SEIS’s beauty is in the eye of its beholder December 18, 2011 I WAS disappointed to read the criticism the finance industry levied at the new Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). For example, an article in this paper concluded: “The SEIS is a gimmick and will not be particularly fruitful for investors or the economy.” The critics highlight the risk of investing in start-ups. Of course, the [...]
Thomas well-cooked December 18, 2011 THOMAS Cook, the purveyors of package holidays, led the way in the last century in opening up the world to those whose parents would never have thought of leaving the country. No longer at the vanguard, the company is now unfashionable and anachronistic in a world of cheap airlines and online deals. Investors are turning [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD December 18, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● HMV announces its interim results today. ● Carnival will announce its quarterly earnings report tomorrow. The world’s largest cruise ship operator will be hoping to experience smooth sailing into the new year. ● Sable Mining Africa will announce its interim results on Friday. Located in sub-Saharan Africa, the company is looking to [...]
THE TIPSTER December 18, 2011 THOSE thinking of buying gold jewellery for a loved one this Christmas could consider buying gold contracts instead, given the dramatic collapse in recent days. Gold fell as much as $190 since the 1 December level of $1,750, and currently trades $320 lower than the heights hit in September. Use $1,570-$1,600 as a buying opportunity [...]
DOLLAR RISE WILL DENT ALL ASSETS December 18, 2011 NOTWITHSTANDING the recent agreement to amend the EU treaty, the world’s financial markets are not reassured. A solution to the Eurozone debt crisis is still wanting, and many believe that the world’s emerging economies could provide it. As a collective driving force they might be able to stop the debt contagion, but the question is [...]
Market gains on strong factory data December 15, 2011 US stocks rose yesterday as signs of strength in the economy and higher-than-expected profit at FedEx outweighed warnings about Europe. The US equity market continued its familiar back-and-forth rotation between optimism about the US economy and fears Europe’s debt crisis could spark a global recession. Lately the fear trade has been winning, but FedEx boosted [...]
Old Mutual leads modest FTSE rally December 15, 2011 BRITAIN’S blue-chip index staged a modest rebound in thin volumes yesterday, with battered insurers and oil stocks boosted by some short-covering ahead of today’s futures and options expiries. Life insurers regained most of the ground lost the previous day, rising 2.9 per cent, with Old Mutual jumping 11.4 per cent on hopes the planned $3.2bn [...]
Wall Street slumps on oil and euro fear December 14, 2011 US stocks fell for a third day and hit their lowest level in two weeks yesterday as widespread risk aversion sank commodity prices, drove the euro to its lowest in a year and pushed Italian bond yields to a record high. Investors are disappointed the European Central Bank is not buying more bonds of troubled [...]
New listing rules and jitters over Europe pull FTSE down December 14, 2011 WEAKNESS in risk-sensitive commodity issues and banks dragged Britain’s FTSE 100 index lower yesterday, with concerns over the Eurozone debt crisis ratcheted up as Italy’s borrowing costs expanded to a record high. Italy had to pay 6.47 per cent on five-year bonds in an auction yesterday, up from a previous euro era record high of [...]
Comply with Solvency II and boost profits too December 14, 2011 WITH Solvency II set to come into force at the end of 2012, insurers need to make themselves compliant with a new wave of regulatory requirements, aimed at revising capital requirements and risk management, supplanting the existing Solvency rules. But rather than simply being an exercise in regulatory compliance, applying the directive should be seen [...]
