Commodities lift FTSE and offset weak banks and travel June 6, 2011 STRENGTH in commodity stocks helped Britain’s leading share index edge higher yesterday, offsetting weakness in banks and travel stocks, as some of the recent gloom lifted in the absence of further glum data. The FTSE 100 closed up 8.15 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,863.16 points, adding to Friday’s 0.1 per cent gain after [...]
Wall Street drops on poor US data June 6, 2011 THE S&P 500 extended its slide to a fourth day yesterday, hitting its lowest level since March 18, as a spate of recent weak US data lent support to a bearish outlook for the economy. Sectors most closely associated with economic fortunes took the biggest beating, with shares of Bank of America off 4 per [...]
From Prussia with love: an undercover bond market June 6, 2011 THE demand for covered bonds has been on a steady rise for the last decade. It’s a trend driven both by institutional investors looking to their perceived safety compared to traditional forms of securitisation and their use as collateral in the shoring up of Eurozone credit operations. Covered bonds are typically seen as especially safe [...]
A SECURITISATION COMEBACK GATHERS PACE IN EUROPE June 6, 2011 DURING the global financial crisis, Europe’s securitisation market effectively shut down. But since January there has been a flurry of new issuance, across an ever-widening array of asset classes, some of which had been dormant for years. While the early stages of recovery in 2010 were marked by a narrow focus on transactions backed by [...]
Future of UK covered bond regulations June 6, 2011 EARLIER in the year, HM Treasury and the FSA published a joint consultation paper reviewing the UK’s regulatory framework for covered bonds. The consultation paper proposed new measures which aim to provide greater transparency for investors and to increase the visibility of regulation. The paper proposed new measures relating to regulatory reporting, segregating asset types, [...]
Five ways you can keep your trades in gear June 6, 2011 BEING able to leverage your position opens up the possibility for greater trading profits. Of course, on the flip side, being leveraged exposes you to losing more than your initial stake. However, help is at hand. If you follow some strict rules you can avoid blowing yourself straight up – giving you time to get [...]
THE TIPSTER June 6, 2011 AFTER a dramatic fall, the silver price has been recovering. The price held up at $32.30 per ounce and moved back upward. However, we now seem to be stuck in a range between the 50 and 100-day moving averages. Economic fears will continue to see precious metals in focus. Alpari UK is currently quoting silver [...]
There could be baa-bad news for retailers afoot June 6, 2011 DE-BLEAT-ING sheep numbers across the globe could have traders flocking into short positions on retail stocks later this year. Wool hit a 23-year high last week. Clothing retailers were decrying the increase yesterday, speculating on how long they can absorb the cost. The UK managing director of Hugo Boss Bernd Hake said that they would [...]
GLOOMY JUNE DATA NOT ALL DUE TO JAPAN June 6, 2011 WELL, that was a poor start to the new month. Last week saw the release of a stack of economic numbers from around the globe, the majority of which were significantly weaker than expected. The US data were particularly disappointing as the Chicago PMI, consumer confidence, S&P/Case Shiller house price index, vehicle sales, ADP employment, [...]
FTSE set to drop as Dow has worst losses since 2004 June 5, 2011 THE FTSE is set to take a negative steer from the US this morning, with the Dow Jones blue chip index hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the weekend press, having hit its worst losing streak since 2004. In out-of-hours trading, GFT is forecasting the UK index to trade lower from Friday’s [...]