If investors are patient and don't let nervousness get the better of them when prices fall or rise, stocks are the financial asset that offers the highest returns. Since 1900, shares in companies listed on the Spanish stock exchange have yielded an average of 2% more than bonds and long-term government debt, according to the study. Global investment returns yearbook 2026 (Global Investment Performance Yearbook 2026) published by the Swiss bank UBS in collaboration with Professor Paul Marsh and Dr. Mike Staunton (London Business School) and Professor Elroy Dimson (University of Cambridge) with data from 35 countries.

If the stock market is the thermometer that indicates the health of an economy, in the case of the Spanish economy there would be no cause for complaint. Despite the highly polarized political context, it seems that for now it hasn't significantly impacted economic activity. Another issue, aside from macroeconomics, is the lack of budgets for the third consecutive year in both the national and Catalan governments.

Good news for stock market investors. With the words of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as a backdrop, the Ibex 35 has once again reached annual highs like those seen 17 years ago (December 2007), with an advance of 0.61%, to 15,396.8 points. With this trend, it is increasingly closer to its all-time high of 16,040 points, reached in the last month of that year.

If there is a determining element in BBVA's offer (takeover bid) for Sabadell launched a year ago, this is the price. And analysts and brokerage firms, who have revised the price the Catalan bank should have based on its results, prospects, and shareholder remuneration, place it at up to more than 33% above the offer from the Basque financial institution, up to 3.5 euros per share. This is more than Wednesday's price and nearly 13% more than the offer price. Torres is referring to the letter he sent to his staff. to the opinion of the National Competition Commission (CNMC) of April 30, which set conditions for the possible merger, which BBVA assumed. But it ultimately unanimously endorsed the operation. It is now pending. the public consultation which, in an unprecedented move due to a business merger, was launched by the central government and which will last until this Friday.

A global bank, BBVA, with significant subsidiaries in Mexico and Turkey, wants to take control of a deeply rooted bank, Banc Sabadell. These are two very different business models. And a year after the takeover bid (OPA), which was described by the Catalan bank's board of directors as hostile, uncertainties remain. The market is betting that the group chaired by Carlos Torres Vila will ultimately improve the offer, even though he has publicly rejected it. In fact, he can't do anything else, since it's unlikely he'll announce it in advance.