Spanish woes threaten euro’s fragile stability April 17, 2012 CHRIS BEAUCHAMP IG INDEX During the Napoleonic Wars, the long-running guerrilla campaign between the French and Spanish was dubbed the “Spanish ulcer”. Now it seems as if the Eurozone has acquired its very own Iberian problem, one that might possibly be too big to solve. Having escaped scrutiny for the first few months of 2012, [...]
The importance of separating politics and currency markets April 17, 2012 AS THE European turmoil continues, why isn’t the euro falling to pieces before our eyes? With Eurozone policy makers blundering from one crisis to the next – at best covering up the cracks in the fiscal superstructure, at worst knocking out a supporting wall – you might be forgiven for expecting the euro to have [...]
THE TIPSTER Cable pulling higher April 17, 2012 The pound is trading near critical levels against the US dollar. Cable has rallied strongly since mid-January and has continually found support on a sharply-rising trend line. It is now managing to hold above both its 50 and 100-day moving averages around the $1.5835/40 area. However, the pound is now nudging up against resistance at [...]
Stocks held up by data from across the pond plus resilient corporates April 16, 2012 BRITAIN’S leading share index ended higher yesterday after positive US retail sales data and narrow gains for defensive shares more than offset another slide in banking shares on concerns about Spain. Pharmaceuticals and utilities – sectors that are less exposed to swings in the economic cycle – drove the index higher, with GlaxoSmithKline providing the [...]
Dow gains on retail sales but Nasdaq suffers April 16, 2012 THE Dow rose yesterday as robust US retail sales data helped large-cap consumer stocks, but a four per cent slide in Apple hurt the Nasdaq. US retail sales for March shot up 0.8 per cent, sharply higher than the forecast, pushing Procter & Gamble up 1.5 per cent, while giving Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s largest [...]
AS YIELDS MOVE WIDER, SPANISH WOES CONTINUE TO WEIGH ON THE EURO April 16, 2012 FX360 One of my colleagues wrote last week: “You can’t spell Spain without pain,” and truer words have not been spoken. As currency traders return to a full week of work after the Easter break, euro-dollar finds itself under pressure as credit spreads in the region once again widen out. After a few months of [...]
THE TIPSTER Not just any trading report April 16, 2012 British favourite Marks and Spencer has had a good run so far this year, rallying some 25 per cent before giving some of that back in the recent correction by stock markets. Today’s results will be keenly watched to see just how well its clothing sales have held up where they could benefit from the [...]
Dos and don’ts of mobile trading April 16, 2012 THE rise of mobile trading over the past few years has been tremendous and it’s easy to understand why. Before the launch of the iPhone, most mobile platforms were fairly average with poor usability and a lack of trading tools to make the most out of trading on the move. Today you can trade wherever [...]
Analyst picks for 16 April 2012 April 16, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Looking to buy euro-Swiss franc Expertise: Combining technical and fundamental analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 month to 3 months It is hard to ignore the very well publicised SNB SFr1.2000 floor and ability for the market to remain so well supported by the barrier. Still, the market [...]
Don’t get stuck in a sinking ship: Bail out in good time April 16, 2012 ON AVERAGE, traders are right more than half the time that they trade, but despite that, many see themselves wiped out with big losses. But why is this? All things being equal, if you win more than you lose, you should come out ahead. But while traders are quite willing to cash in their chips [...]