Copper in need of a health check October 15, 2012 COPPER was yesterday given a short boost. Economic data coming out of China indicated that its inflation rate fell to 1.9 per cent in September, from 2 per cent the month before. However, this news was not enough to dispel worries of a Chinese hard landing, and the metal closed flat at $8,132.4 (£5,060.84) a [...]
Analyst picks for 15 October 2012 October 15, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Long New Zealand dollar-dollar Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: A few hours to a few days Last week I explained that I took a new long New Zealand dollar-dollar position at $0.8175. Alongside new stimulus measures expected from China, as the new leadership comes [...]
UK finances in spotlight with inflation data October 14, 2012 BRITAIN’S finances will be brought sharply into focus this week with details of the annual inflation rate, minutes of the October Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and public finances data. On the corporate front, housebuilder Bellway is expected to extend the sector’s positive run tomorrow, with preliminary results. Today’s news includes a trading update from Fresnillo, [...]
Markets react with caution as US corporates hit by global downturn October 14, 2012 CENTRAL bank-fuelled gains took markets within reach of five-year highs in September, but US stock market participants are shifting their focus back to corporate outlooks, and the picture is not pretty. Early earnings reports have underlined those concerns, which may be exacerbated when dozens of major companies – including Dow components General Electric, Microsoft and [...]
Put in the firing line by a master business partner October 14, 2012 THE aborigine guide’s eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the bright yellow pyjamas, and he said “you had better take those off mate.” So David Norwood stripped down to his underwear and we set off on our wild pig shoot in the north of Australia. Asked why he had worn them in the first [...]
Britain isn’t working… quite as hard as you might think October 14, 2012 THE glass is almost always half full for entrepreneurs. Reality is best put on the backburner when facing the trials of running a business. Hot off the press, the 2012 Hiscox DNA of an Entrepreneur study confirms that those running small and medium sized businesses in the UK, US, Netherlands and Germany are confidently facing [...]
It might be prime time to refinance October 14, 2012 HISTORICALLY low interest rates and government schemes mean that it may make sense, for some borrowers at least, to remortgage their homes. But data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders serves as a stark reminder as to how tight conditions still are. In 2011, £46.6bn worth of remortgages were taken out by borrowers in 375,000 [...]
FTSE breaks its losing streak as US jobless data provides some cheer October 11, 2012 BRITAIN’S top shares snapped a three session losing streak yesterday, led higher by gains in commodity and financial stocks as a fall in US jobless claims fuelled recovery hopes. The weekly claims figure was the lowest for four years and complemented last week’s fall in US unemployment, providing another piece of evidence that the economy [...]
Apple share drop erases market gains October 11, 2012 US stocks ended flat yesterday after gains brought by a sign of improvement in the labor market were erased in part by a drop in Apple shares after a legal setback in a court ruling. Apple fell two per cent to $628.10 after a US appeals court overturned a preliminary injunction on the sale of [...]
FTSE driven lower by collapse of BAE’s mega-merger with EADS October 10, 2012 GLOBAL growth worries prodded Britain’s top share index lower yesterday as a failed merger with a French peer hurt shares in defence and aviation firm BAE Systems. London’s blue chip index closed down 33.54 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 5,776.71 as volumes on the index remained light as whole, just 88 per cent of [...]