Analyst picks for 2 July 2012 July 2, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Short Aussie dollar-dollar and Aussie dollar-yen Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week Technical divergences are building and it appears we have completed five waves up in the Aussie dollar-yen and Aussie dollar-dollar, the FX market’s barometer of risk-appetite. As such, [...]
LONDON REPORT July 1, 2012 ALL eyes this week will be on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which is on Thursday expected to inject another £50bn into the British economy. The decision is likely to be influenced by last week’s news that the double-dip recession is deeper than first thought. The Office for National Statistics said the [...]
WALL ST THE WEEK AHEAD July 1, 2012 US stocks finished the first half of the year with a bang as investors welcomed news that the Eurozone is a step closer to solving its 30-month-long debt crisis. Now for the question: Is this rally strong enough to last for more than a day? The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their best daily [...]
Libor scandal drags FTSE 100 into the red as banking stocks plunge June 28, 2012 BANKING shares dragged Britain’s FTSE 100 into negative territory yesterday, battered by concerns over the financial impact of an investigation into the fixing of interbank lending rates that has already engulfed Barclays. Barclays slumped 15.5 per cent in its worst daily fall since 2009, with four times the usual number of shares traded in London. [...]
Stocks volatile over EU, banks and Obamacare June 28, 2012 US stocks fell yesterday but pared back sharp losses late in the session on talk of progress by European leaders in easing the region’s debt crisis, while the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding a landmark healthcare law hit large health insurers. Markets are especially skittish about any shift in expectations for the Eurozone as European Union [...]
Boosted by bank and commodity stocks, FTSE breaks its losing run June 27, 2012 BRITAIN’S leading shares bounced back yesterday, snapping a four-session losing streak, with commodity and banking stocks squeezed higher as worries over the global growth outlook were eased by some upbeat US data. Volumes were again low, however, as most investors preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of a crucial European summit. The FTSE 100 [...]
Surprisingly positive data lifts US shares June 27, 2012 U S stocks rose yesterday as stronger-than-expected economic data helped lift energy stocks, overshadowing concerns a European Union summit will not yield tangible progress in easing the debt crisis. The energy sector showed the strongest gains among the 10 major S&P 500 groups, rising 1.9 per cent as oil prices settled higher at $80.21 a [...]
Employee freedom: Olympics and beyond June 27, 2012 AS WE head towards the Olympic Games, many companies have been making contingency plans for the anticipated congestion that this will cause in London. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), almost three in ten employers say they will try and accommodate requests from employees to work from home, 17 per cent [...]
A workspace is not a workplace: A mobility strategy is crucial June 27, 2012 DIRECTOR UK ENTERPRISE, CISCO Q What are the key drivers behind a mobility strategy? A The workspace is no longer a workplace. Successful businesses are reducing their dependence on expensive office property and enabling a mobile workforce to be productive wherever they are most effective. A business is only as good as its people. Retaining [...]
OLYMPICS BY NUMBERS June 27, 2012 10.8m ticketholders (8.8m Olympic, 2m Paralympic). 200,000 people in the workforce. Including 6,000 staff, 70,000 volunteers and 100,000 contractors. 1500 UK firms have won over £6.3bn of Olympic Development Authority contracts. LOCOG has awarded a further £1bn. 118 overseas teams have signed pre-games training camp agreements in communities across the UK. 1m pieces of sport [...]