Don’t bet on strong bank earnings July 18, 2010 REACTIONS were mixed as the first of the season’s US bank earnings rolled in last week. Some analysts – like GFT’s David Morrison – were blaming poor revenue growth reported by Citigroup and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BoA-ML) on Friday for the subsequent dip in the S&P 500 as it plunged 2.09 per cent in [...]
THE TIPSTER July 18, 2010 OIL giant BP has been trading at levels that have been described as an excellent buy opportunity. And with the well-head in the Gulf of Mexico capped, the share price is spurting higher although the company could still be seen as a bid target. Interim results on 27 July will be closely followed as traders [...]
SPREAD BET GURU July 18, 2010 MARKET STRATEGIST josh@cityindex.com Q. Dear Josh, what are the main weightings behind the FTSE 100 index? A. The FTSE 100 is a weighted index of the leading 100 companies, as measured by market value, that are listed on the London Stock Exchange. As you might expect, the companies with the highest market capitalisation have the [...]
London shares decline due to weak US data with banks and miners hit worst July 15, 2010 WEAK US data intensified anxiety about economic recovery and dragged Britain’s top share index to a lower close yesterday, with risk-sensitive banks and commodity stocks hit hardest. The FTSE 100 ended 42.23 points or 0.8 per cent lower at 5,211.29. It closed down 0.3 per cent on Wednesday, snapping a six-day winning streak. Producer prices [...]
Wall Street flat despite Goldman and SEC deal July 15, 2010 US stocks ended little changed yesterday, recouping losses late in the day, led by a sudden turnaround in Goldman Sachs and BP. A jump in BP’s US-listed shares after the company said no oil is leaking from its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico boosted the market shortly ahead of the close. BP gained [...]
Keep your pension in funds July 15, 2010 THE government this week announced that it will abolish compulsory annuitisation, giving millions of pensioners more flexibility in how they generate their income. Annuitisation by age 75 has technically not been compulsory since 2006, but the only other permissable option, an Alternatively Secured Pension, was so highly taxed upon death as to mean only 4,000 [...]
2009: A GOOD VINTAGE FOR BORDEAUX July 15, 2010 MD & FOUNDER OF FINE WINE MERCHANT BORDEAUX INDEX MORE column inches have already been devoted to 2009 Bordeaux than to all the campaigns over the past decade, it would seem. This en primeur has been the biggest, craziest and most highly talked-up in memory. So as the dust settles and we can finally begin [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS July 15, 2010 BP: ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY At last, some good news for BP. Its stock has sunk so low – closing yesterday at 401.75p – that investors are jumping at the chance to snap up cheap stakes in the oil giant. Clients of Barclays Stockbrokers have been piling into the stock – a third of [...]
The rising star of online retail July 15, 2010 YOU’VE just given birth and one of the first things your husband asks you to do is to sign a cheque for your new boutique (Powder, based in Crouch End. ) That was Sarah Curran’s experience of the first hours of motherhood to son Jake, now seven-years old. It is no surprise that Curran says [...]
London ends its six-day winning streak due to weaker banks and mining firms July 14, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index fell back yesterday, snapping a six session winning streak, weighed down by weaker banks, on fresh stress test concerns, and by commodities, on caution ahead of Chinese data. At the close, the FTSE 100 was down 17.50 points, or 0.3 per cent at 5,253.52, slipping back after having hit its highest [...]