Four weeks to go: Buy your ticket for City A.M.’s trading conference April 30, 2012 Q What is your trading background? A In 1992, I started in the Goldman Sachs graduate training program in New York, where I learned to trade NYSE and Nasdaq listed shares. I also spent time on the famous Risk Arbitrage trading desk. After that I traded UK and European shares, both for clients as well [...]
The facts behind trading indices April 30, 2012 AFTER trading individual equities, retail traders are usually inclined to dabble in trading their indices. So what is an equity index, how are they priced and what are they actually trading? An equity index is a benchmark value of a basket of stocks. Each index will clearly define what its constituents are and how it [...]
Analyst picks for 30 April 2012 April 30, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Looking to sell euro-dollar Expertise: Technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week A closer look at the $1.3300 level shows a confluence of resistance, including the psychological barrier, some falling trend-line resistance off of the February 2012 peak, the upper Bollinger Band, and an [...]
The legitimacy of technical analysis is beyond dispute April 30, 2012 Traders are looking at what makes money and what doesn’t THE debate on whether technical analysis is hocus-pocus or not has been replaced with the question: Which type of technical analysis do you employ in your trading? Central to technical analysis is the assumption that the price of a stock already trades at a level [...]
MARKETS STRUGGLE TO FIND THE ENERGY TO RISE HIGHER April 30, 2012 CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST AS APRIL gives way to May, markets are struggling to find the necessary enthusiasm to push much higher. Unlike last week, when we had plenty of things to worry about in the Eurozone, this week seems to be far less exciting, at least for the moment. The Eurozone crisis continues to boil [...]
FTSE losses limited by Aberdeen April 30, 2012 The FTSE 100 was solid this morning as Aberdeen Asset Management reported a bounce back in client funds, making it the top riser. Investors have been spooked by the Eurozone crisis, which has re-emerged with the debt woes of the likes of Italy and Spain again laid bare. London’s blue chip index has also been [...]
Qatar in investment with Barclays’ resource unit April 30, 2012 Qatar has signed a deal to co-invest $250m (£153m) with Barclays’ natural resources private equity investment unit, underlining the gas-rich Gulf state’s desire to plough some of its commodity wealth back into the sector. The investments in Barclays Natural Resources Investments’ portfolio companies will be done through Qatar Asset Management Company, a joint venture between [...]
NAB to cut 1,400 UK jobs April 30, 2012 National Australia Bank will cut 1,400 jobs in the UK and take charges of $740m(£454.4m) after deciding it was too hard to sell or expand its UK banking business in a depressed market, it said as it flagged a record first-half cash profit. After a review of its UK unit, which comprises over 335 Clydesdale [...]
Secret collapse in corporate profits is hurting UK’s recovery April 30, 2012 IF you repeat a myth often enough, it eventually becomes the received wisdom. That is as true in the City as it is politics. Take the supposedly well-established “fact” that profits are booming despite the recession. That is certainly the story in America and in emerging markets. But while most large UK-based quoted firms are [...]
John Pluthero interview: The controversial telco boss on life after the C-suite April 30, 2012 Discussing abstract art with controversial executive John Pluthero is a slightly surreal experience, akin to ballroom dancing with Tony Hayward, or playing Twister with Steve Jobs. Pluthero is showing me around an exhibition he helped to curate at the Kings Place Gallery in Islington. Bright swirls of colour adorn every wall, each one accompanied by his impassioned commentary. He [...]
