Coming appeared first on The National Herald.
Bribery of foreign officials goes under-punished in the EU
Recent revelations concerning the bribery of the former Secretary-General for Armaments of the Greek Ministry of National Defense, Antonis Kantas, by German and other EU based companies have underlined the need for the EU’s executive body to take action, Greek MEP says.
Thodoros Skylakakis (ALDE, GR) addressed the European Commission with a question about the non –or under implementation- of international and European agreements on bribery and corruption on international level.
According to the apology of Antonis Kantas, he received bribes amounting to tens of millions of euros from more than ten foreign weapons’ systems businesses.
Among others, Mr Kantas received: 500.000 – 600.000 euros for the supply of electronic systems for submarines from the German company STN ATLAS, 600.000 euros to avoid causing problems on the German-Greek transaction for the German Leopard tanks from the company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, 400.000 euros for the rearmament of the Greek Navy with the French surface-to-surface missiles, Exocet and 240.000 euros for the Swedish artillery-hunting radar ARTHUR from the Swedish company Ericsson.
According to official data presented by Mr Skylakakis and sourced from the OECD's Anti-Bribery Convention, “active enforcement occurred in only four EU Member States and little or no enforcement in 12 EU Member States”.
Moreover, the Greek MEP argues that even in cases were active monitoring and evaluation mechanisms exist the results are not encouraging. “The OECD report on a big EU Member State that has one of the better scores in the TI Corruption Perceptions Index (6th among EU countries in 2011) shows that from 2005 to the end of 2010, 69 individuals were sanctioned, out of which 30 were criminally convicted and 35 were sanctioned under an arrangement under which they only had to pay fines. Out of the 30 convicted individuals, 23 received suspended prison sentences and 4 served time in prison. Among the suspended prison sentences, four concerned individuals convicted for “especially serious” cases of bribery of foreign public officials (cross-border dimension of corruption),” he writes in a recent thematic paper.
As far as OLAF cases are concerned, Mr Skylakakis stresses that according to the responsible EU Commissioner Algirdas Semeta “since the year 2000, 281 out of a total of 647 cases transferred by OLAF to national judicial authorities were dismissed” thus “no further follow-up was given to these cases by the national judicial authorities”. In the rest of the cases the conviction rate is also low “with an EU average of 41%.”