UK COVERED WARRANTS SURE TO GROW November 11, 2009 ALEXANDRE HOUPERTHEAD OF LISTED PRODUCTS UK, SG CORPORATE & INVESTMENT BANKING WHILE covered warrants might seem like a relatively new means of trading the markets to UK investors, this month marks their 20th birthday in continental Europe, where they are now a well developed market widely recognised by the private investor. And Société Générale not [...]
CHOOSING SURVIVAL OVER LITIGATION November 11, 2009 MARCUS MCCAFFREYPARTNER, FORENSIC SERVICES, BAKER TILLY WHERE previous recessions have seen problems of funding, this time round global financial liquidity has shrunk to unprecedented levels. There are still few re-financing options and what is available is only on offer to those entities with strong balance sheets or guarantees. One result of this is that international [...]
Reassurance on UK growth boosts the blue chip index November 11, 2009 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday, as risk appetite received a boost after reassuring signals on the UK economy, and with miners the biggest gainers after a jump in Chinese factory growth. The FTSE 100 index ended 36.20 points higher, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,266.75, having touched a high of 5,301.14 earlier in [...]
China data pulls up Dow and S&P 500 November 11, 2009 THE Dow and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed at 13-month highs last night as an upbeat forecast from a top homebuilder and data from China pointed to a strengthening global economy. The Dow’s advance was its sixth straight as comments from top Federal Reserve officials suggesting low interest rates will stay for some [...]
Miners and Vodafone drag but banks offer some cheer November 10, 2009 BRITAIN’S leading share index ticked down 0.1 per cent yesterday, ending a four-day winning run, as weakness in miners and Vodafone offset strength in banks, underpinned by a strong update from HSBC. The FTSE 100 closed 4.63 points lower at 5,230.55, after hitting a two-week high earlier in the session. “After last week’s slew of [...]
Conflicting signals halt winning streak November 10, 2009 US stocks closed mostly lower yesterday as differing views on whether the market can build on recent gains stalled the S&P 500’s six-day winning streak. The Dow industrials eked out a small gain to set a fresh 13-month high as cautious statements on the economic outlook from several Fed officials underscored the belief that easy [...]
DIRECTORS: PREPARE FOR INSOLVENCY November 10, 2009 JULIAN TURNERPARTNER, REED SMITH LAST week the Insolvency Service released its statistics for the third quarter, showing that the number of company insolvencies – including liquidations, administrations and receiverships – were slightly lower than they were for the second quarter of the year, but significantly higher than for the same period in 2008. There were [...]
Euro expected to stay painfully strong in run-up to Christmas November 10, 2009 AFTER only a few weeks of respite for European policymakers, the euro is once again edging back up to test the critical $1.50 level against the US dollar. So far, at least, momentum has been unable to carry the pair through this psychological resistance level for an extended period of time. Officials in the Eurozone [...]
THE TIPSTER WEAK DOLLAR OFFERS BUYING OPPORTUNITIES November 10, 2009 THE dominant theme in the currency markets at the moment is the question mark hanging over the value of the dollar and whether the greenback’s weakness will continue. The single currency is once again at the key $1.50 level as the weak dollar continues to drive euro-dollar higher. There is strong resistance between 1.5000 and [...]
Eco case raises philosophical questions November 10, 2009 ALL those people who designated their religion as “Jedi Knight” in the last census may have delighted at the case of the so-called “eco-employee” last week. The employee in question is Tim Nicholson, who formerly worked for residential landlord Grainger. Nicholson claims that he was made redundant because of his environmental beliefs, and has been [...]