Bloomberg reports on Argentina today:
The nation missed a deadline yesterday to pay $539 million in interest after two full days of negotiations in New York failed to produce an accord with creditors from its last default in 2001. A U.S. judge ruled that the payment couldn’t be made unless those investors, a group of hedge funds led by Elliott Management Corp., got the $1.5 billion they claimed.
Argentina has about $29 billion of bonds sold in international markets and denominated in foreign currencies with so-called cross-default provisions. Under their terms, Argentina would have to pay back the entire balance — plus unpaid interest — if at least 25 percent of holders demand that their money be returned. The potential liabilities are equal to the country’s foreign reserves, which are already hovering close to an eight-year low.
Argentine bonds spiked 12% yesterday in anticipation of a deal. No deal materialized!
The price of Argentina’s $4.3 billion of bonds due in December 2033 soared yesterday by 11.8 percent to 95.57 cents on the dollar, the highest level since 2010. The bonds were quoted at 95.89 cents today, according to prices on Bloomberg at 11:08 a.m. in London.
The Argentine peso will have to be devalued if the country is forced to make good on the debts. That throws gasoline on the already hot inflaton coals…
… The economy, already headed for its first annual contraction since 2002 amid 40 percent inflation, will suffer in a default scenario as Argentines scrambling for dollars cause the peso to weaken and activity to slump, according to Hernan Yellati, the head of research at Banctrust & Co.
Default Swaps soared, but I can show smaller and larger players alike how to make their own synthetic default swaps for a fraction of the costs the banks levy, and much more exact as well.
The country hasn’t been able to access international credit markets since its $95 billion default 13 years ago. Credit-default swaps to protect against losses from an Argentine default over the next three months had become the most expensive in the world yesterday, according to data compiled by CMA. The five-year contracts were quoted at a cost of $3.1 million plus $500,000 a year to insure $10 million of debt, CMA reported at 11 p.m. in London yesterday.
About $1 billion of Argentine sovereign debt is covered by the contracts, compared with $10 billion of Russian government obligations and $16 billion of Brazilian debt. The International Swaps & Derivatives Association is responsible for determining if a credit event has taken place to trigger payment to the holders. That decision would be taken by the association’s Determinations Committee, a group of 15 dealers and investors, only after a ruling has been requested by a trader.
This is how one will go about creating a very specific risk/reward profile through our UltraCoin client to speculate on/hedge against the Argentine situation…
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1lg9q2P Reggie Middleton