MP expenses scandal has cut general election odds May 17, 2009 THERE is nothing like a good political scandal to get the blood flowing. Watching Question Time last week was a bit like watching Doctor Who when you were a child – best done from behind the sofa and through the fingers. Never has there been so much fury against politicians. The atmosphere is even worse [...]
Index reshuffle is chance to make a substantial profit May 17, 2009 INDEX reshuffles, at least in Britain’s FTSE indices, don’t tend to spark much more than some token interest among the trading community. The process is deliberately as transparent as possible and well publicised in advance in order to minimise any dramatic share price movements ahead of the rejig. Unfortunately for spread betters looking to capitalise [...]
BETTER DATA DOESN’T MEAN A RECOVERY May 17, 2009 CONFUSION between better-than-expected data and good data – and there is a huge distinction between the two – may have made traders over-optimistic about the pace of recovery. But the markets crashed back down to earth last week as investors started to doubt whether there had been any green shoots at all. To be fair, [...]
THE TIPSTER WATCH THOSE RESISTANCE LEVELS May 17, 2009 HOPES of the recovery rally continuing apace were dashed on Friday when the FTSE 100 closed down, putting last week’s losses at 1.9 per cent. The blue-chip index has struggled to stay consistently above the 4,400 mark, a key psychological barrier that the market will continue to target this week. Any strong break through resistance [...]
Beware green shoots: the bears will still beat the bulls May 17, 2009 THE rally in global stock markets appears to have hit a lull, with the Dow falling over 3.5 per cent last week and the FTSE taking a hit on the week for the first time in a month, down nearly 100 points. We’ve a week ahead of earnings news for UK companies and any disappointment [...]
FTSE 100 nudges higher as banks start to look oversold May 14, 2009 THE FTSE 100 edged up by 0.7 per cent yesterday, snapping a three-day losing run, with gains in banks and miners offsetting weakness in oil producers hurt by weaker crude prices. The index closed 31.21 points higher at 4,362.58 in a choppy session. “It still looks too early to predict the end of this two [...]
Technology shares give Dow a boost May 14, 2009 US STOCKS rose last night as investors returned to financial and technology shares on bets the recent rally could have more room to grow after a brief pullback. Volume, however, was light, a possible indication of a lack of broad conviction. Technology gains were led by big-cap tech and semiconductor companies after five straight days [...]
As finance changes graduates look to risk-management May 13, 2009 LOOKING back a couple of years, it seems as though ignoring risk had practically become a sport among those who drove the banking boom. So much for hindsight – but it was a failure of foresight that contributed to the financial catastrophes of last year. Foresight in the financial industry is the job of risk [...]
GET QUALIFIED FINANCIAL RISK MANAGER (FRM) May 13, 2009 For those wanting to get ahead in the risk management sector, acquiring a professional qualification can be a key factor. Bodies including the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers (AIRMIC), the Institute of Risk Managers (IRM) and the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) run training qualifications for risk managers. GARP’s Financial Risk Manager (FRM) [...]
RISK MANAGEMENT NUMBER-CRUNCHING May 13, 2009 Research conducted this year by GRS, the leading financial recruitment organisation, has revealed the following statistics. In a survey of 800 risk professionals, 43 per cent said that risk managers in general had failed to communicate risk effectively to their organisations. 63 per cent said that the credit crunch had been beneficial for them in [...]
