US stocks sink as confidence drops November 21, 2011 US stocks fell for a fourth session yesterday, as the lack of progress in dealing with heavy debt both in the United States and Europe further sapped investor confidence in equities. Risky assets like commodities also fell, sparking a sell off in shares of industrials and energy companies. Volume was lower than average, with investors [...]
Remembering the Iron Lady’s legacy: Why Margaret Thatcher still matters November 21, 2011 HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR THE place is Britain; the year, 1978. It is the Winter of Discontent. Labour unrest has shut down public services, paralysing the nation for months on end. Rubbish is piled high on the street. The government been obliged to supplicate for a loan from the International Monetary Fund. Soon the Soviet trade [...]
Don’t oscillate on using stochastics November 21, 2011 STOCHASTIC oscillators can be wielded in the constant battle against the random walk of the market. As with all technical analysis tools, they won’t unlock all the secrets of the price action, but they can be an additional clue as to the statistical likelihood that the market is due a correction on the downside or [...]
HOLDING NO STOCK IN EURO DELIVERANCE November 21, 2011 INVESTOR sentiment has turned decidedly bearish over the past week. As usual, the primary concern is the slow motion train wreck that is the European debt crisis. This means that Eurozone sovereign bond yields remain in focus, with the spreads of Spanish, Italian and even French debt over German bunds under intense scrutiny. Once again, [...]
THE TIPSTER November 21, 2011 Utility stock Severn Trent reports interim results on Thursday and investors will be hoping to hear that their bumper dividend payout is safe. A typical defensive play, the shares have performed well in 2011 gaining over 7 per cent. With uncertainty continuing, equity investors may well continue to seek the safe haven properties of the [...]
Rumoured ECB loans to IMF will keep all eyes on the euro November 20, 2011 ONCE again, investors spent last week battling with the effects of Europe’s ongoing debt crisis. Italian, French and Spanish bonds all fell sharply despite support from the ECB. The European Central Bank bought bonds in the secondary market as part of its Securities Markets Programme (SMP). However, yields on these troubled countries continued to rise [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD November 20, 2011 WALL Street is in for a volatile run this week as escalating problems in Europe’s debt crisis continue to keep investors on their toes. With light trading volume expected due to the US Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, intraday swings are likely to be wide and frequent as traders instantly react to headlines out of [...]
Trading on global risk sentiment November 20, 2011 AS IS the case across all asset classes, sentiment in the commodity markets hinges upon the belief, or lack thereof, in the ability of politicians and policy makers to find a solution to the European debt crisis. With no sign of a meaningful, long-term cure for Europe’s ills on the cards, cyclical commodities, like industrial [...]
THE TIPSTER November 20, 2011 THE hawks have been circling over Mitchells & Butlers, seeing them as a potential takeover target, but the bid was so low that it was rejected without much thought. After a large spike in the price mid-September, the excitement of potential offers has worn off Mitchells and Butlers’s shareholders and the price of the share [...]
A LONG CHAIN OF DISAPPOINTMENT November 20, 2011 I SUPPOSE many would call me a cock-eyed euro-optimist. Certainly I’ve been supportive of the common currency since the early days and had high hopes for the euro – a novel concept in its inception. But I have to admit, I am beginning to lose all hope that the euro, at least the euro we [...]