Whatever your view on the market there are tools to take advantage October 19, 2009 RECESSION or recovery? Deflation or inflation? New bull market or dead-cat bounce? These are the issues which have dominated investors’ attention throughout the first nine months of the year. Equities have plunged and rallied, yields on government bonds have blown out and contracted sharply, while commodity prices have soared and sterling and the dollar have [...]
Pick the right defensive firm to protect your stock portfolio October 19, 2009 DESPITE analysts’ continued calls for a much-needed pullback in global equity markets, the FTSE 100 has stubbornly risen to the 5,200 mark. And if you believe that equities are due a correction, then you might want to bulk up your portfolio with a few defensive stocks as they tend to remain relatively stable, even in [...]
Take a punt and profit from M&A recovery October 19, 2009 FOLLOWING a dearth of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the wake of the financial crisis, returning confidence and cash to credit-constrained companies has seen a flurry of deals and bids over the past month. Yesterday, Stagecoach made a fresh all-share offer for its beleaguered rival National Express despite a consortium walking away from takeover [...]
EMOTION IS DRIVING DOW ABOVE 10,000 October 19, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT AFTER all the build-up, the Dow finally did it. For the first time in a year, America’s most famous market climbed back above 10,000. This apparently momentous occasion generated much attention and in last week’s column I suspected that the raft of blue chip results would lend enough momentum for [...]
FTSEgiven boost by strong gains in energy and mining October 19, 2009 Britain’s top shares added 1.8 per cent yesterday, lifted by gains in miners and energy issues as commodity prices rose on an improved demand outlook and investors looked towards further earnings news from the United States. The FTSE 100 ended 91.30 points higher at 5,281.54, a new peak for 2009 on the 22nd anniversary of [...]
After-bell earnings from Apple impress October 19, 2009 US stocks rose to fresh 12-month highs yesterday as optimistic investors rode a wave of solid quarterly earnings, which continued after the session’s close when Apple’s shares jumped on its results. Earnings from companies, including Gannett, which beat analysts’ expectations, and positive broker commentary on Caterpillar further encouraged investors looking for confirmation the economy is [...]
The time has finally come to take a punt on the recovery October 18, 2009 THIS week’s eagerly anticipated third quarter GDP figure will be make or break for the UK economy. A return to growth, however modest, will confirm that the darkest days of the recession are indeed over and that we are on the slow path of recovery. But with recent industrial production data showing an unexpected slump [...]
The 10,000 mark means it’s time to short the Dow October 18, 2009 EQUITY bulls must have felt rather smug last week when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) broke through 10,000 on the back of bumper profits from investment banks JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. Good results from Google, Intel and IBM also added to the market optimism that has been fuelling the index’s meteoric rise. The third [...]
POOR DATA TO KEEP LID ON STERLING RISE October 18, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COM AFTER falling to multi-month lows against both the euro and the US dollar, sterling was squeezed aggressively higher last week. The generally weak dollar allowed cable (sterling-dollar) to return to its best levels for over three weeks and against the euro, the pound only managed to win back about a fortnight’s [...]
THE TIPSTER MACRO DATA KEY TO THE WEEK AHEAD October 18, 2009 WITH a slew of macroeconomic data on the way, sterling-US dollar – otherwise known as cable – is sharply in focus this week. Although the pound made some solid gains at the end of last week, these may well be reversed on Friday when the UK third quarter GDP figure is released. Forecasts have been [...]