Confusion over tax regime is damaging UK February 24, 2010 ON Monday, the prime minister released a draft Tax Framework for Business at a global trade conference, apparently aimed at reassuring multinationals, worried about the UK’s tax policy. The problem with this framework is that it offers no guidance at all on the direction of travel. Rather, its statements are a mixture of vague aspirations [...]
Japanese are looking overseas for returns February 23, 2010 FACED with the lowest interest rates in the G10, even the Japanese are abandoning the yen. In search of higher yields and better growth prospects, they are looking overseas to higher-yielding assets in emerging markets and piling in to Toshin funds, which allow retail investors to invest in high-yielding currencies. This week an estimated ¥3.9bn [...]
THREE EVENTS TO SHAKE UP THE WORLD February 23, 2010 FOLLOWING weeks of turbulence, FX appears to have found temporary support. So this week I want to consider three unlikely, but not improbable, scenarios that could have a radical impact on the markets this year. GREECE IS THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG The news that Greece used complex swaps to improve its budget finances put [...]
You’d be mad to ignore the loonie February 23, 2010 IT’S tough being Canada. Whatever you do, you are always going to be compared to the superpower next door. And even when you go and host a major sporting event, people only snipe. But you would be wrong to underestimate the land of lumberjacks and Labatt’s. For the past few months, the Canadian dollar has [...]
MARKET WILL NOT TOLERATE INDISCIPLINE February 23, 2010 THE latest moves in the FX markets indicate investors are increasingly discriminating about their risk asset exposure. In particular, there has been a growing divergence of performance between the G10 currencies. Those of resource-rich countries – such as the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars – have tended to outperform while eurocentric ones have underperformed. [...]
FTSE rocked as mining shares fall on commodity price drop February 23, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares shed 0.7 per cent yesterday, tracking early falls on Wall Street and pressured by weaker miners and energy issues as commodity prices fell with a firmer dollar after dull data. At the close, the FTSE 100 was 36.98 points lower at 5,315.09, having hit a one-month high earlier in the session. US [...]
Data undermines hopes of recovery February 23, 2010 US stocks suffered their biggest one-day decline in nearly three weeks yesterday after a sharp drop in consumer confidence heightened worries over one of the most vulnerable areas of the economy. Consumer confidence in February slumped to a 10-month low as the short-term outlook on jobs worsened. Results from retailers added little hope, as bellwethers [...]
Copenhagen’s lack of detail is a blow for low- carbon business February 23, 2010 JUST over two months since the final all-night negotiations which went into finalising the Copenhagen Accord, viewpoints on the outcome of the Copenhagen climate change conference (COP15) have been extremely mixed. On the positive side, the Copenhagen Accord has been described as an “important political tool”, “vital first step”, or in the words of President [...]
GlaxoSmithKline and British American Tobacco under pressure as FTSE falls February 22, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed slightly lower yesterday, snapping a five-day winning streak, as weakness from defensive stocks countered gains from banks ahead of more results from the financial sector later in the week. The FTSE 100 closed down 6.10 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,352.07, having closed up 0.6 per cent on Friday [...]
Wall Street waits for Bernanke’s view on growth February 22, 2010 US stocks finished flat yesterday as investors held back before congressional testimony by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, while scattered buying lifted shares of health insurers and banks. President Barack Obama revised plans for an overhaul of US healthcare. The Morgan Stanley healthcare payor index rose 1.7 per cent, but investors said financial shares bene fited [...]