Euro versus dollar: a scrappy fight May 10, 2011 OVER the last fortnight, the euro-dollar pairing has turned into a bit of an ugly dog contest, with both sides competing to see who carries the fewest fleas. However, the euro came out second best in this challenge last week, hit with attacks from all sides. The tipping point for the pairing came when the [...]
FOREX ANALYST PICKS May 10, 2011 FOREX STRATEGIST JOHN KICKLIGHTER My pick: Long dollar-Swiss franc and dollar-Canadian dollar Expertise: Fundamental and Technical Analysis with Risk Management Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week Both the long euro-sterling and short euro-Canadian dollar setups we laid out last week saw quick, short-term gains; but the event risk the euro is [...]
Something is rotten in the state of Europe May 10, 2011 IT ALMOST seems that we have got to the point where billion-euro bailouts are relegated to the same news level as dogs waterskiing and images of Nick Clegg found on a piece of toast. But with the Greek debt at €110bn, Irish at €85bn and Portuguese at €78bn, these are not trivial sums. As the [...]
Weak banks and fears over Eurozone debt drag on FTSE May 9, 2011 BANKING stocks weighed on Britain’s leading share index yesterday, with the sector hit by their capitulation in a fight over loan insurance mis-selling, and by Eurozone debt concerns after S&P cut Greece’s credit rating. The British Banking Association said members would not appeal a ruling that they compensate customers wrongly sold payment protection insurance (PPI). [...]
Commodity gains boost Wall Street May 9, 2011 US stocks rose yesterday as commodity-related shares rebounded from last week’s collapse, masking deeper doubts about what will sustain the market’s long-term strength. Last week a massive sell-off in materials and oil forced investors out of high-risk assets, and stocks ended down about one per cent for the week. The commodity market slump comes at [...]
Profit but avoid being caught in an oil slick May 9, 2011 IF YOU thought that you were nursing a financial hangover from last week’s commodity crash, spare a thought for Clive Capital. The world’s largest commodity hedge fund was left with losses of more than $400m (£240m) after being caught short (or long as the case may be) in the oil price collapse on Thursday. Moves [...]
A GLEAM OF A SILVER LINING IN THE STORM May 9, 2011 LAST week was truly horrible for leveraged longs in commodity markets. Silver fared particularly badly with prices falling close to 30 per cent in five days. It was a vicious sell-off which will have left many traders and investors bruised, battered and wary of future volatility. Yet there is plenty of anecdotal evidence from dealers [...]
Milton Friedman was wrong: There is such a thing as a free breakfast May 9, 2011 IN ASSOCIATION with GFT, next Thursday City A.M. is hosting a free workshop on contracts for difference (CFD) and currency trading. The speakers will be the regular City A.M. columnists David Morrison, GFT’s market strategist, and Boris Schlossberg, GFT’s director of currency research. It is taking place on Thursday 19 May at The Grange St [...]
THE TIPSTER May 9, 2011 SAINSBURY’S, the third largest supermarket by market share after Tesco and Asda, is expecting a rise in pre-tax profit by eight per cent to £659m when it reports on Wednesday. The top three chains have all dropped market share since April 2010, which suggests shoppers may be looking for cheaper alternatives such as Aldi and [...]
Sell-off in Europe likely today May 8, 2011 A sell-off is expected on European bourses this morning, following a weakening in US markets on Friday from the highs reached after the strong US jobs data. In out-of-hours trading, GFT is forecasting the UK index to open down 66 points from last week’s close, at around 5,910. The German DAX is quoted to open [...]