Dragons eating up a hoard of black gold January 24, 2011 THE Chinese dragon continues to eat up fuel. Chinese demand for oil hit another record high in December, climbing to 9.618m barrels a day – an annualised increase of 19.9 per cent. At least partly as a result, the price of crude oil has climbed up significantly over the last few months, with Brent crude [...]
THE FLOW OF HOT MONEY CONTINUES January 24, 2011 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT INFLATIONARY expectations are picking up across all major economies. Rising commodity prices are presenting difficulties everywhere, but are particularly problematic for developing countries. Brazil raised rates last week and warned that additional tightening was likely. Annual inflation there is just shy of 6 per cent and their latest 50 basis point [...]
Revolutionising investment advice January 24, 2011 A REVOLUTION is on the way. In the next 24 months you will hear about the biggest changes in the supply and delivery of financial advice there have probably ever been. It’s known as the Retail Distribution Review, or RDR. In a nutshell the three proposed changes on the way are: 1. Clearer differentiation between [...]
European shares lifted on the back of miners and drug firms January 24, 2011 EUROPEAN shares edged up yesterday, as heavyweight miners rose on strong metals prices and defensive drugmakers and tobacco firms gained on concerns over the impact of rising inflation on growth prospects. Gains, however, were kept in check by falls on the German DAX index, as sentiment was hit by data showing a drop in German [...]
Wall St rises led by commodities stocks January 24, 2011 WALL Street resumed its rally yesterday, led by natural resources and tech shares as investors saw stocks regaining momentum lost late last week. A share-buyback from Dow component Intel helped revive optimism, which has been reinforced by more strong profit reports. Three-quarters of the 84 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far in [...]
The price of cocoa soars as Ivory Coast bans exports January 24, 2011 THE president-elect of the world’s biggest producer of cocoa – the Ivory Coast – banned cocoa exports for a month yesterday, causing the price to jump 7 per cent to £2,307 a tonne in early London trading, a 7.4 per cent rise from Friday’s close – the highest price in six months. The ban has [...]
THE TIPSTER January 24, 2011 THE improving risk appetite and the prospect of better yields on cash deposits threaten to create a top for precious metal prices. So the question is can gold re-test the $1,400/oz level in the near term? The current IG Markets price on spot gold is $1,350.25-$1,350.75. Kesa Electricals, the parent company of the electrical retailer [...]
Playing the new uranium boom January 23, 2011 INVESTMENT COMMENT OVER the past six months, the price of uranium has risen more than 60 per cent to $68 an ounce and thanks to increasing demand and tight supply, prices could be headed even higher. There are 442 operating nuclear reactors worldwide but with 60 new ones under construction (a further 156 are in [...]
Stocks to start the week lower on China fears January 23, 2011 Despite closing on Friday on a mild high, over the course of the week the FTSE still dropped nearly 1.8 per cent, managing along the way to close at its lowest level for five weeks, and it looks like the bears could resume control once again this morning. GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index [...]
WALL ST WEEK AHEAD January 23, 2011 The much anticipated pullback is finally under way, some investors say, after a mid-week wobble. But the market is showing it still has some juice left – if earnings can meet towering expectations. This earnings season, if you’re good, you’re just OK. If you’re just OK, you’re bad. And if you’re bad, you’re quickly taken [...]