THE TIPSTER June 29, 2010 AS RISK aversion rises and US yields fall back, we have seen the yen gain ground especially against the high yielders, particularly the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar. This could start to make Japanese exporters uncomfortable as we head back towards the flash crash lows of 6 May at ¥ 87.95 against the US [...]
A perfect storm threatens law firms June 29, 2010 IF any lawyers thought that the effects of the downturn on law firms are over, then they would have got a rude shock last week when Halliwells announced that it was going into administration. It was a clear sign that law firms have to change if they want to survive. While many have bumbled along [...]
The age of austerity should not hurt stocks June 28, 2010 A WEEK has passed since the emergency Budget set the UK on a path of fairly aggressive fiscal consolidation. Public spending will be cut in real terms, Vat is scheduled to rise and new rules are in place to ensure that the debt-to-GDP ratio will fall back to more sustainable levels in the coming years. [...]
US HOUSING MARKET IN NEED OF HELP June 28, 2010 DAVID MORRISON CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT STOCK indices have been positively correlated to movements in euro-dollar for such a long time that it is easy to forget that this wasn’t always the case. There is growing evidence that this relationship is breaking down – equities are struggling to rally, whether the euro is falling or [...]
Bullish outlook this season for US tech stocks June 28, 2010 WHEN it comes to reporting earnings, companies appear to have had a relatively easy time of it. For more than a year now, the vast majority of firms have beaten analysts’ consensus estimates, sending their share prices shooting skyward. All they have needed to do to win the market’s favour is to report figures that [...]
CFD ANALYST PICKS June 28, 2010 TECHNICAL STRATEGIST DAVID RODRIGUEZ My pick: Stay short the S&P 500 on a hold of 1,130 Expertise: Algorithmic trading Average time frame of trades: 2-10 weeks I have remained bearish on the S&P 500 for quite some time now and I remain short. Unfortunately I added to the position below 1,050, which did not work [...]
FTSE losing streak ends after mining gains and improved economic outlook June 28, 2010 Britain’s leading shares rose yesterday as gains for miners and improved sentiment over global economic recovery more than offset weakness in bank stocks, after Standard Chartered results lagged expectations. The FTSE 100 closed up 25.21 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5,071.68, snapping a four-session losing streak. Index moves were accentuated as volumes remained light, [...]
Wall St lit up by tobacco but energy stocks darken June 28, 2010 US stocks ended slightly lower yesterday as gains in consumer-related stocks, including tobacco shares, were offset by losses in the energy sector. Shares of Coca Cola and Procter & Gamble were two of the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s best performers. – up 1.6 per cent to $51.08 and 1.4 per cent to $60.62 respectively. Consumer [...]
Take a view on the UK with the FTSE 250 June 27, 2010 INVESTORS in the FTSE 100 have endured a difficult couple of months as heavyweight BP’s tumbling share price dragged the rest of the index down with it. But while the blue-chip index has lost almost 13 per cent since the middle of April, the FTSE 250 has fared a little better. It too has suffered [...]
THE TIPSTER June 27, 2010 IT WAS good news for the pound at the end of last week. Sterling-dollar briefly rose above $1.50 last week – its highest point since mid-May – after the markets signalled overall approval of the Budget package. But with the Federal Reserve reiterating its pledge to keep interest rates low for an extended period, the [...]