Sell in May and go away? Why some hedge funds are looking forward to this summer April 26, 2016 Some investors swear by the well-known adage “Sell in May and go away”, given that it’s a month that can bring low trading volumes, thin liquidity and, even worse, a stock market sell-off that permeates over the summer. Will this year be any different? Is it worth just going on holiday until St Leger Day, [...]
Smaller firms fail to plug hole in the FTSE left by big oil, big mining, and big finance one year on from record high April 25, 2016 Despite a FTSE fightback over the last few months, the blue-chip index remains well off its record close high of 7,103.98 set almost a year ago on 27 April 2015. Since February the FTSE 100 has added around 700 points after sinking as far as 5,536.97. It's now under 1,000 points of its high, but the recent rally already [...]
BP, Shell, Chevron and Exxon brace for worst reporting season yet April 25, 2016 It's about to go from bad to worse when BP publishes its first quarter results tomorrow, kicking off what analysts expect to be oil majors' worst reporting season yet. Analysts expect the firm to post a loss of 10 cents per share for the first quarter of 2016, on an anticipated revenue drop of 26 per cent. It [...]
UK economy slowdown expected to be confirmed this week with official GDP growth figures April 25, 2016 The UK economy is expected to have recorded a marked slowdown in the first quarter of this year when official figures for GDP growth are released on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the final quarter of last year, though economists are suggesting that could have [...]
The Bank of Japan could unleash a triple dose of monetary stimulus – negative interest rates, quantitative easing and paying banks to borrow more April 25, 2016 The Bank of Japan (BoJ) looks geared to ramp up its reputation for out-of-the-box thinking when it meets later this week, unveiling an extra bout of monetary easing which could lead to it paying banks to borrow money. Japan's fight with deflation has been notorious. In 10 of the last 20 years prices have actually [...]
Saudi Aramco set to be valued at more than $2 trillion as Saudi Arabia confirms five per cent stake sale April 25, 2016 Saudi Aramco, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's state owned oil company, will be valued at over $2 trillion (£1.38 trillion) when less than five per cent of the company is sold through an initial public offering. The valuation would make it the most valuable company in the world, over taking Apple which has a market capitalisation of $607bn. The [...]
Cinven in talks to buy Tui’s €1bn Hotelbeds online booking business April 25, 2016 Private equity firm Cinven is reported to be advanced talks to buy travel company Tui AG's online booking business Hotelbeds, in a deal that could fetch up to €1bn (£780m). Hotelbeds provides rooms to travel agencies, tour operators and airlines through a database of more than 75,000 hotels worldwide. It was put up for sale last year after Tui hired Deutsche [...]
Manufacturing industry still stagnant, but does the latest CBI survey point to a recovery on the horizon? April 25, 2016 The manufacturing industry had a mixed start to the year, though the latest CBI industrial trends survey, out today, showed tentative signs of a pick-up over the next few months and provided some grounds for optimism. Manufacturers reported output was stable over the first three months of 2016, while orders dipped slightly but employment picked up. [...]
Premier Oil share price rises after shareholders give green light to E.On deal April 25, 2016 Premier Oil shareholders have given the green light to its acquisition of E.On's North Sea oil and gas fields for $120m (£83m). The London-listed company said today that 99.9 per cent of shareholders who voted were in favour of the tie-up. Premier will now snap up assets located in the central North Sea, west of Shetlands and the southern [...]
Stable oil prices and a stock market surge mean the global economy is a little less likely to fall into recession April 25, 2016 The world is no longer teetering on the brink of a full-blown recession thanks to a rally in global stock markets and surging commodity prices, according to a new report out today. Researchers at Oxford Economics said that there are slightly fewer alarm bells ringing over the health of the economy today than there were [...]