Isa Isa Baby: growth and income funds April 13, 2011 WHETHER you are seeking to increase your nest egg or looking for regular returns on your investment, the important thing is that your Isa fund works hard with your money. With interest rates currently at rock bottom, many will be looking to equities over cash. Investment expert Philippa Gee says “stocks and shares Isas are [...]
Time-saving tips from the City’s experts April 13, 2011 LIFE in the City is pretty special. Its workers are part of a global powerhouse, working harder and faster than most and pushed to the limits to deliver for their firms and customers. It’s certainly hard work, but it is often the adrenaline and pace that comes with it that makes what the Square Mile [...]
Technology can help you manage your time better April 13, 2011 BEING a slave to technology,” is one of our generation’s favourite cliches. The flood of information from email and smartphones distracts and overwhelms us when we are trying to focus on something else. Making us less rather than more efficient. But can you actually imagine functioning in your job without this technology? Many can’t. Technology [...]
FOR THE KIWI, INTERVENTION MAY BE CLOSE April 13, 2011 Sometimes, currency strength can be a curse. Witness the New Zealand dollar, which set fresh yearly highs this week, creating more angst in Wellington as the country’s policymakers worry about the kiwi’s impact on New Zealand’s vital export sector. The kiwi has gained strength largely as result of the rally in commodities and in sympathy [...]
UK rate rise delay now expected by markets April 12, 2011 YESTERDAY’S drop in the consumer price index (CPI) inflation figure for March, from 4.4 to 4 per cent, surprised the markets. This sent sterling tumbling as expectations of a May rate rise evaporated. Weak retail figures compounded the gloomy outlook for the pound. Many traders seem to have been tipped off prior to the announcement, [...]
Quantitative easing: the hot money problem April 12, 2011 DESPITE murmurings to the contrary by various members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), it seems that the US Federal Reserve’s $600bn (£368bn) scheme to purchase Treasury bonds will run its full course, up to June as initially planned. But an intervention the size of QE2 cannot just come to a sudden halt and [...]
MECHANICAL TRADES KEEP EMOTION OUT April 12, 2011 CONSULTING ANALYST, INTERTRADER STEVE Ward once told me that there is no point in having a mechanical trading system if you are not going to follow it. He certainly has a valid point. I fondly remember the trading exercise that I put myself through in order to build trading discipline: pick a strategy and execute [...]
THE TIPSTER April 12, 2011 THOSE surprise inflation figures yesterday have served to put back the prospect of an MPC rate hike further still and it’s weighing hard on the pound as a result. With the Eurozone now temporarily over its sovereign debt crisis and rates starting to tick higher in Frankfurt, it’s perhaps no surprise that euro-sterling is rallying. [...]
FOREX ANALYST PICKS April 12, 2011 FOREX STRATEGIST JOHN KICKLIGHTER My pick: Short euro-dollar and Aussie dollar-dollar; long euro-kiwi dollar Expertise: Fundamental and Technical Analysis with Risk Management Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week My long euro-yen position served me well, but I decided to book the second half of the position before the ECB’s decision, for [...]
For those without family connections, professional qualifications are a lifeline April 12, 2011 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (BRAND), ACCA LAST week, Nick Clegg launched the government’s new social mobility strategy to great fanfare. With slightly more fanfare, the press and opposition skipped over the strategy and focused on Clegg’s use of unpaid interns and the parental help he’d had to start his career. Amusing headlines – not if you’re Nick [...]