There’s nothing to fear from the latest easing back of Dodd-Frank’s reach October 17, 2018 Shortly after his inauguration as President, Donald Trump pledged to do “a big number” on Dodd-Frank regulations, labelling the post-crisis measures “a disaster” and promising to “kill” parts of the legislation. While the rhetoric was typically Trumpian, the reality has proven to be somewhat more modest. Nonetheless, a change in the White House's direction of [...]
Prudential Finance removed from US ‘too big to fail’ list October 17, 2018 US insurance giant Prudential Finance was removed from the list of organisations judged “too big to fail” today by US regulators. Prudential was the last of the insurance firms on the list of major financial institutions which was drawn up post-financial crisis. Read more: RIP Dodd Frank: Trump's adviser signals the end of the banking [...]
Talk of a US recession in 2020 is a little premature October 16, 2018 Several analysts have come out of the woodwork in the past few weeks predicting not just a US growth slowdown, but the start of a recession in 2020. These calls were amplified after a week of stock market volatility. Bond vigilantes are pointing to rising real yields (that have been adjusted for inflation), while bear [...]
Global equity bloodbath plunges FTSE 100 to six-month low October 11, 2018 A GLOBAL equity bloodbath plunged the FTSE 100 to its lowest level in six months on a “gut-churning” day for investors. The sell-off began in the US on Wednesday before spreading to Europe, Asia, and trading floors across the world on Thursday. Global growth concerns, the prospect of higher US interest rates, as well as [...]
Fed hikes interest rates, signalling an end to ‘accommodative’ monetary policy September 26, 2018 The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates again tonight, in an expected move which reaffirmed steady economic growth and rising employment. Policymakers have now lifted the benchmark to a range of two to 2.25 per cent, an increase of a quarter of a percentage point from its last rate hike in early August. In a [...]
Sterling and the euro gain against the dollar thanks to cooling US inflation September 13, 2018 Sterling and the euro have risen against the dollar as they received an unexpected boost from US inflation. The “disappointing” inflation reading saw the dollar sink against the pound and euro, meaning sterling climbed to 1.31 against the dollar, its highest since late July, while the euro reached 1.17. Read more: Barclays: Trump impeachment wouldn't [...]
Green is the new gold…and emerging markets are flashing red September 5, 2018 | Sponsored Forget Gold. The greenback is the new safe haven of choice for investors seeking refuge. They are flocking to the US dollar en masse every time geo-political and trade tensions push them to make a defensive move while bullion lags behind. But this is bad news for emerging markets and here is why…. As the [...]
How the UK’s regulatory framework protects P2P investors December 7, 2017 | Sponsored The peer-to-peer (P2P) lending market was established in 2005, when Zopa became the first platform to connect individual lenders directly with borrowers. Since then, the market has evolved rapidly, as have the regulations underpinning investor protection – and this looks set to continue. In the UK, the sector has been overseen by the [...]
Why China is still weighing on the US Fed – eToro Tips & Picks September 7, 2015 China moved to stem the heavy selling that has dominated the last few weeks yesterday. However, the move failed to calm markets, with Chinese indices falling yet again. The further selling came as the Chinese government also downgraded the country’s 2014 growth rate estimate to 7.3 per cent. Many, however, believe the actual growth [...]
As a Federal Reserve interest rate hike creeps closer, should we remain relaxed about the consequences? September 6, 2015 Andrea Cicione, head of strategy at Lombard Street Research, says Yes. We can’t imagine investors feeling relaxed, with a series of Fed hikes looming, but past tightening cycles have generally been benign for US stocks. During the last nine episodes, price to earnings multiples have fallen by an average 4.2x, but in seven, earnings per [...]