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’China’s lending boom, illustrated
Spot the odd one out in a Fitch survey on Thursday of emerging bank sectors (click to enlarge):
Yep. China and its lending boom — which authorities are now racing to rein in.
As Fitch’s analysts write (emphasis ours):
The CDS market doesn’t believe in Greece containment
So much for comforting markets.
After much to-ing and fro-ing, Greece requested €45bn in financial aid on Friday.
The result? Bond yields above 13 per cent on Monday. CDS above 700bps — and illiquid.
Breaking Greece cognitive dissonance news
First — Fitch downgraded Greece to BBB- with a negative outlook on Friday. Reuters:
15:29 09Apr10 RTRS-FITCH CUTS GREECE’s FOREIGN LONG-TERM ISSUER RATING TO ‘BBB-’ FROM ‘BBB+’
15:30 09Apr10 RTRS-FITCH SAYS GREECE’S OUTLOOK IS NEGATIVE
15:32 09Apr10 RTRS-FITCH SAYS GREECE’S TWO-NOTCH DOWNGRADE REFLECTS INCREASED INTEREST COSTS,
Spanish debt data point du jour
Delinquency rates for Spanish small to medium enterprises have begun to stabilise, Fitch reported on Wednesday.
While this is fairly good news, the data seem to underline how far Spain still has to go in solving its private debt problem,
Euro *fall*
Post the Fitch downgrade of Portugal, the euro has extended its recent fall.
The eurozone currency is now at its lowest level since May 2009:
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 has surrendered its early gains…
The Greek boy who cried (no) wolf — and a €25bn bailout
If Greece’s public debt management agency has a copy of Aesop’s fables to hand, we’d advise the staff to give them a read.
For it’s all too clear that Athens’ past indiscretions with the truth about its deficit are coming back to haunt the Hellenic Republic.
A spectre is mildly haunting Europe
…Because European bond yield spreads really were on tenterhooks on Tuesday, after a Fitch analyst commented on the continent’s shaky AAA sovereigns.
As Reuters flashed at the time:
RTRS-RPT-GREEK/GERMAN
GBK *alert*
It’s lost the psychologically important $1.50 level (irony intended, readers).
Reasons?
The UK trade gap widened in January to a 17-month high, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday morning.
Scratch(ed) and Dent(ed) RMBS
Here’s something that might have escaped your radar during Christmas week — a mass downgrade of so-called `Scratch and Dent’ RMBS deals by ratings agency Fitch.
A Scratch and Dent mortgage is a funny thing.
Are Chinese banks massaging their losses?
Ratings agencies aren’t generally known for expressing negative views, but Fitch has really done a number on Chinese banks in its annual review on the sector, currently making headlines around the world.
S&P and Fitch to Dubai: ‘not so fast…’
Ratings agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch have issued responses to Dubai’s surprise repayment of the now infamous $4.1bn Nakheel sukuk.
And just in case the emirate was labouring under any misconceptions,
Fair value foresight and equity destruction
A Friday accounting curio courtesy of Fitch Ratings.
The agency’s done a report on the US banks and fair value, looking at a sample of 20 of ‘em to estimate the impact of potential new accounting rules.
Greece is the word…
. . . on the lips of traders Wednesday morning:
Financials:
Bonds:
*GREEK 10-YEAR GOVERNMENT BONDS FALL; YIELD RISES TO 5.40%
GREEK-GERMAN 10-YR BOND YIELD SPREAD WIDENS 4 BPS TO 225 BPS
CDS:
The Greek collateral issue
Greece’s finance minister George Papaconstantinou and central banker George Provopoulos have been making statements following Tuesday’s sovereign rating cut by Fitch to BBB+.
Among the flashes from Reuters (our emphasis):
Fitch downgrades Greece to BBB+
Greek banking stocks were off more than 6 per cent most of Tuesday morning, following a move by S&P to put the Hellenic Republic on creditwatch.
Fitch, however, acted a tad more decisively on the day,