Quantitative easing: the hot money problem April 12, 2011 DESPITE murmurings to the contrary by various members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), it seems that the US Federal Reserve’s $600bn (£368bn) scheme to purchase Treasury bonds will run its full course, up to June as initially planned. But an intervention the size of QE2 cannot just come to a sudden halt and [...]
For some, it’s a borrower’s market February 2, 2011 FANCY a new car, luxury holiday or that longed-for loft conversion but don’t have the cash? This could be the moment for you to bag a bargain. As businesses struggle amid the economic downturn, they are offering some very good deals, at least to certain clients. With care, you may be able to net an [...]
Fed turns record profits over to US Treasury January 10, 2011 THE US Federal Reserve has reported its earnings jumped by more than 50 per cent to a record $80.9bn (£52bn) on its massive holdings of securities in 2010 and it will turn the bulk of it over to the US Treasury. The $78.4bn the Fed is remitting is also a record, and is $31bn more [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 15, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES JERSEY AND ISLE OF MAN OFFER TAX SOP TO BRUSSELS Jersey and the Isle of Man have announced changes to their corporate tax regimes in an effort to neutralise criticism from Brussels. Both crown dependencies said they were withdrawing laws that aim to stop local shareholders from avoiding personal income tax by rolling [...]
A useful but schizophrenic package March 23, 2011 SOME of the early reaction yesterday was that this was a slightly boring, forgettable Budget. Nonsense. It was far-ranging: radical in parts, brilliant at times, occasionally awful, way too political and often quite surprising. It wasn’t quite the Budget for growth that George Osborne should have delivered: populism all too often got the better of [...]
Nissan lifts forecast thanks to sales hike November 4, 2010 Nissan Motor lifted its annual guidance and posted a doubling in quarterly operating profit as the popularity of new cars such as the March/Micra subcompact helped offset currency losses. Nissan, owned 43 per cent by France’s Renault, is on its way to outselling Honda to become Japan’s second-biggest automaker this year as its market share [...]
Ford motors to a recovery as profit rises October 26, 2010 CAR giant Ford yesterday posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and pulled forward by a year a debt-reduction forecast seen as key to returning the automaker to an investment-grade credit rating. Ford, which expects to be solidly profitable this year, said it repaid $2bn (£1.26bn) of debt in the third quarter, expects to pay down a [...]
E.On admits to second €2.6bn charge on Mediterranean assets October 27, 2010 GERMAN utilities company E.On admitted yesterday net profit would be lower as a result of taking €2.6bn (£2.2bn)in impairment charges on its assets in the Mediterranean. As much as €1.1bn will be written off in goodwill, with a further €1.5bn of impairments to be made on other assets in Italy, Spain and France. E.On said: [...]
CME to focus on clearing as hits its target October 28, 2010 CME Group, the world’s biggest futures exchange operator, reported profit in line with Wall Street’s expectations, and pegged future growth to global expansion and its derivatives clearing business. The operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade and New York Mercantile Exchange benefited from a surge in Treasury futures and energy contracts trading. [...]
Don’t rejoice too soon about US QE2 October 12, 2010 IT now looks as if the US will embark on another round of quantitative easing (QE), sooner rather than later. Last night’s minutes could hardly have been any clearer. While an important minority of Fed decision-makers remains opposed, or (sensibly) wants to wait for additional information, “many participants” think that unless growth accelerates, unemployment fall [...]