The Tipster March 29, 2010 CONFECTIONER Thorntons is looking forward to the Easter weekend. After a couple of years of austerity amongst consumers, general sentiment does seem to be improving and Thorntons will be hoping for a bumper Easter season. The share price has enjoyed a bounce in recent weeks, but the consensus is that there’s still more sweetness to [...]
Greek tragedy will continue despite bailout and bond issue March 29, 2010 RIDING the wave of positive sentiment following the announcement of the EU’s support mechanism, the Greek Debt Management Agency yesterday sold €5bn of seven-year government bonds. As predicted, the response was poor and the yield very high, raising the chances that Greece will have to ask for help and Germany – despite its recent protests [...]
Dow has 11,000 target in its sights March 28, 2010 After hitting new 21-month and 18-month highs on the FTSE and DAX markets last week, European stock markets may take a breather on the open this morning, in a positive but sluggish start to the week. The FTSE turned negative for the first time in four days on Friday, yet GFT is forecasting the UK [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD March 28, 2010 IN the first of two short trading weeks in Britain, domestic economic data remains thin on the ground. Monday sees the release of some consumer credit data, broad money lending and mortgage approvals at 8.30am. On Tuesday, the third revision to fourth quarter GDP data could raise an eyebrow but no change is expected. We [...]
Retailers on a roll but storm clouds looming March 28, 2010 EVEN the worst recession for at least 60 years hasn’t been able to stop the British consumer from flashing the plastic. Snowfall might have deterred the less hardened shoppers from hitting the January sales with full force, but statistics out last week showed we returned to the high street in our droves last month. Retail [...]
Labour sees seats boost post-Budget March 28, 2010 LAST week’s Budget might have got a kicking form most in the City, but spread betters continue to short David Cameron’s Conservative party. “This is the first time that Labour’s popularity has jumped after a budget since Gordon Brown became prime minister,” says Chris Shillington from Extrabet. For the Conservatives to win an outright majority [...]
SPREAD BET GURU March 28, 2010 JOSHUA RAYMOND MARKET STRATEGIST josh@cityindex.com Q. Dear Josh, with the EU and IMF finally agreeing a bailout for Greece, what is the focus now for the euro? A. Make no mistake, the constant uncertainty within the Eurozone concerning the spiralling deficit problems of Greece and the other so-called Pigs nations has been a major factor [...]
THE TIPSTER March 28, 2010 SHARES in HMV have been on a general downward trend since reaching highs of 159.50p in April last year. However, after announcing a strategy review last week, which will see the firm increase its involvement in live music and ticketing, its share price jumped by 10 per cent. Spreadex has a June-based HMV contract with [...]
Cleaning up after the crisis March 25, 2010 BEING an entrepreneur is in Celestino Amore’s DNA, both his father and grandfather had their own businesses. “I knew that I would start something on my own, it was just a matter of when.” The moment came in January 2009 when Amore founded Illiquidx, a financial services boutique that specialises in distressed assets. As its [...]
Mixed reactions to yesterday’s Budget March 25, 2010 THE chancellor’s Budget speech contained many references to entrepreneurs, but what was the substance, and will small businesses actually benefit? The main announcement was a one-off £2.5bn package to help small businesses. However, not all of this money will go directly to helping entrepreneurs. “The package includes all sorts of things including the university regeneration [...]