Bank minutes to show appetite for QE as public borrowing is revealed November 18, 2012 MINUTES from the Bank of England’s November monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting will this week give further clues about the appetite for further quantitative easing (QE) and the extent to which the recent rise in inflation has affected the committee’s decision making. The release is due out on Wednesday, along with public sector net borrowing [...]
So-called fiscal cliff could lead to opportunity November 18, 2012 THE 1987 crash. The Y2K bug. The debt ceiling debacle of 2011. All these events, in the end, turned out to be buying opportunities for stocks. So will the fiscal cliff, some investors say as they watch favourite stocks tumble during the political give-and-take happening in Washington. The first round of talks aimed at avoiding [...]
Guard yourself against the dangers of biting inflation November 18, 2012 INFLATION is a silent thief that can rob the value of your investment capital. The consumer price index rose by 2.7 per cent in the year to October, up from 2.2 per cent in September. Though some argue that it will come down again, it has overshot the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target [...]
Why going for gold could be a wise investment choice November 18, 2012 GLOBAL gold demand may be on the decline – down 11 per cent, or 138.9 tonnes from the third quarter of 2011. But it has had a series of highs since the economic downturn. Gold is the classic “store of value”. It’s traditionally seen as a safe haven in troubled times, providing a hedge against [...]
Oil baron: How to profit from a chance discovery November 18, 2012 THE argan tree isn’t found in many suburban gardens. Native to southwest Morocco and the Israeli Negev, it grows knotted and thorny, thriving only in harsh semi-desert environments. But Dana Elemara, organic food enthusiast, import-exporter, and supplier to the cosmetics industry, found a way to capitalise on this exotic survivor. Formerly of Goldman Sachs, Elemara [...]
Deaf to all criticism: Finding inspiration in some unlikely places November 18, 2012 IT WAS the worst speech I’ve ever heard. The proud winner of an entrepreneurial award thanked the judges for their clever choice and then pranced around the stage, spouting his amazing life-story. He had struggled to grow up in poverty, living between an abattoir and a brothel. At an early age he started a business, [...]
Taxing times for Britain’s start-ups November 18, 2012 YOU’VE found your niche, you’ve written your business plan, you’ve arranged suitable financing. Surely that’s the hard part done? All that remains is the difficult work of growing your company, making your sales, and pleasing your customers. Unfortunately, it’s not true. Before a business is even registered, every entrepreneur becomes enmeshed in Britain’s complex, opaque, [...]
FTSE hits two-month low as fears over Eurozone drive sharp sell-off November 15, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index fell to a fresh two-month low yesterday, as news that the Eurozone had fallen back into recession provided an impetus to break out of recent ranges. The UK blue-chip index was down 44.26 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 5,677.75 at the close, finishing below 5,700 for the first time in [...]
Weak Wal-Mart sales weigh on jittery Wall St November 15, 2012 US stocks were little changed yesterday as the prospect of a drawn-out battle over impending tax and spending changes made investors wary of getting into the water, while retailer Wal-Mart tumbled after disappointing sales. The S&P 500 is down nearly two per cent for the week, adding to last week’s selloff and eroding more of [...]
Bullish US fails to prop up the FTSE as Eurozone fear weighs on stocks November 14, 2012 UK shares fell yesterday, testing a two-month low but failing to break a main support level as growth fears in Europe led stocks that are vulnerable to a downturn in economic activity lower. The FTSE 100 index was down 1.1 per cent at 5,722.01 points at the close, having gained 0.3 per cent in the [...]