Perhaps in order to celebrate its manufacturing PMI dropping from 53.9 to a below expectations 52.8, refuting the "growth story" promoted by its definitionally re-revised GDP (where the long overdue boost from hookers and blow is finally leading the country to new and improved Keynesian growth curves), moments ago Spain joined the likes of Canada, Caterpillar and Goldman and just issued, for the first time in its history, 50 Year bonds in a private placement. From Bloomberg:
- SPAIN SELLS EU1B 50-YR BONDS
- SPAIN TREASURY SELLS FIRST-EVER 50-YR BONDS, COUPON 4%
And since there is no hope that Spain will ever repay this bond, whose rate is dictated by anything - mostly the ECB's monetary policy - but the fundamentals it is functionally equivalent to Spain raising new equity without a maturity date and a 4% dividend.
The only question is whether the buyers of this syndication are the Elliotts of the world, who are happy to wait the 1-3 years until this too bond joins Argentina in the "trading flat" category, before they exercise their legal powers as yet another debt-for-equity conversion transfers billions in public assets into private hands.