Worries about Eastern Europe are overblown June 9, 2010 IN HIS office overlooking the river Danube, the new Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban might well be regretting throwing the fiscal state of his country into the limelight and drawing unwanted attention from the markets. In hindsight, comments from his spokesman outlining the gravity of Hungary’s economic situation and stating that a default on its [...]
Benefit from the gold rush through miners June 9, 2010 AS THE Eurozone lurches from crisis to crisis, the price of gold hit an all-time high this week at $1,250 an ounce. With many analysts predicting a further surge to $1,300 or $1,400, investors are flooding into the gold market and physical gold-backed ETFs. In the rush, many have overlooked what could be an even [...]
THE TIPSTER June 9, 2010 THE US dollar has performed strongly against the Swiss franc during the past month as investors worried about the impact of the European debt crisis on Swiss trade. Now US dollar-Swiss franc is approaching a five-year downtrend resistance level at SFr1.1750. The question now is whether the dollar has gone far enough against the franc. [...]
LISTED PRODUCT NEWS June 9, 2010 WORLD CUP COMMISSION PROMOTION Barclays Stockbrokers is celebrating the World Cup in South Africa by offering a 4-4-2 promotion, relating to the famous football formation. From the evening of 12 June Barclays Stockbrokers will offer heavy discounts on online trading commissions of just £4.42 for as long as England stays in the tournament. This compares [...]
London rises on comments by Fed chairman Bernanke June 9, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday, lifted by gains in miners and banks, as investor appetite for risk was boosted by positive comments on the US economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The FTSE 100 closed up 57.71 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 5,085.86, after a choppy session which saw the index [...]
Wall St slides after BP fall triggers fear June 9, 2010 US stocks fell yesterday in another late-day roller-coaster ride, dragged lower by BP and other energy shares as the US probe of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico deepened. The late retreat stocks triggered a bid for safe-haven assets, which pushed US government bonds into positive territory, while the euro edged higher boosted [...]
Why predictability can help you to build up trust and success June 9, 2010 RICHARD SEXTON HEAD OF ASSURANCE, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS 1. Focus on the things you can do something about Stuff happens in life and business and you have to learn to work with it. My attitude is that I can’t boil the ocean but a cup of water is a different matter. In today’s difficult economic environment this [...]
FTSE sunk by BP’s oil slick woes June 8, 2010 Britain’s FTSE 100 share index fell yesterday, led down by energy shares as BP dropped again on fresh Gulf of Mexico oil slick worries and banks which were hit by Eurozone debt concerns and the threat of punitive taxes. By the close the FTSE 100 was off 40.91 points, or 0.8 per cent at 5,028.15 [...]
Bernanke’s bullishness boosts US June 8, 2010 US stocks mostly rose in volatile trading yesterday, led by materials and financial shares, but investors shied away from big-cap technology shares on concerns about their European exposure. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 123.49 points, or 1.26 per cent, to 9,939.98. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 11.53 points, or 1.10 per cent, [...]
There’s room for both active and passive June 8, 2010 CONFRONTED by the statistics, it could be hard to argue in favour of active management. Very few active fund managers succeed in beating either the benchmark or their peers on a consistent basis. Research by Thames River Capital revealed that only 10 funds of the 1,065 with a three-year track record appeared in the top [...]
