Latam Nationalizations: Dog Bites Man?

That a couple of Latin American countries have recently announced the expropriation of foreign investors in the energy sector seems hardly like new news. After all, cycles of nationalization and privatization have unfolded for more than half a century. Moreover, the expropriation simply marked the latest illiberal measures by Argentina and Bolivia, the two protagonists here. There is significant risk that others will follow Argentina and Bolivia

Argentina Fundamentals Still Deteriorating

A look at the fundamentals shows why Fernandez is engaging in such visible theatrics, which also includes recent vitriol regarding the Falkland Islands. Simply put, we think economic stresses are intensifying. How deep the stresses will get is yet to be determined

A Primer on Peak Oil

I ran across three separate articles on peak oil at well-regarded financial news sites today: The Economist, The Financial Times and Le Figaro. I thought I’d give you a run down of what they were saying and what it means for the economy and investing

[Premium] Dexia to increase Belgian deficit 2 billion every year

The rump Dexia now owned by the Belgian government is a structurally loss-making enterprise that will cost the Belgian government 2 billion in deficits every year from

[Premium] Peak oil explains the Repsol YPF expropriation in Argentina

I think this should be obvious to everyone by now, but peak oil is a clear factor in the Argentina/Spain oil crisis. Here’s what happened

[Premium] Daily commentary: On Spain’s death spiral and the nationalism of depression

Spain is involved in two stories today that point to the difficulties that surround sovereign governments that are overindebted in foreign currency. There are a ton of Spanish-language links for that reason

Argentina is not the model

There have been a lot of people talking about Argentina as if it were the model for other governments in sovereign difficulty to follow. Yes, Argentina’s decision to default was realistically the right call given the crushing debt load. And that is the path the euro zone periphery is on. But, beyond this, I fail

How not to resolve a banking crisis

Much of macroeconomic policymaking is trial and error. This column discusses calamitous error on the part of Iceland’s policymakers, in the hope that others can at least try something else

Dexia is seeking a new brand name

Belgian newspaper De Standarad reports that the folks at twice bailed out Franco-Belgian bank Dexia are looking for a new name for the company. Apparently, the Dexia brand has been tarnished.

Dexia is Belgium’s version of NCNB, now Bank of America, a small bank that grew enormously through expansion and acquisition

Full Text: Moody’s downgrades Spanish savings bank CAM to B3;

On Friday, I asked why CAM’s credit default swaps were soaring. This is why? Clearly someone had inside information

“Dexia was not a bank but a hedge fund”

If you recall Global Macro Monitor’s post on Europe’s Bank Problem last week, the IMF chart showed very well how banks were struggling to wean themselves from short-term funding sources and increase tangible common equity. The Belgians had made Herculean strides in this effort. But it has not been enough

Belgium will nationalise Dexia this weekend

Franco-Belgian bank Dexia is being officially nationalised according to two Belgian newspapers