LAST CHANCE TO PLACATE THE TAX MAN October 13, 2009 SIMON NEWSHAMNEWSHAMS TAX SOLICITORS TAXPAYERS with unpaid taxes on foreign interests have been offered an amnesty by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), but time is running out for them. The amnesty, known as the New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO) allows UK resident individuals and companies with unpaid taxes on offshore bank accounts or overseas assets, including [...]
CHOOSE YOUR LETTER, AND FX OUTLOOK October 13, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT READING currency market research these days can be a little like watching Sesame Street. Every scenario assigns a different letter of the alphabet to the shape of the recovery. The direction for the dollar for the next 12 months could be determined by whoever is correct in their alphabet [...]
Sterling falls to six-month low on grim outlook for UK economy October 13, 2009 STERLING is once again the whipping boy of the forex markets. It fell to a six-month low against the euro on Monday after a report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) suggesting that sterling could hit parity versus the single currency. And despite relatively healthy retail sales and house price data, inflation [...]
Banks drag down the FTSE as miners and energy drop October 13, 2009 BRITAIN’S top shares closed 1.1 per cent lower yesterday, as weakness in banks outweighed strength in defensive issues, while sentiment was dampened by falls on Wall Street after disappointing corporate earnings. The benchmark FTSE 100 closed 56.02 points lower at 5,154.15, slipping below the 5,200 level which it hit for the first time in more [...]
US stocks slump on gloomy J&J results October 13, 2009 US stocks weakened yesterday as disappointing sales from Johnson & Johnson stirred jitters about the strength of earnings, snapping the S&P 500’s six-day winning streak. With the last two earnings periods characterised by cost cutting, investors have been hopeful that companies may start to show revenue growth in third-quarter results or improved outlooks. Though investors [...]
Changing oil currency wouldn’t hurt the buck October 13, 2009 QUESTIONING the dollar’s status as a global reserve currency has become almost de rigueur in the past few weeks. In fact, it has been an ongoing discussion for some months now. It was discussed at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh at the end of September and then a news report last week suggested that the [...]
EU red tape slowing down M&A boom October 13, 2009 THE increase in M&A activity in recent weeks has been taken in some quarters as a tentative sign of economic recovery. The potential Kraft and Cadbury deal, Disney’s $4bn acquisition of Marvel, health company Johnson & Johnson’s purchase of 18 per cent of Dutch biotech business Crucell, and Ticketmaster’s attempt to buy Live Nation are [...]
FTSEcloses at one-year high as energy and mining rally October 12, 2009 RALLYING energy stocks and miners, spurred by firmer commodity prices and growing optimism on the corporate outlook and global economy, helped the top share index to its highest close in over a year yesterday. Global equity markets were given a shot in the arm by forecast-beating results from Philips ahead of earnings from other major [...]
There’s no need to be scared of US stocks October 12, 2009 GIVEN the global influence of American business, it would seem perhaps a little odd that we Brits feel we don’t know enough about the largest market in the world to invest in it. This was, essentially, the upshot of research published yesterday by the largest US discount broker Charles Schwab. Based on a survey of [...]
10,000 ON THE DOW IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE October 12, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT DO not underestimate just how important this week is for the markets. The next few days are likely to prove decisive in determining the near-term direction of global stock markets. And it’s all down to earnings. In the first quarter, the overriding concern was whether we were facing meltdown, and [...]