US Beige Book shows growth rate is slowing September 8, 2010 THE US Federal Reserve released its snapshot of the economy yesterday, which showed “widespread signs” of slowing in recent weeks. The Fed said in its Beige Book survey of businesses that three of the 12 districts questioned said economic growth was mixed or slow. Seven districts away from the east cost reported modest growth between [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 8, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES PROPOSAL FOR GRADUATE HIGH-FLIERS TO PAY EDUCATION PREMIUM Government officials are considering a plan to make graduates who become big earners pay a premium for their education as the coalition seeks ways to find extra money for universities. The novel policy proposal reflects a desire by Conservative coalition members to appease Liberal Democrat [...]
FSA set to hit Goldman with a £20m fine September 8, 2010 WALL Street titan Goldman Sachs has been fined £20m by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for failing to disclose it was under a fraud investigation by its US counterpart. The fine, expected to be announced this morning, concludes a five-month long probe by the City watchdog launched after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [...]
Hedge funds lost out in August after stocks fell September 8, 2010 MOST hedge funds lost money in August as some of the industry’s best-known names were caught out by dips in the stock market. The average fund lost 0.55 per cent last month after gaining 1.9 per cent in July, according to data released yesterday by New York consulting firm Hennessee Group. Hedge funds lost 1.29 [...]
Lloyds offloads Crest Nicholson stake to Varde September 8, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group confirmed last night it has agreed to sell its interest in bank-owned housebuilder Crest Nicholson to US investment fund Varde. Lloyd’s has held around a quarter of Crest’s debt and 30 per cent of its equity since January 2009 when it took part in a debt-for-equity swap. The construction firm remains around [...]
Volatility can add to an ETF’s tracking error September 8, 2010 GIVEN that investors’ prime reason for buying exchange-traded funds (ETF) is to gain exposure to indices, in an ideal world the performance of an ETF ought to reflect movements in the benchmark index as closely as possible. Unfortunately, ETFs do suffer from tracking error, which is defined as a divergence between the performance of the [...]
Bubble, toil and trouble as investors pour into bonds September 8, 2010 WITH government bond yields dropping through the floor, analysts fear that over-egged double dip fears have inflated a bond bubble. A quarter of year-to-date inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETF) have gone into bond funds, so ETF investors should keep a sharp eye on the debate. Bubble alarmists highlight the pace with which investment has rushed [...]
LISTED PRODUCT NEWS September 8, 2010 WORLD’S FIRST EURO HIGH YIELD BOND ETF BlackRock’s exchange-traded funds (ETF)?platform iShares has launched the world’s first Euro High Yield Bond ETF. The fund tracks the performance of the Markit iBoxx Euro Liquid Corporates Index. The index uses multiple pricing sources for inclusion and is based on an average of the classifications allocated to each [...]
THE TIPSTER September 8, 2010 BELEAGUERED oil and gas giant BP, which yesterday published a report into the Macondo oil well disaster, received a boost after ratings agency Fitch upgraded it to A status. Will the upgrade offer sufficient impetus for the global energy firm to break its August high of 438p? WorldSpreads offers a spread of 414.4-415.4p. Weakness in [...]
BP and energy peers propel the FTSE while banks drag September 8, 2010 EENERGY stocks led by BP pushed Britain’s top shares higher yesterday, outpacing falls in banks that were weighed down by European recovery concerns. The FTSE 100 closed up 21.92 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,429.74, after breaking a seven-session winning streak to close down 0.6 per cent on Tuesday at 5,407.82. Meanwhile the FTSE [...]
