When the torrent turns into a trickle November 28, 2010 THANKSGIVING might not make much of an impact on most British households, but for those trading on the financial markets, it will certainly have been noticeable. As millions of Americans take leave from work to eat turkey, drink, shop and nurse their hangovers, the number actually still trading shares drops off heavily. But it isn’t [...]
SPREAD BET GURU November 28, 2010 MARKET STRATEGIST josh@cityindex.com Q.Dear Josh, is the Christmas rally a myth? A.Historically at least, a Christmas rally is by no means a myth. The last 10 years have seen the FTSE 100 rally nine times in the month of December, with an average rally of 3 per cent. The only year where the index actually [...]
THE TIPSTER November 28, 2010 THE US is back in play now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over. The Dow Jones index has been dragged lower by weak European indices, but American investors usually don’t like being led astray by other indices. Monday could well bring a renewed bout of bullishness. Capital Spreads quotes 11,075-11,077 for the Wall Street index (the [...]
Real estate shares surge as bid for CSC sparks appetite November 25, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading shares pushed higher yesterday, buoyed by strength in heavyweight miners and banks, and by gains from real estate issues as Capital Shopping Centres bounced on bid interest. At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 41.83 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,698.93, dipping back in the closing auction after hitting a late-afternoon [...]
Lift in mining stocks helps boost Europe November 25, 2010 EUROPEAN shares ended higher on yesterday, with heavyweight mining shares boosted by rising metals prices and bid interest in Capital Shopping Centres lifting the real estate sector. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares ended 0.5 per cent higher at 1,092.80 points, though trading was light as US markets were closed for the Thanksgiving [...]
Be your own lending bank November 25, 2010 IN THE 1947 film, It’s a Wonderful Life, the hero George Bailey prevents a run on the Building and Loan by reminding his customers where their money is. “The money’s not here. Your money’s in Joe’s house, right next to yours, and in the Kennedy house, and Mrs Macklin’s house, and a hundred others” he [...]
Expat Expert: How to enjoy your golden years November 25, 2010 Q.I AM LIVING AND WORKING ABROAD BUT I WILL WANT TO RETIRE AT SOME POINT IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS. WHAT DO I NEED TO THINK ABOUT? A.The good thing is that you are already thinking about your retirement, which is the first stage in planning and investing for it. As you approach retirement you [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS November 25, 2010 TRYING TO TIME THE MARKET IS COSTLY Research commissioned by Barclays Wealth has revealed that investors’ habit of chasing performance is costing more than one percentage point a year in returns. The study, which analysed fund flows between 1992 and 2009, discovered that market timing decisions by retail investors (when investing in equity mutual funds) [...]
Banking on new business ideas November 25, 2010 I DON’T want to be a banker, I’m not a banker, never have been, a lot of my job is walking around here…” Anthony Thomson gestures towards the shop floor and his staff and says “…making sure they don’t turn it into a bank.” But sure enough we are in a bank – the Holborn [...]
Free up enterprise education November 25, 2010 TEACHERS were blamed for holding children back from becoming entrepreneurs last week during Global Entrepreneurs Week (GEW). Peter Jones, the entrepreneur and founder of Britain’s first National Enterprise Academy (NEA), used the occasion to call on the government to make NEA qualifications available in every school. But this week, the Education Secretary Michael Gove issued [...]