US stocks firm ahead of elections October 26, 2010 US stocks were little changed yesterday as investors held steady under a raft of earnings in anticipation of next week’s US elections and likely announcement of a new economic stimulus programme from the Federal Reserve. The broader equities market edged lower after weak revenue forecasts from drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb and chip manufacturer Texas Instruments. Bristol-Myers [...]
It is about time for the dollar to reverse course October 26, 2010 THE US dollar has been the market’s whipping boy for some time now. For the last three months, the world’s reserve currency has persistently fallen against other currencies and most commodities, in a pattern described by one analyst as “everything up/dollar down”. With yields on dollar-denominated assets lower than ever before, lots of traders are [...]
A BETTER WAY TO PLAY THE POUND RALLY October 26, 2010 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT YESTERDAY’S UK GDP data must have impressed even the most ardent cable bulls after it came in at twice the market consensus, increasing to 0.8 per cent versus 0.4 per cent expected. Growth was strong across the board and overall, the third quarter GDP grew at 2.8 per cent on [...]
Little steps of growth should keep QE at bay October 26, 2010 THE UK economy had a good day yesterday. GDP data came in at double what the market was expecting and the rating agency Standard & Poor’s said we no longer face the risk of a downgrade. The good news got instant reactions for sterling, gaining one per cent against the euro and a cent and [...]
FOREX ANALYST PICKS October 26, 2010 FOREX STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Buy dollar-yen at ¥79.50 Expertise: Classic technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 month-12 months This market has been under intense pressure over the past few months, with the price dropping relentlessly to multi-year lows and now quickly closing in on a retest of the record lows from [...]
THE TIPSTER October 26, 2010 THE Australian dollar-US dollar is still tentatively trading below parity. As one of the few advanced economies to avoid a recession, the Australian economy should benefit from high demand for raw materials, especially from China. Bulls expect the Aussie to break through to parity soon, so it may be a trade for the optimistic. Capital [...]
Credit where it’s due: a choice asset class in a low growth environment October 26, 2010 CREDIT is tipped to become one of the hottest asset classes of the next decade as the world struggles to achieve little more than mediocre economic growth and deals with the throbbing hangover of the financial crisis. Fund managers are increasingly optimistic about the long-term outlook for credit and see a wealth of opportunities in [...]
FUND MANAGEMENT NEWS October 26, 2010 COMMERZBANK LAUNCHES CHINA FUND Commerzbank has unveiled a new Chinese equity fund, designed explicitly to reduce volatility without minimising returns. Commerzbank has partnered with China Asset Management Co to launch the Volatility Target fund, which will benefit from active management by experts on the ground in China. Structured as a Ucits Sicav, the fund has [...]
Banks will look more closely at law firms, post-downturn October 26, 2010 RECENT trading results published by a number of the large law firms might suggest they have weathered the economic turmoil pretty well. However, much of this robust performance has been achieved through cost-cutting. This is likely to worry banks and other potential backers of law firms. Difficult trading conditions have put financial management under the [...]
Desperate partners spell redundancies October 26, 2010 MCGRIGORS, a top Scots law firm, stunned the profession last week by announcing the first market-driven redundancies in the sector in the last 18 months. Some 40 staff – most of them lawyers – will lose their jobs. McGrigors has tried pretty much everything to avoid this: pay cuts, enforced unpaid holiday etc. But there [...]