Saturday, April 28, 2012

Here Comes All the Pain In Spain Stuff




Forbes' Joshua Brown writes: I was doing TV the other night and when I mentioned Spain as being something to watch for this summer, the host shut me down, saying “I’m bored with Spain.”

You don’t have to be interested in Spain, because Spain is now interested in you, Papi.  It’s fixing to send a wave of disturbing headlines your way this summer whether you’re bored or not.  Here’s the playbook in case you weren’t paying attention:

1.  First something crazy happens there – riots, protests, government shutdowns, whatever.  52% of Spanish youth are unemployed, the only surprising thing is that they haven’t torn the place apart already.

2.  Then Germany and France make a big show about how they’re not bailing it out or in or whatever.

3.  Then the other ratings agencies downgrade it past the point of usefulness as Spanish sovereign CDS blows out, bond yields climb and European equities are waterboarded.  US stocks start to struggle with a rising dollar, Treasurys knock on the door…

4.  Everyone freaks out and then the IMF starts running their mouths and we play the headline-driven Risk-On, Risk-Off game again for a few weeks.

5.  Bailout.  US equities go wild to the upside again as people come back to their senses and realize that things ain’t so bad here and stocks are the only game in town in the end.  We end up going nowhere but we take the long road to get there.

Is this going to happen for sure?  I don’t know, but I’m mentally preparing for it….

Don't stop reading now.  Go to http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuabrown/2012/04/27/here-comes-all-the-spain-stuff/

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