MARKETS STRUGGLE TO FIND THE ENERGY TO RISE HIGHER April 30, 2012 CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST AS APRIL gives way to May, markets are struggling to find the necessary enthusiasm to push much higher. Unlike last week, when we had plenty of things to worry about in the Eurozone, this week seems to be far less exciting, at least for the moment. The Eurozone crisis continues to boil [...]
NEW YORK WEEK AHEAD April 29, 2012 IT will be another battleground for S&P 500 index this week. Will the bears finally give up and let the bulls have their way? The S&P 500, the market’s broadest measure, managed to close out the week above the psychologically important 1,400 mark for the first time since early April. But the index is still [...]
Ready steady go: Time to put your business ideas to the test April 29, 2012 ACCELERATOR ACADEMY www.acceleratoracademy.com The Accelerator Academy works with emerging entrepreneurs to help them to achieve high growth, through intensive training, mentoring from successful tech entrepreneurs and providing them with access to seed capital. Applicants are initially assessed by a Manchester Business School devised eTeamTool assessment process. Delivered over 12 weeks, the part-time programme improves the [...]
A healthy dose of British ingenuity, money, patents and patience April 29, 2012 RICHARD Marsden describes his meeting with University of Southampton scientists in 2003 as one of the most memorable moments of his life. That very meeting, about a potential new medicine, could prove pivotal to the health of millions of people. If Richard hadn’t been there, the idea may never have been developed. The discussion was [...]
Diamonds are the world’s best friend April 29, 2012 FOR obvious reasons, most women don’t look upon their engagement ring as an investment – at least not in monetary terms – but diamonds can, and perhaps should, also be valued for their present and potential future value. A NEAR-PARAGON Diamonds are tangible, portable assets, highly concentrated in value, which offer a great opportunity to [...]
The four key criteria for getting your perfect diamond April 29, 2012 JEWELLERS use the universal four Cs – carat, colour, clarity and cut – to describe a diamond’s characteristics and assess its value. NOT JUST A QUESTION OF SIZE Carat is simply a measure of weight, not size as commonly thought. One carat (1 ct) equals 0.20 grams and is divided into 100 points, half a [...]
Bumper results lift FTSE higher April 26, 2012 BRITAIN’S top shares pushed higher yesterday, notching up a third session of gains as investors digested a big bag of blue chip results, with advances in oil majors outweighing a heavy fall in drugs firm AstraZeneca. The FTSE 100 index closed up 29.83 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5,748.72 after a choppy session, continuing [...]
Housing data boosts stocks April 26, 2012 US stocks rose for a third day yesterday after upbeat housing data and stronger-than-expected results from companies, including Citrix Systems, overshadowed some high-profile earnings misses. Pending home sales rose to nearly a two-year high in March, sending the Philadelphia Stock Exchange index of housing-related shares up three per cent. Shares of homebuilder Lennar climbed 5.7 [...]
Recessionary data brushed off as FTSE mirrors gains seen on Wall St April 25, 2012 THE UK’s blue-chip index closed up yesterday, shrugging off weak UK GDP figures showing Britain slipped back into recession and disappointing first-quarter results from drugmaker Glaxosmithkline, as investors awaited results from a key US Federal Reserve meeting. Early gains on the FTSE 100 index were led by a rise on Wall Street, which opened up [...]
Apple and Fed combine to boost equities April 25, 2012 US stocks rallied yesterday, with Apple’s surge giving the Nasdaq its biggest gain of the year, while the Fed chairman reassured markets that the central bank would do more if necessary to lift the economy. Apple fueled optimism that the current earnings season would be much stronger than expected, generating gains across all market sectors. [...]