A short history of investing in gold – and what to expect for 2017 December 8, 2016 | City Talk Gold is coveted by investors for its rarity. As a precious metal with limited supply, it is seen as a store of value when the real value of other assets, and currencies, can be manipulated. But fundamentally, its high worth is underpinned by its usefulness and attractiveness. Not only is it highly malleable but it [...]
Spend $9 billion. Employ 40,000 technologists. What do you get? December 8, 2016 | City Talk Spend $9 billion. Employ 40,000 technologists. Then add one company with one giant vision. Behold JP Morgan Chase, a global tech operations phenomenon. Glasgow is one of its 13 hubs located throughout the world. Watch this short video on why the city was 'stringently selected' from 30 European rival locations. You'll be amazed at what goes on behind closed doors here…
The euro plummets as the European Central Bank extends its quantitative easing programme, but taper begins December 8, 2016 The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced that it will extend its programme of quantitative easing until the end of 2017, although it will reduce the size of the programme. The euro surged briefly on the extension before plunging to wipe out all of the day's gains and fall by as much as 1.1 per cent. [...]
The European Central Bank keeps interest rates unchanged December 8, 2016 The European Central Bank (ECB) is holding interest rates steady, continuing its current policy of ultra-low rates since the Eurozone crisis. The ECB has also announced that it will extend quantitative easing until the end of 2017, although it will taper the size of the stimulus. The interest rate for the main refinancing operations and [...]
The euro hits three-week highs against the dollar ahead of the ECB’s interest rate and quantitative easing decision December 8, 2016 The European Central Bank (ECB) is the only game in town today, as stocks rise across Europe and the euro hits a three-week high in anticipation of this afternoon’s announcement of monetary policy. Against the dollar the euro had broken through $1.08 at the time of publication, after hitting lows in the last month of [...]
Bank shares and stress tests: the value investor’s verdict December 8, 2016 The Bank of England’s latest stress tests of the UK banking system attracted many column inches of space in the newspapers last week. The aim was to calculate whether these institutions would have enough capital to withstand certain grim scenarios. Moving away from some of the inflammatory headlines, it is worth looking in more detail [...]
OPEC’s celebrated and unexpected deal has papered over the market’s cracks December 8, 2016 The outcome of the Vienna meeting came as a pleasant surprise to oil markets. A deal had been hammered out and, despite the resistance, OPEC and Non-OPEC producers had agreed to cut a total of 1.8mbpd. Saudi Arabia − suffering from a major dent in its economy− has agreed to the largest cut. OPEC producers [...]
The Gulf States see great opportunities in Britain’s bright post-Brexit future December 8, 2016 Prime Minister Theresa May is in Bahrain, meeting with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), spearheading the UK government’s plans to “turbo-charge” trade with this important trading bloc. In doing so Mrs May has gone into the history books as the first British Prime Minister to attend the annual GCC Summit, and also the [...]
Undermining property rights and individual liberty is economic suicide – as Europe’s former communist states are finding out December 8, 2016 The absence of corruption and the presence of the rule of law and property rights (for all forms of assets, physical and financial) are taken for granted in the UK. We tend to think that the protection of property rights is only a problem in countries such as Zimbabwe or Venezuela. As a result, we [...]
London’s jobs market is improving for the first time in six months according to recruiters December 8, 2016 The London jobs market is improving after six months of downturn as demand for permanent staff hits a 10-month high, a new study says. London recruiters reported a net increase in permanent job placements for the first time since April, according to the report by IHS Markit and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). However, [...]