Νέα της στιγμής Φεβρουαριος 2012

GERMAN FINMIN SCHAEUBLE talking bout ESM and says Berlin assuming Eur 500M backstop will be enough.

GREEK PM PAPADEMOS will call emergency meeting with party leaders today or tomorrow to force agreement on further austerity measures.

ITALIAN PMI MANUFACTURING [JAN] 46.8 VS. EXPECTED 45.3.

FRENCH PMI MANUFACTURING [JAN] 48.5 AS EXPECTED.

GERMAN PMI MANUFACTURING [JAN] 51.0 VS. EXPECTED 50.9.

EUROZONE PMI MANUFACTURING 48.8 VS. EXPECTED 48.7.

ECB loan collateral plan said to be facing opt-outs by some nations, according to EU officials

U.S. ADP EMPLOYMENT CHANGE COMES IN AT 170K IN JANUARY VS. 182K PREDICTED, PREVIOUSLY REVISED TO 292K TO 325K

WSJ : Germany Insists on Greek Budget Controls
Germany is continuing its push for controls over Athens' budget, despite being rebuffed by Greece and other euro-zone countries at Monday's European summit.

U.S. Private Sector Added 170,000 Jobs in January; USD Little Changed

U.S. ISM MANUFACTURING COMES IN AT 54.1 IN JANUARY, LOWER THAN 54.5 EXPECTED, PREVIOUSLY REVISED TO 53.1 FROM 53.9

U.S. CONSTRUCTION SPENDING (MOM) RISES 1.5% IN DECEMBER VS. CONSENSUS ESTIMATE OF 0.5% GAIN, PREVIOUS INCREASE REVISED TO 0.4% FROM 1.2%
1 Feb 5:02:58 PM

Greek Finance Minister: final Greek debt deal is hours away.

The rumors of a 70% haircut on private Greek debt holdings are gaining more traction

Proposed Greek debt deal - 70% haircut, but GDP warrant exists that pays bond holders back if Greek economy rebounds.

FACT : Since S&P downgraded European Debt, the Greek stock market ETF (GREK) rallied over 40% in 14 days! L Was the downgrade good for Europe in the short-term? I will let you be the judge of that, yet GREK did have a decent two weeks following the news break.

Last summer when S&P downgraded the debt ratings on U.S. Government debt, what did the long bond due following the news? Another nice rally!

Eurozone may lower interest rate on Greek loans from the first bailout, according to sources

And lower interest rates on government loans could be part of Greek PSI deal, according to sources

German wants deeper cuts in the Greek budget, according to sources.

Greek private creditor deal held up in part by German and IMF differences, according to sources.

S&P report says Eurozone recession could end in 2012.

In other news, ratings agency Standard & Poor's predicts that 2012 will be a year of a soft landing for the Chinese economy. Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to fall to around 8% this year, from the 9.2% expansion in 2011, but the agency sees less chance of a medium or hard landing, with GDP grow slowing to 7% or 5%, respectively.

Deutsche Bank has this morning announced a worse than expected 76% drop in fourth quarter profits.

Unilever is also trading on its back foot after a revenue miss and possibly also on the back of what looks to be a rather despondent outlook for 2012, partly due to higher commodity costs.

The world’s largest manufacturer of insulin, Novo Nordisk, has released far better than expected profits.

Spanish lender BBVA has this morning announced its first quarterly loss ever.

EU officials have scheduled a Eurogroup meeting for Feb. 6 to discuss second Greece deal.

U.S. INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS (JAN 28) PRINTS AT 367K VS. 371K ESTIMATED, PREVIOUSLY REVISED TO 379K FROM 377K

U.S. CONTINUING CLAIMS (JAN 21) COMES IN 3437K, LOWER THAN 3535K PREDICTED, PREVIOUSLY REVISED TO 3567K FROM 3554K

U.S. NON-FARM PRODUCTIVITY (4QP) RISES 0.7% VS. 0.8% PROJECTED, PREVIOUS GAIN WAS REVISED TO 1.9% FROM 2.3%.

U.S. UNIT LABOR COSTS ROSE 1.2% VS. 0.8% PREDICTED, PREVIOUS DECLINE REVISED TO -2.1% FROM -2.5%

OECD: Eurozone bailout funds aren't large enough, need to have around EUR 1 trillion.

