Physical gold back in vogue for super-rich October 4, 2010 The world’s wealthiest people have responded to economic worries by buying bars of gold, sometimes by the tonne, and moving assets out of the financial system, bankers catering to the very rich said yesterday. UBS executive Joef Stadler told the Reuters Global Private Banking Summit that fears of a double-dip downturn had boosted the appetite [...]
Construction outlook weak October 4, 2010 Activity in the construction sector picked up in September, but firms’ confidence about the future fell to an 18-month low on worries about government spending cuts, a survey of purchasing managers showed yesterday. The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply construction PMI rose to 53.8 in September from 52.1 in August, confounding expectations for an [...]
IPO candidate Edwards sees stronger second half October 4, 2010 Edwards Group, the vacuum technology firm that is preparing for a sale or flotation, said it “rapidly recovered” from the global downturn and would grow sales and profits further in the second half of the year. In a statement, the firm said first-half net sales rose 74 per cent compared to a year earlier, to [...]
M&A deals surge to 2008 levels October 4, 2010 WORLDWIDE merger and acquisition (M&A) activity surged 21 per cent in the last quarter showing the strongest growth since 2008, new data from Thomson Reuters showed yesterday. The third quarter of this year saw a total of $676.9bn (£427.2bn) worth of M&A deals, it said. The number of deals was up 3.8 per cent year-on-year [...]
Yell names Tony Bates as its new head of finance October 4, 2010 YELLOW-PAGES publisher Yell appointed Tony Bates, a former executive at telecoms provider Colt and music label EMI, as its new finance chief yesterday. Bates, 54, said in July he would step down as CFO of corporate telecoms specialist Colt, where Yell said he had been instrumental in turning the business around to becoming cash-generative, debt-free [...]
ISA sales reach highest ever level after increase in personal allowances October 4, 2010 ISA sales more than doubled in the last year rising to a record figure of £400m a month taking the total sales figure to £14.6bn for the year, the Investment Management Association (IMA) said yesterday. The figures showed ISA sales had reached their highest level since they were launched in 1999 as savers showed a [...]
Eurozone uncertainty keeps bunds climbing October 4, 2010 GERMAN bunds made gains across the curve yesterday as expectations of further US quantitative easing (QE) increased and the Eurozone producer price index (PPI) indicated a lack of inflationary pressure in the pipeline. Over the last few weeks the German bund price has gradually travelled upwards reaching a value of 13,182.5 yesterday at 7:45pm (see [...]
US MARKETS AWAIT THE SIZE OF QE2 October 4, 2010 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT STOCK markets got plenty of attention last month following strong rallies in the major indices. But September also saw impressive gains for precious metals and the euro, although the latter was more a function of dollar weakness. Although there are plenty of good reasons to avoid the euro, the single currency [...]
Battered Euro stock markets offer investors minimal upside October 4, 2010 EUROZONE equities have begun the fourth quarter firmly on the back foot with markets yesterday tumbling for the sixth consecutive trading session – the longest run of losses since January 2009. Fears that the US will plunge into a double-dip recession have outweighed more positive European economic data and upbeat expectations for the third quarter [...]
THE TIPSTER October 4, 2010 NON-FARM payroll data this Friday should provide the usual fireworks. Marking the start of the final quarter of 2010, this is a crucial figure. Markets have been jumpy amid continuing uncertainty about the global economy and this monthly release has moved stocks around dramatically in the past year. Its trajectory in the coming months could [...]
