SPREAD BET GURU May 3, 2010 MARKET STRATEGIST josh@cityindex.com Q. Dear Josh, with the general election result looking increasingly tight is there any way to profit from such uncertainty? A. The market hates uncertainty so it is likely to frown upon any indication that we are heading towards a hung parliament. That said, the FTSE 100 is such an international index [...]
THE TIPSTER May 3, 2010 THE US banking sector has been a wild ride for traders of the Select Sector SPDR Financial ETF over the past two weeks. The index, which contains a range of diversified financial firms including JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, had added almost 20 per cent since 1 January to a [...]
Oil spillage will add to pressure on fuel prices May 3, 2010 THE oil giant BP’s share price was punished by the markets last week after a fire at its Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on the Gulf of Mexico caused a leak that is pumping 5,000 barrels of oil per day into the sea. But on Friday, BP’s woes transformed into an industry-wide problem after the US [...]
GOLDMAN, GOLD AND GOLDILOCKS May 3, 2010 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT OVER the past week, a number of big stories have jostled each other off the front pages. The Greek debt crisis went critical and the odds of European contagion shortened after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece, Spain and Portugal. On Friday it was reported that Goldman Sachs may face [...]
Spanish banks hold promise of strong profits this year May 3, 2010 SPANISH stocks had a torrid time last week. After Spain’s government debt was downgraded a notch from AA+ to AA, the Ibex 35, the Spanish stock market index, fell 4 per cent. But while domestic woes are far from resolved – unemployment is now more than 20 per cent – Spain’s biggest bank looks like [...]
CFD ANALYST PICKS May 3, 2010 TECHNICAL STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Sell the FTSE 100 at 5,740 Expertise: Technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 5-10 days We have done quite well trading the index over the past few weeks and have most recently booked profit on our short trade from 5,725 at 5,600 for 125 points. The overall structure [...]
European shares rise despite ongoing worries over Greek bailout package May 3, 2010 EUROPEAN shares rose on yesterday, as upbeat US data boosted hopes of an economic recovery, although doubts persisted on Greece’s ability to implement the tough austerity measures it has agreed to under a $147bn (£96bn) bailout deal. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares closed 0.2 per cent higher at 1,064.56 points — after [...]
US stocks rally after ISM reports economy boost May 3, 2010 US stocks staged a broad rally that drove the S&P 500 to its best day in two months yesterday after manufacturing, consumer spending and construction data instilled confidence that the economic recovery is gaining traction. Transport stocks had their best day in six months following an industry report that the US manufacturing sector grew in [...]
There are still plenty of reasons to be sceptical about the recovery May 3, 2010 ALTHOUGH news of a €110bn bailout package for Greece failed to calm the market’s jitters, investors are generally increasingly confident. Standard Chartered’s Risk Appetite Index is edging higher in risk neutral territory while volatility has dropped – the Vix is back below 20 while the European VStoxx is down 22 per cent over the past [...]
ECONOMIC DIARY May 3, 2010 WHILE the general election will be the primary concern, there are plenty of other economic data releases that traders should be watching out for over this short trading week. This morning, we will find out how well the UK manufacturing sector thinks it is doing from the April purchasing managers’ index (PMI) at 9.30am. We will [...]