Barcepundit (English edition)

2013-05-20T12:15:00.001-04:00

IF YOU WANTED PROOF THAT THINGS ARE GETTING UGLY:

El Corte Ingles SA hired Morgan Stanley (MS) to help reorganize about 5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) of debt owed by Europe’s largest department store chain, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The retailer is renegotiating terms of its borrowings with lenders including Banco Santander SA (SAN), said the people, who declined to be identified before the deal is complete. The Madrid-based company wants to relax covenants governing terms of the debt, including an extension of maturity, said the people.
El Corte Ingles is grappling with a collapse in consumer confidence after Spain’s unemployment rate surged to 27.2 percent in the first quarter, the highest in at least 37 years. Efforts to tackle the European Union’s biggest budget deficit crimped economic growth, with retail sales falling almost 11 percent in March compared with a year earlier.

2013-05-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

THINGS YOU BUMP INTO ON THE INTERNET: World's tiniest monkey eats a noodle (video)

2013-05-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

SPAIN, MONEY, AND THE TELEGRAPH:

In the past week there has been an enormous uproar in Spain created by an opinion article published in The Daily Telegraph under the title "Spain is officially insolvent"

Do we really believe that an article is so important that it could change anything if what it says is untrue?

The article, let's be clear, says nothing new or that has not been written before in reports by Citigroup, Exane, JP Morgan or a handful of local analysts.

I live in London and work in the City and as a Spaniard it angers me often to see how my country constantly revises and changes economic data expecting no one will notice and praying we can hold our breath for another month. No, the lack of confidence of markets is not due to the foreign press, but to of our track-record.

So, on to the article, let me clarify some concepts without entering into hopeless patriotism. Spain is not yet insolvent , but if it continues to spend and avoids tackling its debt issues hoping that someone else solves its problems, it run the risk of becoming so.

Keep reading.

2013-05-20T07:35:00.001-04:00

UH OH: Anonymous Cincinnati IRS official: “Everything comes from the top.”

2013-05-20T07:30:00.000-04:00

AND THAT'S WHAT SOME PEOPLE call "a real democracy": Maduro admits to knowing “the IDs and all” of the 900.000 Chavistas who did not vote for him.

2013-05-17T07:33:00.000-04:00

INTERESTING MAP of the world’s most and least racially tolerant countries.

2013-05-16T09:46:00.001-04:00

HOW EUROPEAN stereotype one another, in one chart.

2013-05-16T07:30:00.000-04:00

DUBAI TIMELAPSE: awesome video.

2013-05-16T07:09:00.001-04:00

POSTUREO: Dimite el jefe de la agencia tributaria de EEUU por acosar a conservadores.

¿Por qué escribo "postureo"? Muy sencillo: porque el mandato de Steven Miller, que era el director interino del IRS (equivalente a la Hacienda de EEUU), se acababa en una semana.

2013-05-15T12:17:00.001-04:00

SAY HELLO to the 100 Trillion Bacteria That Keep You Healthy.

2013-05-15T11:26:00.001-04:00

HYPOCONDRIACS BEWARE: How to Convince People WiFi Is Making Them Sick.

2013-05-15T10:15:00.001-04:00

DANIEL LACALLE: "The slump of bond yields seen recently is not the result of the successful policies of our governments."

2013-05-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

AWESOME: Ferrari World theme park in Abu Dhabi.

2013-05-14T07:30:00.000-04:00

AN INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION of migration flows across the world. Great website.

2013-05-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

If you want to introduce someone to libertarian thinking, encourage them to try this experiment. Spend a few days reading nothing but technology news. Then spend a few days reading nothing but political news. For the first few days they’ll see an exciting world of innovation and creativity where everything is getting better all the time. In the second period they’ll see a miserable world of cynicism and treachery where everything is falling apart. Then ask them to explain the difference.
- Andrew Zalotocky

2013-05-09T07:32:00.001-04:00

FROM THE 'scientists with too much time on their hands' department:

Carrying a guitar can increase the chances of you getting a date by a third, according to a study by researchers from the University of South Brittany.
The study found that women were 31% more likely to give their number to a man carrying a guitar - double the amount of people who would give their number to the same man when he was empty-handed.
But this technique only works if your [sic] a man, women are not seen any more or less attractive if they carry a musical instrument.

2013-05-08T12:17:00.001-04:00

H. PYLORI REDUX? Antibiotics could cure 40% of chronic back pain patients.

2013-05-08T12:11:00.001-04:00

HARD FACTS AND PROPAGANDA:

Gun crime has plunged in the United States since its peak in the middle of the 1990s, including gun killings, assaults, robberies and other crimes, two new studies of government data show.
Yet few Americans are aware of the dramatic drop, and more than half believe gun crime has risen, according to a newly released survey by the Pew Research Center.

Let alone Europeans...

2013-05-06T10:48:00.001-04:00

"SMILE IF YOU'RE EUROPEAN. It’s all relative: why it’s not so bad to be European after all." Not yet, buddy; not yet. More seriously, he does have a point.

2013-05-03T08:30:00.000-04:00

THE LATEST Evian commercial is really brilliant:

2013-05-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

WSJ VS. RAJOY: "Madrid's attempts to take a bigger chunk from a shrinking pie aren't working out too well."

2013-05-03T07:36:00.000-04:00

SPOT ON:

The Segway. The Bluetooth headset. The pocket protector.
What do these three technologies have in common? They all pretty much work as promised. They all seem like good ideas on paper. And they’re all too dorky to live.

2013-05-02T07:30:00.000-04:00

CITI: These 10 Technologies Are Completely Changing The World

2013-05-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

HEARTWARMER OF THE DAY: blind and disabled 16-year-old girl sings "Star Spangled Banner" before a game.

2013-04-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

WHY I LOVE THE INTERNET: 14 Hairless Cats That Look Like Vladimir Putin - By Elizabeth F. Ralph | Foreign Policy