OFT SENDING OUT MESSAGE TO BUSINESS September 22, 2009 MICHAEL GRENFELLCOMPETITION LAW PARTNER AT NORTON ROSE LLP THE huge fines imposed yesterday by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on UK construction companies for cartel activity send a strong signal to British business generally: the authorities will penalise anti-competitive behaviour, even in a recession. The fines totalling £129.5m on 103 construction firms for bid [...]
Baltic blues disperse as strength returns September 22, 2009 SINCE the start of the financial crisis, the Baltic states have cast a long shadow over their Scandinavian and Eastern European neighbours. Swedish banks, which lent heavily to the Baltic states in euros, now find themselves running a high risk of loan default. Sweden’s Swedbank, which is the Nordic bank most heavily exposed to the [...]
Everything is pointing to a bumper year for the Aussie September 22, 2009 ALTHOUGH recent concerns of a Chinese asset bubble and fears of a double dip recession have had some effect on Australia, the country has been outshining the other advanced economies throughout the financial crisis. Similarly, the Australian dollar has been among the best performing currencies this year. The Australian dollar is up 22.3 per cent [...]
WHY DOLLAR COULD RALLY AHEAD OF G20 September 22, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT NOW that the dollar has replaced the yen as the primary carry trade funding currency, the greenback has become even more sensitive to risk assumption and risk aversion flows. Since the carry trade depends on stable or widening interest rate spreads, any hint of economic turbulence will spark fears [...]
THE LONDON REPORT September 22, 2009 BRITAIN’S top share index edged higher yesterday as miners and oil stocks buoyed by firmer commodity prices lent support, though with investors nervous before the group of 20 leaders’ meeting at the end of the week. The FTSE 100 closed 8.24 points, or 0.2 per cent, higher at 5,142.60, after ending Monday’s session 0.7 per [...]
NEW YORK REPORT September 22, 2009 US stocks rose yesterday, as investors bet the US Federal Reserve will stick to its accommodative policy to foster economic recovery, boosting growth-sensitive sectors such as financials, technology and industrials. The gains were broad-based, with all but three of the 10 S&P 500 industry sectors ending higher. Energy and other natural resources stocks were underpinned [...]
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 [...]