FTSE bounces up but all eyes move to Fed’s announcement August 9, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index bounced off 13-month lows yesterday, along with indexes across the Atlantic, as investors hoped an announcement by the US Federal Reserve would calm nerves over global debt and growth problems. “There has been some chatter that the Fed will bring forward the FOMC meeting to announce QE3 [quantitative easing] to the [...]
Wall St rebounds after volatile day August 9, 2011 US stocks rallied yesterday in a volatile session as investors struggled to decipher the Fed’s signals on the economy after a dizzying two-week slide. Buying accelerated into the close and the S&P 500 posted its best day in more than two years, following a drop of nearly 17 per cent over the past weeks. The [...]
Glacial growth threat to commodity currencies August 9, 2011 AS WELL as the devastating crash in equities, commodities have been hit hard by recent market turmoil. Both are driven by the public and private debt burdens on Western economies combined with declining expectations of the prospects for global growth. As such, the commodity currencies – seen by many as safe havens – have suffered [...]
SWISS FRANC IS STILL THE SAFE OPTION August 9, 2011 WE ARE on a bumpy road with a very few spare tires,” said Pimco chief executive Mohamed El-Erian, just before US equity markets opened for trade yesterday morning. I couldn’t agree more. Capital markets are in turmoil and the primary reason for the meltdown is the absolute lack of confidence in American and European leadership. [...]
Sterling is no shelter from the storm August 9, 2011 WITH the downgrade of US government debt by Standard and Poor’s last week, and the ongoing turmoil in the crumbling Eurozone, George Osborne could be forgiven for feeling a little bullish in his outlook for the UK economy, referring to it as a harbour in a financial storm. In comparison with the US debt ceiling [...]
THE TIPSTER August 9, 2011 WITH attention being drawn to cable tomorrow with the BoE quarterly inflation report, investors are likely to see a fall in the sterling-dollar pair. There should be a further downward revision to the bank’s growth forecast. However, inflation itself should be revised up, at least in the near term. And with cable under pressure and [...]
FOREX ANALYST PICKS August 9, 2011 FOREX STRATEGIST JOHN KICKLIGHTER My pick: Short euro-dollar below $1.4000 and $1.3800 Expertise: Fundamental analysis with risk management Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week Markets have been roiled, as building momentum in risk aversion met the accelerant of an earlier-than-expected US sovereign credit rating downgrade by Standard & Poor’s. Though much [...]
FTSE hits lowest in over a year as volatility increases August 8, 2011 THE FTSE 100 fell for the seventh consecutive trading day yesterday, with investors continuing to drop stocks in favour of safer assets, unconvinced that governments and central banks have a grip on the global debt crisis. Miners, banks and integrated oil stocks led London’s blue-chip index down 178.04 points, or 3.4 per cent, to 5,068.95, [...]
US stocks plunge after panic selling August 8, 2011 US stocks plunged on yesterday, taking the S&P 500 down more than six per cent on growing fears of a recession, exacerbated by the loss of the country’s pristine triple-A credit rating. Panicked selling on heavy volume resulted in the S&P 500’s worst day since December 2008, with every stock in the benchmark index ending [...]
Four skills for trading when volatility is high August 8, 2011 A VOLATILE market can be an unforgiving beast, swinging wildly from bull to bear, as animal spirits rampage and investors take flight. The Vix index – a measure of market fear – broke through 40 yesterday, its highest reading since 25 May 2010, indicating that we are living once more in volatile times. Following the [...]
