Google holds crunch talks January 13, 2010 CRUNCH talks took place yesterday between Google and Chinese authorities after the search-engine giant threatened to quit the country. In a direct challenge to the Chinese government, Google said it would pull out of the country unless it’s allowed to offer “unfiltered” internet searches to web users. Google blamed a series of cyber-attacks, possibly state [...]
CHINA BUBBLE IS A RISK FOR YEN SHORTS January 12, 2010 BORIS SCHLOSSBERG DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT ASK FX strategists what their favourite trade for 2010 is and the chances are most will say long dollar-yen. The conventional wisdom in the forex market – despite last Friday’s disappointing US jobs data – is that US short-term rates will inch higher. Their choice of trade is [...]
Revaluation of the yuan bad news for the Aussie dollar January 12, 2010 PRESSURE has been building on China to let its currency, the yuan, appreciate against the US dollar, to which it is pegged. This week, these calls only intensified after China posted strong trade data, putting the country firmly on course to usurp Germany’s position as the world’s number one exporter. But while Beijing so far [...]
Banking levy hangs over S&P financials January 12, 2010 US stocks slid in a broad sell-off yesterday as investors pummeled financials on concerns about a potential government levy on banks, while Alcoa’s disappointing results tempered optimism about the economic recovery. The benchmark S&P 500 broke a six-day streak of gains as banks led the financial sector lower, sending the KBW bank index down almost [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 11, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES LEHMAN WARNS ON US CLAIMS Big banks seeking to make windfall profits by making “outrageously unreasonable” claims against Lehman Brothers’ US business will be forced to prove their case in public courts, the executive leading the unwinding of the failed bank has warned. Bryan Marsal, the chief executive of Lehman Brothers Holdings, who [...]
Strength in energy issues is offset by weakness in miners January 11, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index ended flat yesterday with strength in energy issues countering a sell-off in miners, weak financial issues and uncertain progress on Wall Street. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was up 3.83 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,538.07, having touched a 16-month intraday peak of 5,600.48 early in the session. [...]
China tops forecast with strong growth January 10, 2010 Growth in China’s exports and imports last month blew past expectations, figures yesterday revealed, providing fresh evidence of the vigour of the economy and strengthening the case for Beijing to let the yuan start climbing again. Exports leapt 17.7 per cent from a year earlier, dwarfing the 4.0 per cent rise forecast by economists and [...]
Trades to suit all views and risk levels for the year ahead January 7, 2010 THE LAST couple of years have been a rollercoaster for investors, and while 2010 is not shaping up to be quite so unpredictable, there are certainly some bumps in the road ahead. It’s just the sort of environment where covered warrants come into their own. For one thing the most you can lose is your [...]
Trades to suit all views and risk levels for the year ahead January 6, 2010 THE LAST couple of years have been a rollercoaster for investors, and while 2010 is not shaping up to be quite so unpredictable, there are certainly some bumps in the road ahead. It’s just the sort of environment where covered warrants come into their own. For one thing the most you can lose is your [...]
Rusal float set to earn millions for Rothschild January 3, 2010 RUSSIAN aluminium firm Rusal, owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, is planning a $2.6bn (£1.6bn) flotation this month, tipped to earn millions for merchant bank NM Rothschild, it emerged yesterday. Rusal will sell 1.61 billion shares at up to HK$12.50 (£1) a share to cut $14.9bn (£9.2bn) of debt in a float set to value Rusal [...]