NEW YORK REPORT May 14, 2012 US stocks slid yesterday as investors dealt with the one-two punch of worsening political upheaval in the Euro zone and the possibility that China’s economy may be softening more than previously thought. Economically sensitive shares, including banks and energy companies, paced the decline. Exxon Mobil lost 1.2 per cent to $82.12. The NYSEArca oil index [...]
LONDON REPORT May 14, 2012 BRITAIN’S stock market slumped to its lowest level this year yesterday and looked poised for further falls, with cheap valuations unlikely to lure back investors while concerns persist over Europe’s debt and the health of the global economy. Heavyweight energy and mining stocks made the biggest dent on the FTSE 100, with another cut in [...]
France surrenders its austerity plans May 14, 2012 THE French markets took a tumble yesterday on fears of a Greek exit from the Eurozone – the Paris Bourse index, the Cac 40, was already looking vulnerable with the fears that socialist President Francois Hollande would scratch the country’s signature from the European fiscal compact and abandon France’s attempts to take a grip of [...]
RISK ASSETS SAG WITH CENTRAL BANKS ON HOLD May 14, 2012 FX360 INVESTOR sentiment has turned less bullish over the last couple of months, with a marked pull-back in risk assets since the beginning of May. This contrasts with the sharp rally in major global stock indices, precious metals and oil that ran throughout the first quarter of this year. The current sell-off followed the news [...]
THE TIPSTER Aviva shedding profits and chief execs May 14, 2012 TO lose a chief executive is always rather unfortunate, but Aviva’s long-suffering shareholders must be hoping that Andrew Moss’s departure will allow the company to begin a recovery operation, but any effort will be long and involved. A possible sale of the non-life insurance operations might help shore up the capital base, but the group’s [...]
Hollande cannot be ultra radical May 14, 2012 FOR the third year running, Greece has managed once again to steal the limelight in the month of May. The Greek elections have managed to eclipse the results of the French elections, which resulted in one of the biggest political shifts seen in a major European economy in almost two decades. While events in Greece, [...]
Analyst picks for 14 May 2012 May 14, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Long euro-yen at ¥0.805, stop on a ¥0.7950 daily close Expertise: Technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week The cross rate has now accelerated to fresh yearly and multi-month lows, leaving daily studies well stretched and in serious need of a major corrective bounce. [...]
Two weeks to go: Buy your ticket for City A.M.’s trading conference May 14, 2012 Q What is your trading background? A Rakesh Shah started off in 1995 servicing hedge funds by setting up margin FX trading at investment banks. Emilio Tomasini, a quant trader since 1992, set up the biggest real money trader championship in Italy. Now at Kingly Capital, we trade systems for Algo Flex, a listed Sicav [...]
EURO TROUBLES MEAN THE US COULD OFFER A SAFER HAVEN May 14, 2012 INSIGHT IG MARKETS ELECTIONS in the Eurozone sparked a bout of severe risk aversion last week, as the possibility of a Greek exit from the single currency suddenly looked more likely than it has for some time. As had been expected, no party won an overall majority in Greece, and there were heavy losses for [...]
Stop loss tools are indispensable as a way to control risk May 14, 2012 CONTRACTS for difference (CFDs) and spread betting require a strong stomach for risk. They are both leveraged products that allow traders to make predictions on the movements of thousands of live markets. As only a fraction of the total value of the contract is paid up-front, profits can climb to many times an initial stake. [...]