The Tipster | Bad reception at Vodafone February 4, 2013 TRADERS were rattled when Vodafone was downgraded by two brokers yesterday, over concerns about its revenues from Europe. And the telecoms giant may be in for an icy reception when it delivers its interim management statement on Thursday. Speculation is mounting that it may need to acquire other businesses to compensate for its shortcomings. GFT [...]
Banks cast off Eurozone insurance February 4, 2013 THE longer term refinancing operation (LTRO) – the European Central Bank’s (ECB) original miracle drug for the liquidity constraints dogging the Eurozone – has reached a crossroads. The banks that first took the pill now want to prove the dosage should be reduced, or stopped altogether. The hope is that reduced budget deficits, increased competitiveness, [...]
Analyst picks for 5 February 2013 February 4, 2013 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Long dollar-yen and euro-yen Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: A few hours to a few days The euro is appreciating rapidly; the European Central Bank is the only major central bank that is reining in its balance sheet. The most noticeable divergence has been [...]
Ocado to reveal its progress on road to profits February 3, 2013 OCADO will be in the spotlight this week as the online grocer reveals whether it is edging closer to making a profit. The firm has recently hired Sir Stuart Rose as chairman and is also gearing up to open a second distribution warehouse in Warwickshire. Ocado, which was founded in 2000, is yet to go [...]
Great rotation may be just a bullish January February 3, 2013 WALL Street’s current jubilant narrative is that a rush into stocks by small investors has sparked a “great rotation” out of bonds and into equities that will power the bull market to new heights. That sounds good, but there is a snag: The evidence for this is a few weeks of bullish fund flows that [...]
The trusted brand with personality at its core February 3, 2013 YOU may have seen Clippy McKenna’s eponymous preserves on your supermarket shelves. Her two-man show (it is just Clippy and fiancé Paul Gorman working at the business; everything else, including the actual jam-making, is contracted out) now stocks its products in some of the biggests stores – including Tesco and Harvey Nichols. After graduating as [...]
Disney ending for the man who started golden era of animation February 3, 2013 WHAT are the three words in the English language beginning with Dw? Our boozey boys’ lunch suddenly took an intellectual turn when someone lobbed in this cracker of a question. Our bodies momentarily froze and we stared into the distance, slight frowns, deep in thought, competition now upon us. “Dwarf!” someone yelled, and at first [...]
Business contests aren’t just vanity February 3, 2013 ERNST & Young has just opened nominations for its UK Entrepreneur of the Year competition. Previous category winners have included Hilary Devey of BBC’s Dragon’s Den (and more impressively, founder of Pall-Ex, the freight company), and the former boss of JD Sports Peter Cowgill. Certainly, of the many competitions out there, Ernst & Young’s has [...]
FTSE falls again as weak results dampen mood January 31, 2013 LONDON’S top shares closed lower yesterday as downbeat company earnings and mixed global economic data triggered the sharpest one-day fall on the FTSE 100 since mid-November. Earnings were in focus after updates from British oil heavyweight Royal Dutch Shell and drugmaker AstraZeneca, and Facebook in the United States, disappointed. Shell alone took 16 points off [...]
Markets ease ahead of key jobs numbers January 31, 2013 US stocks edged lower yesterday on caution ahead of today’s all-important jobs report, but the S&P 500 still posted its best monthly gain since October 2011. The benchmark S&P 500 advanced 5.1 per cent in January as investors cheered a compromise that temporarily postponed the impact of the “fiscal cliff” and fourth-quarter earnings were better [...]