BILL OF THE WEEK May 23, 2010 SIX gents have splashed out more than £1,400 in High Holborn’s glamorous Pearl Restaurant. Clearly attending London’s International Wine Fair proved insufficient to quench the group’s thirst. They quaffed a bottle of classic 2000 Dom Perignon from Pearl’s fantastic selection, along with two excellent bottles of wine – a 2005 Chevalier Montrachet Domaine, Jean-Marc Pillot [...]
Looming hike in capital gains tax is fuelling investor panic May 23, 2010 HIGH-EARNING investors are rushing to sell off assets that will attract Capital Gains Tax (CGT) before next month’s emergency Budget due to indications that CGT rates could shoot up from 18 per cent to as much as 50 per cent. Gains on non-business assets now look set to be taxed in line – or close [...]
Options can help traders when the outlook for the markets is unclear May 23, 2010 THE markets are a mystery sometimes, and it can be difficult to decide which way they are going to move. One way for spread betters to trade even if they don’t have a clear idea which direction prices are going is through options. But how do you actually spread bet on an option? An option [...]
Good sales are driving auto stocks higher May 23, 2010 WHEN markets drop as dramatically as they did last week it can be helpful if traders have a glass-half-full mentality: as the market swoons it’s the perfect time to pick up stocks at bargain prices. But where should spread betters be looking to pick up good quality stocks on the cheap? Goldman Sachs produced a [...]
THE TIPSTER May 23, 2010 BHP BILLITON hosts its AGM on Monday. The decision by the Australian government to impose a 40 per cent tax on mining profits, the rise in the value of the dollar and the general slump in commodity prices has seen BHP Billiton’s shares fall nearly 23 per cent in less than a month. With the [...]
SPREAD BET GURU May 23, 2010 MARKET STRATEGIST josh@cityindex.com Q. Why did Germany’s ban on short selling cause the markets to fall by so much last week? A. It is important to note that this decision came at a critical time for the markets. Investors were already feeling incredibly jittery about the European sovereign debt crisis spreading from Greece to other [...]
Shares seen higher but the age of austerity looms May 23, 2010 AFTER last week’s jitters and ensuing sell-off which resulted in 200 points being shed from the FTSE, all eyes are on the UK market to see if it will hold up above 5,000 today after testing the psychologically significant level last week for the first time since October. We foresee a mildly positive open for [...]
Step off the beaten track to find France’s secret treasure, the Loir May 23, 2010 SITUATED on what used to be fiercely fought over territory separating Maine from Anjou, the Fléchois region was for centuries at the heart of some of France’s best-known and most bitter conflicts. With those struggles long over and done with, what’s left is a mellow and absorbing destination less than three hours drive from the [...]
Medici palace that became Europe’s most splendid hotel May 23, 2010 FOR a couple of London girls, fresh off a Ryanair flight and a battle with striking trains and lengthy bus queues, entering the Four Seasons Florence struck us dumb. We’d walked into a world of Italian royalty, papal splendour and elegance of a type you just can’t find outside of the country of Dante, Leonardo, [...]
Baroque opulence in the eternal city May 23, 2010 ENTER the lobby of the Rome Cavalieri hotel and you’re greeted by a sweet swirl of art and ostentation. While the Renaissance came out of Florence, the subsequent era of the Baroque was all about Rome, and the aesthetic splendour and flamboyance that was its calling card is alive and well at the Cavalieri. That [...]
