Twenty-four carat case for gold September 18, 2012 AS WARREN Buffett famously said: “You can’t eat gold.” But US dollars are not particularly nutritious either and neither are pounds sterling. However, the amount of food you can buy with your gold is steadily increasing, and has been for the last decade; whereas what you can buy with a wallet full of fiat currency [...]
Central bankers finally deliver September 18, 2012 MUCH has happened since Lehman collapsed four years ago: three rounds of easing from the Fed, four from the Bank of England, five Eurozone bailouts, two waves of bond purchase programmes and two rounds of long-term refinancing operations from the European Central Bank (ECB). The result is that G7 policy rates are at or near [...]
Accounting for a disruptive future September 18, 2012 Professionals should consider the broader shifts in businesses THE future is unwritten,” said the late, great punk prophet Joe Strummer. But this message could equally have come from a business futurologist. Whatever the source, every business in every sector has a responsibility to start planning the opening chapters for their future development and growth. Finance [...]
US stocks fall as oil prices hit energy shares September 18, 2012 US stocks fell yesterday in light trading after a rally that drove the S&P 500 last week to its highest level in nearly five years and as falling oil prices hit energy shares. The decline broke a four-day streak of gains for the S&P 500. On Friday, both the Dow and the S&P 500 ended [...]
FTSE retreats from half-year highs reached after Federal Reserve fillip September 17, 2012 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 retreated from half-year highs yesterday, in what strategists said was likely to be a profit-taking pause in a threemonth- long rally stimulated by global central banks. The benchmark share index has risen some 12 per cent since the start of June, propelled by expectations of central bank action that took effect in [...]
Learning how to live with open-ended QE September 17, 2012 FEDERAL Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke last week did what the markets had been waiting for. He announced that the US central bank would be rolling out another round of its controversial quantitative easing program (QE3). The Fed will commit to monthly asset purchases of $40bn (£ 24bn) until a substantial improvement is seen in the [...]
A Grexit scenario may be disastrous for Germany September 17, 2012 FX360 ACCORDING to a recent report, some economists predict that the likelihood of a Greek exit (Grexit) from the European Monetary Union (EMU) is between 50 and 75 per cent. Some even put the chances 90 per cent – an awfully high number. If Greece does leave the EMU, we should consider the potential unintended [...]
The Tipster | Imperially smoked September 17, 2012 AFTER a difficult period in early September, investors in Imperial Tobacco will be hoping that Thursday’s update will give the company momentum. Share prices sit in the middle of its 52-week range, after being hit by Russia’s ban on smoking in public. But continued growth in emerging markets should give investors something to cheer about. [...]
Eastern dragon threatens to bite September 17, 2012 IF YOU think that the world’s financial ills have all been resolved, think again. Lingering geopolitical tensions in the east have the potential to shake markets, and could sting traders if they are not positioned appropriately. THE DRAGON ROARS Today marks the anniversary of the invasion of Manchuria, when Japanese forces invaded a northern region [...]
Analyst picks for 18 September 2012 September 17, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Long Aussie dollar-dollar Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week The Aussie dollar-dollar failed to break out on Friday, with an inverse hammer pattern forming on the daily chart at the descending trend line. Given the Fed’s dollar debasement programme, we [...]