CASE STUDIES| NEWS FROM THE COURTS THIS WEEK March 1, 2011 BGC/TULLETT PREBON APPEAL FAILS The Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal by interdealer broker BGC over its poaching of staff from rival Tullett Prebon. When the CEO of Tullett, Tony Verrier, joined BGC from Tullett Prebon he tried to persuade 13 brokers to go with him. Ten joined but three stayed with Tullett. The [...]
Wait for the pop before profiting from deflation February 28, 2011 EVERYONE has amazing hindsight. To those who go on about the dotcom boom or the credit bubble as being obvious, you should ask how much they made shorting it. The answer is inveterately that they made none. Today as I write there are several bubbles: China for instance. The idea that China is a bubble [...]
EQUITIES DROP IN THE FACE OF OIL PRICE RISE February 28, 2011 LAST week provided a reminder that equities can go down as well as up. Although the sell-off was small in percentage terms, it has been a long time since the major global stock indices experienced a number of successive losing days. The pull-back was triggered by strength in the oil price. Brent crude finished up [...]
You shouldn’t be scared of the fear index February 28, 2011 THIS week has seen a drop in volatility in the markets from the tempestuous times of last month. Six days ago, at the height of the tensions in Libya, the Volatility Index (VIX) hit 22.13 per cent, the highest point seen in 3 months. Despite the fact that it may seem to those concentrating on [...]
THE TIPSTER February 28, 2011 BEING one of the main safe investments, gold is on the up again after its recent correction. With concerns in the Middle East still prominent and ongoing talk of inflation, the demand for the metal is still high. The all-time high was $1,423.75 in December 2010 but with the situation still fragile, we may very [...]
Positive momentum to continue as oil fears lessen February 27, 2011 THE fighting in Libya was a dominant theme for the markets last week, and is set to continue to be so, with Saudi Arabia’s pledge to bridge any shortfalls in oil production stabilising crude prices and likely to provide some underpin to stock markets at least for the open today. Assuming the London Stock Exchange [...]
A twenty-first century wine firm, bringing Burgundy’s reds to China February 27, 2011 What is it like to work for a firm with two and a half centuries of tradition at your back? Hew Blair says it “drives you forward,” and his young broking manager Tom Jenkins agrees. The wine merchant Justerini and Brooks, the first wine firm to receive the royal warrant, has provided wines for every [...]
In a dangerous time, gold still shines brightly for investors February 27, 2011 INVESTMENT COMMENT THE current bull market in gold has been running for over a decade and, after a recent correction, shows little sign of stopping. Gold bottomed at around $250 an ounce in July 1999. Since then, gold has risen over 450 per cent, to around $1,400 an ounce. One of the most significant drivers [...]
NEWS IN BRIEF February 27, 2011 TEUCRIUM LAUNCHES NATURAL GAS ETF Teucrium has announced a new exchange-traded fund (ETF), the WTI Crude Oil Fund (CRUD), which offers exposure to futures contracts for WTI crude oil, also known as Texas Light Sweet Crude Oil, traded on the NYMEX. Launching the fund, they claim that unlike many of the ETFs in the Oil [...]
The knock-on cost of pricey commodities February 27, 2011 Inflation is the word on everyone’s lips at the moment. RPI inflation – the measure that best reflects the true rise in the cost of living in the UK – is now at 5.1 per cent a year as producers raise prices to protect their profits. But even the biggest brand owners are struggling to [...]
