| Latest
News from Our Recommended Offshore Securities Broker Thales Securities,
S.A. |
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Panama
rates BB+ with Fitch
IMF DELEGATION
TO VISIT PANAMA TO REVISE PUBLIC FINANCES
New York
†Business Wire Nov. 17, 2004 |
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| Fitch
Ratings, the international rating agency, recently assigned a long-term
foreign currency rating of â€BB+†to the Republic
of Panamaâ€s US$600 million bond issue maturing in 2015. The
proceeds of which will be used for pre-financing part of the 2005 budget.
The Rating Outlook is Stable. |
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| Supporting
factors in Fitchâ€s decision include: Dollarization, a stable
financial system, and the govern-mentâ€s considerable financial
and land assets. Dollarization has resulted in a long history of monetary
and price stability unseen in other emerging markets. In addition, it limits
the probability of a devalua-tion-induced increase in public debt ratios
or a balance of payment crisis. |
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| The
ratings remain constrained by the structural weaknesses in public finances,
a high level of public sector debt, and limited progress on structural
reforms, as well as weak social indicators. |
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| After reaching
4.1% in 2003, momentum continued into 2004, with real GDP growth expected
to approach 6.0%.The main drivers of economic growth continued to be construction,
the Colon Free Zone, and Panama Canal operations. Construction growth has
been helped by favorable tax breaks and is expected to decelerate in 2005.
The Colon Free Zone has benefited from stability in Andean countries and
Brazil, while revenues from the Panama Canal have benefited from robust
global trade trends, as well as changes in the toll revenue structure. |
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| The new administration
of President Martin Torrijos, which took office on Sept. 1, appears committed
to tackling some of the structural weaknesses in public finances. |
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| In it's first
days in office, the government announced that fiscal slippage was greater
than anticipated during the first three quarters of the year and formally
requested a suspension of the Fiscal Responsibility Law as the non-financial
public sector deficit is expected to approach 5% of GDP. |
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| Currently,
an IMF delegation is visiting Panama to revise public finances. |
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Greenspan
Concerned with Weak Dollar
WARNS THAT
THE U.S. MUST DEAL WITH THE CAUSES OF THE WEAK DOLLAR
New York
†CNN/Money Nov. 19, 2004 |
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| Federal Reserve
chairman Alan Greenspan warned that the U.S. must deal with the causes
of the weak dollar †the U.S. trade deficit and the federal
budget deficit â€or the country could run into economic problems
down the line. Greenspan said that while history has shown that developed
countries are not necessarily hurt by a weak currency,â€we
cannot become complacent. History is not an infallible guide to the future,â€
he said in a speech delivered in Europe. â€More will need to
be done in Europe as well as in the United States to ensure that our economies
are sufficiently resilient to respond effectively to all the shocks and
adjustments that the future will surely bring,†he concluded. |
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| Greenspan
focused on the nationâ€s current account deficit, the measure
of both trade and investments across the national board, which he said
has risen to more than 5 percent of gross domestic product, the broad measure
of the nationâ€s economy. Greenspan said it is therefore important
that the U.S. budget deficit be cut, a move that would reduce the current
account deficit. â€Reducing the federal budget deficit (or
preferably moving it to surplus) appears to be the most effective action
that could be taken to augment domestic saving,†he said. |
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| Remarks
send the dollar lower |
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| The value
of the U.S. dollar, which has been hitting a series of four-year lows versus
the yen and record lows against the euro during the last couple of weeks,
fell following Greenspanâ€s remarks. |
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| The Fed chairman,â€left
little imagination to currency traders other than to sell the US currency,â€
said Ashraf Laidi, chief currency analyst at MG Financial Group. He said
Greenspanâ€s comments warnings about future declines in the
dollar unless the federal budget deficit is reduced were particularly telling
to the markets.â€This last comment is crucial, especially when
the U.S. Congress last night rejected restrictions on tax cuts and spending,
and raised the federal debt limit by $800 billion, to $8.18 trillion,â€
Laidi said. |
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| Economist
Robert Brusca of FAO Economics suggested that he doesnâ€t agree
that the speech is a warning from Greenspan about a weak dollar.â€If
anything Greenspan is afraid that the dollar will not get weak enough,
and as a result the U.S. current account deficit could stay too large for
too long,†he said. A call to shrink the US current account
deficit, as long as we conclude that is it not a call for a recession in
the U.S., is also a call for stronger growth abroad and for a weaker dollar,â€
said Brusca. |
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| Not a crisis |
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| Greenspan
said that so far the evidence is that there is still strong demand for
U.S. assets by overseas investors and central banks. |
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| Those investments
help limit the current account deficit and keep the dollar from sinking
further. |
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| Greenspan
said he did not foresee a crisis in markets if the United States does not
close its so-called twin deficits. While he didnâ€t identify
what potential crisis he was referring to, some economists have suggested
that a sudden collapse in the value of the dollar was possible without
taking steps to close the deficits. Greenspanâ€s comments seemed
to dismiss that worst case scenario. Greenspan began his comments saying
he was speaking as an individual, not for the Federal Reserve. |
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Thales
Securities Offers Spot Gold and Silver Trading
NEW TRADING
OPTIONS FOR CLIENTS
Panama
City, Panama †Thales NewsWire Nov. 17, 2004 |
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| Spot trading
of Gold and Silver |
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| Thales Securities
now offers spot trading of Gold and Silver against the US Dollar, directly
on live tradable prices, between 02:00 AM to 19:30 PM CET. |
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| Trade orders
outside of this time period are also supported, and are traded through
the Forex Trade Module in our ThalesTrader trading platform, They can also
be traded through trade orders including Market, Limit and Stop orders.