OECD: It's likely that bailout funds won't be able to meet fund-raising target from private investors.

OECD: ECB should consider QE to support growth and confidence.

FED'S CHAIRMAN BERNANKE: see signs economy improving amid fiscal policy risks

FED'S CHAIRMAN BERNANKE: U.S. recovery "has been frustratingly slow" and slow-growth U.S. economy "vulnerable to shocks".

FED'S CHAIRMAN BERNANKE: Outlook for U.S. economy "remains uncertain" and U.S. consumers "face significant headwinds".

FED'S CHAIRMAN BERNANKE: "Job situation" improved modestly in past year and U.S. has "long way to go" before job market is normal.

FED'S CHAIRMAN BERNANKE: Global economy "appears to be slowing". Events in Europe may harm U.S. economy

FED'S CHAIRMAN BERNANKE: We expect inflation to remain subdued

FED'S CHAIRMAN BERNANKE: Current policies would cause big U.S. budget gap. Current fiscal policy isn't sustainable.

FED'S CHAIRMAN BERNANKE: "Top priority" to make fiscal policy sustainable.

FED'S CHAIRMAN BERNANKE: Housing sales and construction remain depressed. Business sector has been a relative bright spot.

Greek PM Venizelos: ECB MUST be mobilized in debt deal

Meanwhile, Greece’s deal with private creditors is said to be only hours away. According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, people close to the negotiations say that only small differences remain so the agreement could be concluded “in hours”.

The main delay however is, according to the paper, “the rift between the IMF and Germany”. According to the Fund, cutting the €200bn in Greek debt simply won’t do the job of getting Athens’s debt down to 120% of gross domestic product by 2020. The IMF thinks it’s necessary for the “official sector”, such as the European Central Bank (ECB), to also swallow losses on its own Greek bond holdings.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Thursday that public sector creditors had already done enough to help alleviate the country's debt crisis.

"Greece needs a reduction of private debt claims of around 50 percent," he told German broadcaster NTV. "An additional contribution from the public sector is not needed."

German EconMin rejects ECB involvement in Greek restructuring.

ITALIAN PMI SERVICES 44.8 VS. EXPECTED 45.4.

FRENCH PMI SERVICES [JAN] 52.3 VS. EXPECTED 51.7.

GERMAN PMI SERVICES [JAN] 53.7 VS. EXPECTED 54.5.

EΖ PMI SERVICES 50.4 VS. EXPECTED 50.5; PMI COMPOSITE 50.4 AS EXPECTED.

Greek gov't spokesman says basic outline of PSI deal ready, talks now underway for second EU/IMF financing package

Final deal will be presented to heads of parties supporting PM Papademos for confirmation/approval

U.S. CHANGE IN NONFARM PAYROLLS PRINTS AT IN 243 JANUARY, MUCH HIGHER THAN 140K EXPECTED, PREVIOUSLY REVISED TO 220K FROM 200K

U.S. CHANGE IN PRIVATE PAYROLLS COMES IN AT 257K, WELL ABOVE 160K PREDICTED, PREVIOUSLY REVISED TO 203K FROM 200K

U.S. CHANGE IN MANUFACTURING PAYROLLS PRINTS AT 50K VS. 12K ESTIMATED, PREVIOUSLY REVISED TO 32K FROM 23K

U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FALLS TO LOWEST LEVEL SINCE FEB. 2009 AT 8.3% VS. 8.5% PREDICTED, PREVIOUSLY 8.5%

U.S. AVERAGE HOURLY EARNING ALL EMPLOYEES (MOM) RISES 0.2% IN JANUARY, IN LINE WITH EXPECTATION, PREVIOUS GAIN REVISED TO 0.1% FROM 0.2%

U.S. AVERAGE HOURLY EARNING ALL EMPLOYEES (YOY) CLIMBS 1.9% IN JANUARY, MATCHING WITH CONSENSUS FORECAST, PREVIOUSLY 2.1%

U.S. AVERAGE WEEKLY HOURS ALL EMPLOYEES WERE 34.5 IN JANUARY VS. 34.4 ESTIMATED, PREVIOUSLY REVISED TO 34.5 FROM 34.4

U.S. UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE (U6) FALLS TO 15.1% FROM 15.2% PREVIOUS.