Squawk Box Europe

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• Investors Throw Spain a Lifeline as Economy Shrinks

  

  With record unemployment figures, a fractious political scene, years of declining retail sales and Wednesday's depressing growth data, Spain appears to be sinking. Yet an improvement in risk appetite and falling borrowing costs continue to prop up the economy.

• Venture Capital in Britain Is Not Very Good: CEO  

  

  David Richards, CEO at Wandisco, tells CNBC that the British venture capital industry has too many people from an accounting background and not enough people from a technology background.

• Markets Reacting Well to Spanish GDP: Expert  

  

  Fernando Fernandez from the IE Business School, tells CNBC that the Spanish data has to be put in perspective and is not really that bad considering the amount of fiscal consolidation.

• Crude Oil Market 'Quite Tight': Pro  

  

  Mark Lewis, director of commodities at Deutsche Bank Securities, tells CNBC prices are in oil are stable which is evidence that the crude oil market is tighter than people realize.

• European Equities Are Place to Be: Strategist  

  

  Christian Gattiker-Ericsson, global investment strategist at Julius Bär, tells CNBC that they remain constructive on the market and expect it to do well at least until the end of this quarter.

• European Markets Open Slightly Easier  

  

  Steve Sedgwick takes you through the European markets which have opened slightly easier.

• Crescent Petroleum: Most Stable Period for Oil Prices  

  

  Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum, tells CNBC that a general sense of instability post the Arab Spring has already been factored in to the oil price but there has been no direct impact from the Algerian hostage attack.

• Qiagen CEO: Business Environment Remains Challenging  

  

  Peer Schatz, CEO of Qiagen, tells CNBC they are looking at increasing the outlook for 2013 but will continue to manage the bottom line very actively.

• Swedbank CEO: We Are Extremely Well Positioned  

  

  Michael Wolf, CEO of Swedbank, tells CNBC that despite the economy 'biting' they are proud to have adjusted the bank to the new regulatory environment.

• Roche CEO: We See a Stable Headcount in Europe  

  

  Severin Schwan, CEO of Roche, tells CNBC that 2012 was a very good year for Roche with the company outgrowing their markets in both Pharma and Diagnostics by five and four percent.

• Retailers Must Be in the 'Sweet Spot': CIO  

  

  Chris Wyllie, Chief Investment Officer at Iveagh, tells CNBC that in retail the people who are winning are those who have the right marriage between online and offline.

• Lack of Supply in Commercial Property Market: Expert  

  

  David Hutchings, head of European research at Cushman and Wakefield, tells CNBC that the commercial property market in Europe rebounded in Q4 driven primarily by foreign investors.

• Investor AB CEO: I Am More Optimistic  

  

  Borje Ekholm, CEO at Investor AB, tells CNBC that he is an optimist about the economy long-term as wealth-creators and the growth of the emerging markets will drive it.

• Nat Rothschild: Bumi CEO 'Not At All Qualified' 

  

  Nathaniel Rothschild, chairman of NR Investments, tells CNBC that it is staggering that he has been the lone voice of reason in raising issues of bad corporate governance at mining company, Bumi.

• Mark Carney on the Banking System  

  

  Mark Carney, incoming governor of the Bank of England, says he did not see signs of complacency amongst policy makers but there is still work to be done on the banking system.

• Should Investors Care About the Economy?  

  

  Paul Donovan, deputy head of Global Economics at UBS, Andrew Slimmon, managing director at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Roger Nightingale, strategist at RDN Associates discuss whether investors should care about the underlying economy.

• Market Rally 'Long From Over': Pro  

  

  Andrew Slimmon, managing director at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, tells CNBC that he thinks the market rally is long from over and although many people are expecting a pullback, he questions whether it will come.

• European Markets Open Higher  

  

  Karen Cho takes you through the European market open, with a focus on Spain as the Troika visits the country.

• Gas Politics Between Ukraine and Russia  

  

  Simon Quijano, EMEA Chief Economist at ING, tells CNBC there will always be a tug of war with Ukraine between Western Europe and Russia.

• The Outlook for Soft Commodities  

  

  Kona Haque, commodity research analyst at Macquarie Group, talks to CNBC about how to trade soft commodities.