What you need to know before the open – 17/12 December 17, 2013 A string of inflation numbers today will provide the main focus for markets, with UK data for November expected to remain at multi month lows – 2.2 per cent on an annualised basis. The US consumer price index could well rise on an annualised basis, which may prove telling, given the current uncertainty [...]
Boris Island misses out on new runway shortlist December 17, 2013 Both Heathrow and Gatwick have been shortlisted as possibilities for new runways by the Airports Commission this morning. None of the Thames Estuary options have made the shortlist, but the commission said that it will be deciding next year whether the Isle of Grain – Boris Johnson's favoured location – could provide a feasible option alongside [...]
Sofa.com put on the block after jump in revenue December 17, 2013 HOME furnishings group Sofa.com has brought in advisers to help with a potential sale of the business, it confirmed yesterday, after reporting a 35 per cent surge in full-year sales. The armchair and sofa retailer’s founders Rohan Blacker and Pat Reeves have called in financial advisory firm Altium to explore their options, which could include [...]
CNBC Comment: Market blinkered over Irish comeback December 16, 2013 IRELAND has completed a remarkable comeback and has become the first of the European bailout countries to exit the programme. It’s an amazing achievement given everything that has been thrown at Eire. Genuinely well done! OK, enough of the back-slapping. As we clear away the party poppers in Dublin and Brussels, perhaps someone should remember [...]
DailyFX: Analyst picks December 16, 2013 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Stay long sterling-yen Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: A few hours to a few weeks I remain long on sterling-yen from ¥167.05, despite the brief pullback from yearly highs just above ¥170.00. As long as momentum remains bullish, sterling-yen remains a buy on dips. [...]
4 reasons to be happy about the end of teaching December 16, 2013 Skills and Enterprise minister Matthew Hancock has unveiled plans for teachers to take a backseat when it comes to "imparting knowledge", with computers and personalised online tuition leading the way. A Whitehall unit has been set up to look at how children can be taught by computers that use algorithms to pace work according to [...]
Labour’s land grab will only exacerbate our housing crisis. Here’s why December 16, 2013 Ed Miliband is set announce details of how a Labour government would intervene in the housing market to boost supply. A Labour government would give local councils the power to purchase land or charge fees to believe developers are hoarding land. The Labour leader will say in a speech on Monday: We will back home [...]
Here’s why 2014 could be a great year for the US December 16, 2013 The US economy is transitioning to faster growth and higher interest rates, according to a research note by Deutsche Bank. Joseph LaVorgna, Chief US Economist said: We expect monetary policymakers to soon transition to a slower pace of monetary accommodation. This implies that over the next year, long-term interest rates are poised to rise significantly [...]
Positive manufacturing numbers bring little cheer to Eurozone GDP December 16, 2013 Unfortunately, the modest rise in Eurozone purchasing managers' index (PMI) doesn't do much to change to view that GDP growth in the region is likely to have been weak in the fourth quarter. The headline index rose from 51.7 to 52.1, its highest level since May 2011. But a third consecutive monthly decline in the [...]
All this analyst wants for Christmas is Fed tapering. Here’s why December 16, 2013 Most would put the uncertainty of a Fed tapering announcement near their top of big 2013 unknowns – and some strong data from the US has convinced some Fed watchers that they may start to remove monetary support. But the discussions over when the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will actually get round to tapering [...]