Posts tagged: economy

Reasons To Cheer

By , April 12, 2019 7:06 pm

[ Update to Investing in Greece ]

Greece’s long-term credit rating was raised in March by Moody’s by two notches from B3 to B1 with a stable outlook. In the process, Moody’s noted that the “ongoing reform effort is slowly starting to bear fruit in the economy.”

In a recent note, Global X ETFs exchange provider, notes “Greece’s stock market is off to a strong start in 2019, helped by the country’s broad economic growth reaching its fastest annual increase since 2007. In Q1, the markets were up 15.2% and forecasts put 2019 GDP growth at annualized 2.4%, versus Europe at just 1.3%”.

“Further powering returns was a recovery in consumer confidence to almost pre-crisis levels,” said Global X. “Private consumption helped drive in strong performance during Q1 within the communication services sector and the casinos & gaming sub-industry. Such improvements follow labor gains with unemployment falling by 3% in 2018 and national account data reflecting improvements in labor productivity.”

in 2019, we see a healthy rise on the indicators shown below. The GREK fund is a good indicator since represents 17% weight to consumer discretionary stocks. This means strengthening of the Greek consumers.

Sources: Global X | benzinga

 

Investing in Greece

By , March 18, 2019 9:19 pm

[Related: Reasons to Cheer ]

Investing in Greece is one way of helping the country’s economy, while may also be beneficial to your wallet. However, there is a caveat that no investment is safe like money under the mattress or in the fridge. With that in mind, *Always do research before investing*

Recently, Greece issued its first bonds since exiting its bailout program, and the demand was received as a strong indicator to what is viewed as another positive step toward normalcy.

Athens’s debt office sold about €3 billion in sovereign bonds, the country’s first bond issue following various bailout packages. Those bonds yield 3.6%.  In addition, the country is also planning an 11% increase to its minimum wage, a sign that the days of austerity maybe coming close to an end.

There are signs of improvement in the economy, and one ETF [GREK] could continue to garner the attention of tactical investors this year if Greece makes good on expectations of steady economic growth – GDP growth forecast of 2.5 percent for 2019.

“Greece’s economy will expand by around 2 percent in 2019, the influential Greek Foundation of Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) think tank predicted on Tuesday, slightly below a previous forecast of 2.4 percent,” according to Reuters.

As an example, GREK is a single-country emerging markets exchange traded fund issued by Global X MSCI Greece ETF [GREK]. GREK plunged 30% last year, but year-to-date keeps moving up from $6.80 at the beginning of the year, to $8.20 on March 18, a rebound of +20%

GREK is a $240.87 million ETF which follows the Greek equity market with just 34 holdings, concentrated in energy and financial services. Currently it has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of C (Neutral), and is ranked #64 of 91 ETFs in the European Equities ETFs category.

 

Sources: ReutersETF Daily News | Benzinga | Yahoo Finance


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