Traders seek to lock in prices as they fight volatile market July 14, 2009 RECORD volatility and unpredictability in the foreign exchange markets during the financial crisis may have seen volumes soar and day traders profit handsomely, but if you are a longer-term positional trader dipping into the forex markets or looking to hedge your trading, whether it be in the currency markets or another asset class, then volatility [...]
SWISSIE WILL STAY STRONG DESPITE SNB July 14, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT INTERVENTION is always a subject of controversy and conversation in the currency market. Typically, traders focus on the Bank of Japan (BoJ), which at one time spent nearly $250bn trying to drive down the value of the yen. However, while the BoJ receives the lion’s share of attention, the [...]
It’s more vital than ever to reassess risk July 14, 2009 RISK appetite is one of those phrases that traders tend to bandy about. In these uncertain times, the words are in the news more than ever. A cursory glance over the research notes, market commentaries and news reports of the past few weeks would have you confused. One day a research note claims that risk [...]
Miners, banks and oil groups emerge as stars of the index July 14, 2009 LONDON’S top share index closed up 0.9 per cent yesterday, led by miners, banks and oil producers as impressive corporate data from the United States outweighed mixed economic figures. The FTSE ended 35.55 points higher at 4,237.68, extending Monday’s 1.8 per cent gains. The index has risen more than 23 per cent since hitting a [...]
Corporate earnings boost Wall Street July 14, 2009 US stocks managed modest gains yesterday, as better-than-expected corporate profits overshadowed concerns about weak consumer demand. Positive surprises on the earnings front could boost markets again today as chip maker Intel reported results after the bell that surpassed expectations, driving stock index futures sharply higher. Intel also gave a forecast for current-quarter revenue that beat [...]
BBC bonuses culled amid profit slide July 14, 2009 THE BBC’s commercial arm reported a 27 per cent drop in full-year profit yesterday, as the broadcaster said it had suspended all executive director bonuses until further notice. BBC Worldwide said pre-tax profit slid to £85.7m in the year ending March 2009, despite revenue hitting £1bn for the first time. The company blamed the drop [...]
Petrol sellers’ popularity at the mercy of pricing July 14, 2009 JUST how much some brands are affected by price can be seen in the first graph, which plots the average BrandIndex score of six petrol companies (BP, Texaco, Shell, Esso/ExxonMobil, Total) against the inverse of petrol prices. It shows an extraordinary correlation of 0.91. Every price movement has a predictable effect on the brands’ ratings. [...]
WEST END SUMMER BOOM July 14, 2009 LONDON’S West End is expecting a “gold rush” of 140,000 shoppers from the Middle East over the Summer in advance of Ramadan, spending an estimated £250m. As the Euro shopper market softens, retailers are for the first time pulling out all the stops, including extending opening hours and making key additions to the services on [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 14, 2009 Piper JaffrayThe international middle market investment bank announced the appointment of Martin Brennan as associate for its technology banking team, which is led by Eric Sanschagrin. Brennan was previously senior associate at FirstCapital, a boutique telecoms, media and technology investment bank. He advised on nine technology Venture Capital and Private Equity financings and six M&A [...]
Oil price dips on demand worries July 14, 2009 US oil prices dipped into negative territory yesterday as dealers worried a bumpy economic recovery could delay a rebound in ailing world energy demand. US crude fell 9 cents to $59.60 a barrel, extending a decline that shaved 11 per cent from the price last week. London Brent crude rose 7 cents to $60.76.
