Proposed regulation is all sizzle and no steak January 19, 2010 INVESTORS trying to ensure they have a diverse portfolio of assets have probably dipped into the commodity markets at some point over the last two years. If you are thinking of doing the same, you need to be aware of changes to the regulatory landscape. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) – the energy markets [...]
Small caps are predicted to outperform again in 2010 January 19, 2010 AFTER being decimated during the financial crisis of 2008, smaller cap companies enjoyed an outstanding 2009 according to RBS’s Hoare Govett Smaller Companies (HGSC) index. The index, which consists of the bottom tenth by value of listed UK equities not including the Alternative Investment Market (Aim), recorded an absolute performance of 54.2 per cent. This [...]
Greece woes spoil continental party January 18, 2010 EUROPEAN shares rose in early trade yesterday, recovering some of Friday’s losses, with miners gaining on higher metals prices. In morning trading, the FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.6 per cent at 1,058.15 points. Miners were among early gainers, as copper rose on hope that strong Chinese demand could cut inventories. Precious metals were also [...]
Miners lend muscle to FTSE as banks shake off US blues January 18, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index took on 0.7 per cent yesterday, as heavyweight mining issues rallied with firmer metal prices, while banks moved higher awaiting further earnings news from US peers. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 39.02 points higher at 5,494.39, albeit in subdued trade with US markets closed for Martin Luther King [...]
REVENUES ARE CRUCIAL TO US EARNINGS January 18, 2010 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT LAST year finished on a high note for global equity markets and this euphoria carried through into the first week of 2010. But after having shot out of their starting blocks, equities have clipped the first hurdle as the fourth quarter earnings season kicked off in the US. Aluminium giant Alcoa [...]
Weak sterling helps push up inflation rate January 17, 2010 INFLATION is forecast to have surged in December, fuelling concerns that the Bank of England’s ultra-loose monetary policy is allowing inflationary pressures to build up. Economists on average expect the annual rate of inflation in December – published on Tuesday – to hit 2.5 per cent, with further rises in the pipeline. December marks the [...]
Markets are still at risk of a relapse January 17, 2010 AS anybody who has ever watched a medical drama on television will know, signs of recovery are not always what they appear to be. This is especially true when the illness has been serious and the recovery is swift. This is just as true for the markets as it is for photogenic hospital patients. It [...]
THE TIPSTER January 17, 2010 Retailers have had mixed fortunes over the Christmas period. Although shoppers spent huge amounts of cash in the run-up to the festive season, not everybody has gained in the same way. Supermarkets and cheap high-street chains have out-performed – department store John Lewis recorded its best ever revenues in December. But others could not keep [...]
Smart idea to take a punt on the tech sector January 17, 2010 Jaws dropped on Wall Street late Thursday after Intel, the computer chip maker, reported an 875 per cent increase in profits between October and December last year. Profits were $2.3bn, up from $234m in the same quarter in 2008, smashing analyst expectations. But while a nine-fold increase in profits is unlikely to be replicated this [...]
Give your charting abilities a boost January 17, 2010 ALTHOUGH more than 80 per cent of regular spread betters use technical analysis when they are making their trading decisions, scouring the charts in search of patterns that might indicate an imminent breakout or a trend reversal can take hours. And that assumes that you have managed to learn all the chart patterns – of [...]