Market Orders are available to trade as soon as possible but we accept
no responsibilities for price slippage between the close and open prices
on the next days trading. |
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| Spot Commodity
Trading |
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| Spot Gold
and Silver are the first in a new range of spot tradable commodities that
are ideal for both long and short-term speculative investing. Open and
close Spot Gold/Silver positions immediately at the price displayed for
trades of up to: |
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| Gold/US
Dollar, Spot: Troy Oz Silver/US Dollar, Spot: Troy Oz Trade sizes over
our Max Trade size must be approved by a dealer, which normally takes just
a few moments. |
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| Spot Commodities
allow you to short sell as easily as taking a long position and support
all the Market, Limit and Stop order types to control your positions. |
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| Aggressive
Leveraging |
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| Leverage small
price movements in these market commodities by up to 50 times with our
low margin requirements. With these low margin requirements you need deposit
just 2% of the trade value in collateral during weekdays and 4% over weekends. |
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Thales
Securities Introduces Equity Alert and Analytic Tool
THALESTRADER
GETS NEW ANALYTIC TOOL
Panama
City, Panama †Thales NewsWire Nov. 16, 2004 |
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| Stay tuned,
stay ahead, stay smart. Thales Securities is introducing a new equity analysis
and alert tool in the ThalesTrader. Download the platform now and start
expanding your technical abilities. |
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| The Equity
Technical Analysis Tool (ETAT) provides automatic updates and notification
of price movements and other key equity information. Itâ€s
free, and built into the ThalesTrader... another great benefit to trading
with Thales! |
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| Your new,
no-cost approach to: Gathering more and better technical information
on stocks that are of specific interest to you. For example, ETAT can generate
a list of recent events related to a specific security that can provide
you with deeper and more nuanced view of the price and market activity
of that stock. |
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| Uncovering
new trading opportunities. The Technical Event Stock Screener lets you
search for stocks that have demonstrated particular price behavior. |
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| Inbox upgrading
as you can now receive daily alerts about specific stocks or technical
events that occurred the previous day. You can also set up your own criteria
regarding specific exchanges or industry sectors. |
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| Charting and
analyzing detailed information about patters and events that are derived
from the program. Expand your knowledge of technical analysis with ETATâ€s
detailed help and education materials. Learn more by going online and start
trading with a preferred, advanced technical tool. |
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Thales
Securities CFDâ€s and Futures
THE THALES
SECURITIES DIFFERENCE
Panama
City, Panama †Thales NewsWire Nov. 22, 2004 |
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| CFDs and
Futures Enhancements |
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| Following
many requests from our clients and partners, Thales Securities is pleased
to announce the release of some major enhancements to our CFD and Futures
product lines. |
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| CFD (Contracts
for Difference) |
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| As of Monday
November 22nd, we have been extending our range of CFDs from 1500 . This
will gradually increase to around 7500 CFDs. |
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| Placing
Trade Orders CFD DMA (Direct Market Access) |
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| Very little
has changed on the place Order screen of the CFD Trade module but be aware
that all CFD limit and stop orders are placed relative to the underlying
stock price. |
These
are the new markets:
FTSE 350
FTSE Small
cap. (ex. SEAQ) â€341â€
Frankfurt
(Xetra) HDAX/MDAX 160
France SBF250
250
Amsterdam
AEX/AMX 49
Belgium Bel20
20 Spain IBEX 35 35
Switzerland
SMI 26
Italy MIB30
256
Portugal PSI
20
Ireland ISEQ
52
Sweden OMX
30
Norway OBX
25
Denmark KFX
20
Finland HEX
20
Austria ATX
20
Greece ASE
20
NYSE Comp
2040
Nasdaq Comp
3253
Australia
ASX 200 200
Hang Seng
33
Singapore
STI 45
Nikkei 225
Total: 7490 |
CFD
DMA (Direct Market Access)
FTSE 350
FTSE Small
cap. (ex. SEAQ) â€341â€
Frankfurt
(Xetra) HDAX/MDAX 160
France SBF250
250 Amsterdam AEX/AMX 49
Belgium Bel20
20
Portugal PSI
20
Denmark KFX
20
Finland HEX
20
Australia
ASX 200 200
NYSE Comp
2040
Nasdaq Comp
3253
Total: 6723
Futures
†Futures DMA Trade Module To better cater to Futures
traders, we now offer futures on a DMA-basis where you can participate
directly in the exchange order book.
New DMA screen
in the Futures Trade Module
As with the
new CFD Trade Module, the Futures Trade module will now allow you to: Trade
at the current market yellow strip price (limit orders), Join the current
market price - Buy at the Bid and Sell at the Offer Price, Trading as soon
as possible (Market Orders) |
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