To save the economy, we have to change the macho City September 21, 2009 IN 1999, Ricky Martin was top of the charts, the millennium bug threatened world stability and the dotcom boom was never going to end. It was also the year that Karen Gill and Maxine Benson set up Everywoman, a business designed to help women entrepreneurs set up their own businesses. The idea was borne out [...]
FTSE’s six-day rally ends but pharmaceuticals get a boost September 21, 2009 THE FTSE 100 broke a six-day winning streak yesterday on the back of profit taking, especially in banks and commodity shares, leaving some investors wondering whether the recent rally is close to its conclusion. The index closed down 38.53 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5134.36 points, after hitting a new 12-month high last week [...]
Low energy sends Wall Street down September 21, 2009 THE DOW industrials and the S&P 500 index fell yesterday as a drop in oil and other commodity prices hurt energy and materials stocks. But the Nasdaq rose, buoyed by a broker’s upgrade in the biotechnology sector. Light crude futures fell more than 3 per cent, hurt by concerns about demand despite hopes for economic [...]
Baltic Dry is signalling new pullback in the stock market September 21, 2009 GLOBAL trade volumes have dried up since the start of the financial crisis as Western demand for East Asian goods languished, depressing shipping activity as measured by the Baltic Dry Index. Although a well-known leading economic indicator, market strategists such as Societe Generale’s Albert Edwards and Gluskin Sheff’s David Rosenberg have recently been drawing their [...]
Fed’s inertia is good news for UK and Europe’s stock markets September 21, 2009 EVER since leading indicators such as purchasing managers’ indices started showing signs of a recovery in the global economy, market participants have been watching the actions and comments of central bank policymakers closely for signs that their extra-accommodative monetary will be tightened in due course. But while an acknowledgement that the recovery is entrenched enough [...]
TAKE A PUNT ON A SHOCK WITH THE VIX September 21, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT WHATEVER your trading style, one factor which is common ground is market volatility. It is inevitably a concept which features regularly in this column, due to the impact it can have on volumes and the life of a trade. The majority of CFD traders thrive on volatility, but just because [...]
THE LONDON REPORT September 20, 2009 ALL eyes are on authorities on both sides of the Atlantic this week, with minutes of the Bank of England’s latest rates meeting and a decision on US interest rates from the Federal Reserve, ahead of the crucial G20 summit in Pittsburgh on Friday. Imperial Tobacco’s pre-close update on Tuesday is expected to be upbeat, [...]
This is where we see if the galacticos are worth the cash September 20, 2009 WELL, the football season is now in full swing, with bloodshed, controversies over “simulation” and Sir Alex Ferguson laying into his rivals. It’s like it never went away, isn’t it? The big boys get into action this week with the start of the Champions League, and football fans will be eager to see if Real [...]
Platinum offers an alternative trade to gold and silver September 20, 2009 WITH gold’s sudden surge stealing both the headlines and the market’s attention, it is very easy to forget that there are markets in other precious metals. For spread betters looking to move beyond the realms of gold to something altogether rarer and more unique, platinum currently offers a wealth of opportunities. One of the scarcest [...]
THE TIPSTER BEATING THE RECESSION MENTALITY September 20, 2009 RETAIL sales figures last week might have been disappointing news for the high street, but video game retailer Game Group has typically outperformed other less resilient companies. We will find out whether Game Group is continuing to perform well when it releases its quarterly earnings on Wednesday. The share price has been relatively flat throughout [...]