Istanbul Fashion Week - Istanbul Fashion Week is the first official fashion event that unites our country’s leading fashion designers and apparel brands, gathers fashion under a single roof in Turkey and carries it to the world’s fashion calendar, thereby distributing our country’s intense energy in fashion. In other words, it is our country’s “official fashion week”. Istanbul’s biggest fashion event “Istanbul Fashion Week” (IFW); is organized by ITKIB, with the support of Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency, with the cooperation of Fashion Designers Association (MTD) and the United Brands Association (BMD). Organized with the mission to strengthen our country’s fashion, design and textile sector, and to provide information to the world in this respect, as well as the marketization of our designers and fashion brands to the world markets, to create new markets; IFW also contributes to the national brand positioning of our brands and strengthens the image of the brands. FW aims to increase the competitive power of the Turkish textile and fashion sector, which has stood out mainly with its production potential. It also aims to encourage its growth, and support the creation of a market by increasing the recognizability of our fashion designers in the region and in the local market, while contributing to the economy for the nation by creating a potential for exports.>>

Turkey is one of the fastest growing economies in OECD,The Turkish economy has grown steadily over the last 27 quarters with an average rate of 7%. This growth is expected to continue in coming years with a lower rate due to the global financial crisis. After the 2001 financial crisis, Turkey made important structural reforms which have led to improve her financial system. Therefore, Turkey is relatively less affected by the global crisis. Although nowadays Turkey has to deal with debts which mostly belong to private companies, effects of the global financial crisis to Turkey are not going to be an internal one on the most part, but it is going be an external one as less demand for exports. Also previous crisis experience of Turkish businessmen and economy officials make Turkey more resilient to the global financial crisis today. Being the commercial center of southeastern Europe, Middle East and Eurasia, Turkey is becoming an increasingly important economic and diplomatic country in the region. Between 2001 and 2007, Turkey’s GDP have increased by 242% totaling to USD 656.6 billion and she became the 15th largest economy in the world.>>

Monthly AT-A Glance : “2Q results generally good, but now watch the referendum”

Markets reacted favorably to the Fed’s FOMC meeting announcement that it would begin “reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities”. This is considered ‘QE light’ by some US economists, and we agree with this view. However, the FED scared the markets with prospects of a double dip. If there is one, equity markets seems overvalued, although the situation would be supportive of global rates. Given this global backdrop, and considering that the bulk of the earnings season is over, and that a public referendum is approaching, there is not much left to keep up positive sentiment in the markets.

As part of our 2010 strategy, and on the back of the global developments, we recommend our investors to stay on the side lines in the short term. We anticipate a complex and volatile correction in the markets that is likely to last into late 3Q/early 4Q, before resuming the cyclical bull market.>>