< Disclaimer> < Return To Issue Index >

Panama rates BB+ with Fitch  IMF DELEGATION TO VISIT PANAMA TO REVISE PUBLIC FINANCES New York – Business Wire Nov. 17, 2004  Fitch Ratings, the international rating agency, recently assigned a long-term foreign currency rating of ‘BB+’ to the Republic of Panama’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.  Supporting factors in Fitch’s decision include: Dollarization, a stable financial system, and the govern-ment’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. 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.

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. 

In its 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. 

Currently, an IMF delegation is visiting Panama to revise public finances. 

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

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 – 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,“we cannot become complacent. History is not an infallible guide to the future,” he said in a speech delivered in Europe. “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. 

Greenspan focused on the nation’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 nation’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.“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. 

Remarks send the dollar lower 
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 Greenspan’s remarks. 

The Fed chairman,“left little imagination to currency traders other than to sell the US currency,” said Ashraf Laidi, chief currency analyst at MG Financial Group. He said Greenspan’s comments warnings about future declines in the dollar unless the federal budget deficit is reduced were particularly telling to the markets.“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,” Laidi said. 

Economist Robert Brusca of FAO Economics suggested that he doesn’t agree that the speech is a warning from Greenspan about a weak dollar.“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,” said Brusca. 

Not a crisis 
Greenspan said that so far the evidence is that there is still strong demand for U.S. assets by overseas investors and central banks. Those investments help limit the current account deficit and keep the dollar from sinking further. 

Greenspan said he did not foresee a crisis in markets if the United States does not close its so-called twin deficits. While he didn’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. Greenspan’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. 
..

With Your Privacy Concerns In Mind:  Our contact form is hosted and remains on our secure server. None of the  information that you input  into our contact  form will be transmitted via email, all the information you place into the form remains on our secure server and can only be viewed by those who are authorized to view it, and only through a password protected section.  No one else can read it.  Period.  Also note, to facilitate dealing with the firm we have added secure chat so that you can communicate with the firm in real time and ask relevant questions.  Click on the image to the left to access the firm via secure offshore chat, or click the link below to contact them via our secure form. ~ To Contact The Firm Please Click Here ~ .

Don't forget to read our  Disclaimer - It is posted at the top of this page and we want you to take it seriously.

Panama City, Panama – Thales NewsWire Nov. 17, 2004

Spot trading of Gold and Silver
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. 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. 

Spot Commodity Trading 
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: 

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. 

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. 

Aggressive Leveraging 
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. 

Thales Securities Introduces Equity Alert and Analytic Tool 
THALESTRADER GETS NEW ANALYTIC TOOL 

Panama City, Panama – Thales NewsWire Nov. 16, 2004 

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. 

The Equity Technical Analysis Tool (ETAT) provides automatic updates and notification of price movements and other key equity information. It’s free, and built into the ThalesTrader... another great benefit to trading with Thales! 

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. 

Uncovering new trading opportunities. The Technical Event Stock Screener lets you search for stocks that have demonstrated particular price behavior. 

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. 

Charting and analyzing detailed information about patters and events that are derived from the program. Expand your knowledge of technical analysis with ETAT’s detailed help and education materials. Learn more by going online and start trading with a preferred, advanced technical tool. 
 

Thales Securities CFD’s and Futures  THE THALES SECURITIES DIFFERENCE  Panama City, Panama – Thales NewsWire Nov. 22, 2004  CFDs and Futures Enhancements  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.  CFD (Contracts for Difference)  As of Monday November 22nd, we have been extending our range of CFDs from 1500 . This will gradually increase to around 7500 CFDs.

Placing Trade Orders CFD DMA (Direct Market Access) 
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) “341”  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) “341”  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)

..

~ To Contact The Firm Please Click Here ~ Thales Securities ,SA Torre Generali floor 22 Obarrio , Panama City. Rep of Panama  ++507-2636850

.

< Send a Letter to the Editor > < Subscribe> < Submit An Article >< Disclaimer>