SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE IS A KEY SERVICE May 30, 2011 IT SEEMS obvious for an insurer to say this, but health and safety matters. It saves many lives every year. It provides insurers and brokers with a reference point from which risk management strategies can be developed. At the same time, there has been misinterpretation and misapplication of health and safety law – and this [...]
From banking to betting: the gamble that paid off May 30, 2011 IF YOU didn’t have a dot-com idea at the end of the 90s, people looked at you in a slightly odd way,” says Ed Wray, the co-founder of Betfair. After eight years in the City at JP Morgan, he reached the role of vice president on the debt capital markets desk before finding his dot-com [...]
IPO INVESTORS VENT FACEBOOK FRUSTRATION May 30, 2011 FACEBOOK does curious things to people. Most recently, it has caused frustrated investors unable to get a slice of its profits to look to other social networks for gratification. When LinkedIn made its debut on the Nasdaq this month, within two days it was valued at $10.1bn (£6.2bn). In other words, a business that is [...]
Trading your charts for the fundamental view May 30, 2011 REAL-TIME prices can provide fundamental insights hard to find by just studying the charts. For instance, you may have noticed that the equity markets are playing the “risk on, risk off” game continuously at the moment. If you haven’t, then it’s something you should know about. Catching the swings in the equity markets relies on [...]
SELL IN MAY AND GO AWAY STILL HOLDS May 30, 2011 EARLIER this month, the FTSE 100, German Dax and major US stock indices were trading at multi-year highs. They all hit levels last seen when the financial crisis took hold in early 2008. But these indices have struggled over the past few weeks, pulling back around 3 to 5 per cent. This could be a [...]
Five key barometers that every trader of CFDs should monitor May 30, 2011 WHATEVER you plan to trade, David Morrison, CFD market strategist for GFT, suggests these five indicators to help gauge market conditions. 1. DOLLAR INDEX Since 1973, this index has tracked the strength of the dollar against a basket of other major currencies, including sterling, yen and the Swiss franc. Benchmarked initially at 100, it has [...]
THE TIPSTER May 30, 2011 COPPER miner Antofagasta rose nearly £2 last week in anticipation of their quarterly figures. Revenues were up 30 per cent to March on the back of rising copper prices. Although the red metal has fallen from its record high in the first quarter, there are still concerns over short supply. The stock is also not [...]
Strong miners give FTSE a boost May 26, 2011 STRENGTH in heavyweight mining stocks helped Britain’s top share index edge higher yesterday, countering slippage by banks on Eurozone debt concerns. At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 10.9 points, or 0.2 per cent at 5,880.99, well below a morning spike above the psychologically important 5,900 level to 5,910.77. “The overall impression … is [...]
Choppy US trading gives gains May 26, 2011 US stocks rose for a second day yesterday in a choppy session, with technology and consumer discretionary stocks leading the way after upbeat earnings. Sellers crowded around the S&P 500’s 50-day moving average for a third day. The level, now just above 1,328, is gaining strength as technical resistance and could prevent any rebound in [...]
Banks lead the FTSE to small gains as traders eye Eurozone May 25, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares edged higher yesterday, led by banks on bargain hunting, but the prevailing mood was cautious with some analysts and traders pessimistic about the long-term prospects for equities. The FTSE 100 ended up 11.73 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,870.14 helped by some sense of relief that there was no deterioration in [...]