Gold prices edge up as crisis fears heighten February 26, 2013 ZeroHedge has these numbers for a quick gold comparison: Today’s AM fix was USD 1,597.25, EUR 1,219.65 and GBP 1,052.07 per ounce.Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,592.50, EUR 1,201.89 and GBP 1,051.85 per ounce. (ZeroHedge) Gold is typically a commodity that you get into when you expect volatility. Italy's electoral deadlock has renewed fears about [...]
Hungary enough to eat a horse February 26, 2013 A watchdog has now found horse masquerading as beef in Hungary, as near daily revelations start to give a picture of the scale of this continent-wide mislabelling scandal. Data from Kantar today showed that sales of frozen burgers in the UK are down 43 per cent in the four weeks to February 17, and frozen [...]
Pound plummets as Tucker talks experimental policy February 26, 2013 Monetary Policy Committee member Paul Tucker has been talking foreign exchange during the Treasury Select Committee, remarking that it would be foolish to engage in a currency war. Tucker dismissed activism as foolish, saying that we must avoid slipping back into protectionism, must avoid balkanisation in global finance and beggar-thy-neighbour policies generally. However Tucker has [...]
UK retail growth crawls ahead February 26, 2013 The Confederation of British Industry has released its quarterly Distributive Trades Survey (release). Expectations of 16 per cent growth were dashed as figures showed growth of a mere 8 per cent, the lowest since September and down from 17 in the last quarter. This marks the third consecutive period in which retail growth has slowed. While [...]
We are all flexible inflation targeters now February 26, 2013 Since Mark Carney has made the debate about flexible inflation popular, the members of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Treasury Select Committee seem keen to impress that they are fans of some degree of flexibility. Earlier Ian McCafferty noted that the Bank has effectively had a flexible regime since birth. His colleague Paul Tucker [...]
The Eurozone “isn’t something that could go wrong, it has gone wrong” February 26, 2013 Speaking at the House of Commons Treasury Committee, Monetary Policy Committee member Professor David Miles remarked that the Eurozone "isn't something that could go wrong, it has gone wrong". He reminded the committee that many European economies appear to be going backwards, with growth rates close to zero. Ian McCafferty spoke on the Bank of [...]
Bank of England’s Bean says UK will recover this year February 26, 2013 The Monetary Policy Committee's Charles Bean has suggested that the UK could recover as early as this year: At present, my expectation is that growth will gradually strengthen this year and next on the back of that, a further easing in credit conditions, and an improvement in the global environment. But downside risks remain, [...]
Taxpayers’ Alliance campaign calls time on excessive beer duty February 26, 2013 Today the TaxPayers' Alliance calls on chancellor George Osborne to reduce the UK's punishing beer duty with their new campaign, Mash Beer Tax. Their website notes that: High taxes make your drinks more expensive, with tax often constituting a third of the price of a pint. In the last 4 years, 5,800 pubs have [...]
Italian regulators consider short selling ban February 26, 2013 Italy's regulator says considering short selling ban.(you know when things are going pear-shaped when they blame speculators). — Steve Collins (@TradeDesk_Steve) February 26, 2013 Italian regulators have implemented temporary short selling bans before, and to do so again could make matters worse. Fidessa's Dr Christian Voigt has written for us before on the misguided thinking [...]
Trading in Credit Suisse and UBS halted February 26, 2013 Trading in Credit Suisse and UBS was halted for 15 minutes as markets continue to panic. Shares in Italian banks halted before they've even opened. — Jamie McGeever (@ReutersJamie) February 26, 2013 Seeing as FTSE MIB was up nearly 4% at one point yesterday, we're talking about a nearly 9% swing in the stock market [...]