RBS competition fine will solve nothing April 27, 2010 THE ROYAL Bank of Scotland was recently fined £28.6m by the Office of Fair Trading for breaking competition law after the bank shared information with Barclays. But the case raises a number of questions, not least about the regulator’s intentions in imposing the fine, and its efficacy in deterring such behaviour in future. Firstly there [...]
Vive la France: banks are looking good value April 26, 2010 RISKS to the financial sector are finally starting to abate, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published earlier this month. It also reduced its estimates of bank writedowns caused by the financial crisis by $0.5 trillion. But banks still face a mountain of challenges, and the future of the sector is [...]
ANALYSIS | UK BANKS April 26, 2010 WHILE banker bashing has become something of a national sport here in the UK, it has had little discernible impact on the share prices of our largest financial institutions, which have posted strong performances since their lows in the first quarter of 2009. The partially nationalised banks, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, have seen their [...]
CFD ANALYST PICKS April 26, 2010 TECHNICAL STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Short FTSE at 5,725 Expertise: Technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 5-10 days We managed to exit our long position from a couple of weeks back for a profit and recommended reversing and establishing a fresh short last week. The short trade is now in the money and [...]
FED TO LEAVE RATES LOW THIS MONTH April 26, 2010 DAVID MORRISON CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT IT IS a relatively quiet week on the data front but the closely-watched preliminary US first-quarter GDP will be published on Friday. The forecast is for a rise of 3.4 per cent – a sharp moderation from last quarter’s 5.6 per cent. Meanwhile, today sees President Obama host the first [...]
FTSE 100 closes up as the market is boosted by rising mining companies April 26, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday, boosted by miners as metals rose and overcoming wariness about the outcome of Greece’s debt problem. The FTSE 100 closed up 30.20 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5,753.85, extending Friday’s one per cent rally, but below yesterday’s intra-day peak of 5,800.66. Antofagasta, Eurasian Natural Resources and Kazakhmys [...]
Dow climbs despite fears over finance reform bill April 26, 2010 US STOCKS edged lower yesterday as bank shares fell on fears that financial reform making its way through Congress will curb profits, while Caterpillar’s strong results buoyed the Dow. A proposal to overhaul financial regulation that could restrict lucrative derivatives trading was expected to face a crucial Senate test vote yesterday and weighed on financial [...]
Relief rally to continue after Greek lifeline activation April 25, 2010 UK AND EUROPEAN shares are headed higher on the open this morning, on continued “show me the money”-style relief that Greece has finally pressed the button for the IMF/EU aid package. GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index to open up 36 points from Friday’s close, at a level of 5,759. The German DAX is also expected to start higher, up 40 [...]
Buybacks are back in vogue and stocks will feel the effect April 25, 2010 ONE of the few miracles of this recession is just how well corporate balance sheets have held up. While economic growth has chugged back to life, firms have paid down debt and boosted their cash reserves. So the question is, what will companies do with all of this extra cash? Well, they have already increased [...]
Cleggmania may soon fade, so now is the time to place election bets April 25, 2010 THE televised debates have caused a seismic shift in British politics and we are likely to be spending a good part of election night on the edge of our seats. On Friday, after the second televised debate, the average of all five post-debate polls showed that Nick Clegg and David Cameron were neck and neck [...]
