Financial Press Review, December 2

The end of the year is closing in and different balance sheets, most of them negative, especially due to the economic recession, have to be drawn up.

A large number of people are considering new investments in order to generate decent profits and not substantial incomes like in the previous years, when the economic boom made that possible.

The Ziarul Financiar reads that gold investments have been by far the most lucrative this year, taking into account that the price of gold charged by the NBR has increased by 41 percent from the start of the year, while the Bucharest Exchange Trading index of ten most important companies listed on the stock market increased by 8.6 percent, and Financial Investment Companies have lost almost 13 percent.

Therefore, an investor with a capital of RON 1000 invested at the beginning of the year, would have earned a profit of RON 660 if he had invested in Trans Mediaş shares or would have lost almost RON 2500 if he had bought Banca Transilvania shares.

This theory applies to the RASDAQ market also, where a RON 1000 investment in Electromagnetica shares would have yielded a profit of RON 700 whereas the same amount of money invested in Comrad Intertrade securities would have resulted in a 50 percent loss.

In 2007 it was the other way around. Then, almost any liquid share would have brought in 100 percent earnings in only several months.

The same newspaper reads that over 10 million Romanians benefit from different social aids which cost the state EUR 2 billion annually.

The Ministry of Labour announced that they are working on a 'Social Code' that would include provisions on all these aids and would grant them only to those in real need of them.

The Curierul Naţional brings to the readers' attention the fact that the feelings awakened by the Irish public debt crisis has led to a change in currency exchange rates and, currently, one euro costs USD 1.3.

Tension persists on capital markets, and the danger of defaulting on debts is threatening not only South European countries (Spain, Portugal), but also important countries (Belgium, Italy and even France).

The announcements made in Brussels last Sunday regarding the European agreement for drawing up a EUR 85 billion package of loans for Irland to quell the crisis and the one on establishing a permanent bailout mechanism for helping euro zone countries at risk of defaulting on their debts did not offer any guarantees to investors.

Translated by Raluca Mizdrea and Gabriela Lungu
MA Students, MTTLC, Bucharest University