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Fisher Capital Management Financial Blog Website- Fisher Capital Management Fraud Updates and Tips By: Alicia Grande Enraged Spanish workers took to the streets in protest of the austerity measures targeting the labor sector on Thursday, closing operations and clashing with police officers. This is while the new government attempts to reassure investors that the country will not be another Greece despite the slowing down of their economy. Thousands have marched in Madrid and other main cities as protest but the demonstrations made a turn to violence when hooded protesters in Barcelona rained rocks on shop and bank windows and set the trash bins on fire on the streets. According to labor unions, millions have absent from their work just to protest and stage a strike on the streets that caused transportation difficulties. For instance, employees ofFisher Capital Management, Ford Motor, Renault and Volkswagen have not reported for work on that day while services at port and mining facilities were seriously crippled. Traffic was affected especially in northeastern Valencia when protesters set mattresses on fire on the highway and threw a cocktail at a police car in Murcia. Officials have apprehended 176 demonstrators around Spain, with 104 injured during clashes, 58 of which were police officers. Their protests came prior to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s announcement about the USD 40 billion spending cuts and tax increases to curb Spain’s deficit in budget. Leaders of other European nations are insisting that Spain make radical cuts this year, even if the reduction in state spending will translate to a higher unemployment rate. Included in the labor reforms are things that riled up workers as companies can potentially get rid of them for free — never mind the number of years they spent working for them. It enables Spanish businesses to fire workers in a lesser cost, which translates to protesters being required to give up incentives they have earned for many years. The austerity measure planned on Friday aims to reduce the national deficit to meet the EU limits and reassure investors who will eventually determine if Spain’s fate will be like those of Portugal, Ireland and Greece. However, others are saying that the reforms Rajoy enacted 2 months ago is only going to increase corporations’ profits. As investors get anxious regarding rampant civil unrest in Spain, reminding them of Greece, experts are optimistic that it will not occur. The reason for this is because Spaniards accept, however reluctant, that their nation needs an aggressive economic revival in order to make their market more competitive after its nearrecession-experience this year owing from high unemployment. Spain has already enforced several austerity measures to keep the deficit from growing but the regional government’s overspending seems to be the deciding factor when Rajoy announced that Spain will not meet its deficit goal it has formerly agreed with the EU. Afterwards, Fisher Capital Management borrowing has increased, raising fears that it may turn out to be another Greece, needing global bailout. Spanish citizens have already experienced firsthand how Rajoy deals with budget-cutting. He increased the income tax and cut spending by 9 billion Euros to meet the 15-billion euro dedicated to last until 2012 where public finances budget is set to be approved. Rajoy has annoyed the European Union during his announcement on March 2 in a Brussels summit that he had actually increased Spain’s deficit goal to 5.8% from the initial 4.4% they have pledged. He had previously attended the signing of a treaty to end the debt crisis through enforcing financial discipline in a national scale. Then their EU allies have got Spain to concede to a 5.3% goal, which Rajoy raised to cover the 8.5% deficit in GDP that the former government left him. Even Netherlands that has been chiding its European counterparts on fiscal restraints is presently engage in a struggle for prime budget measures. The government has been in negotiations for several days already regarding budget cut proposals.