London Report: Mining shares down on signs of China’s economic weakness January 6, 2014 LONDON-listed mining equities fell yesterday as new signs of economic weakness in China, the world’s top metals consumer, prompted investors to dump resources shares at the start of the first full week of 2014. The UK mining index fell 1.9 per cent, the biggest one-day drop in more than a month, after surveys showed growth [...]
New York Report: US services a drag on stocks January 6, 2014 US STOCKS declined slightly yesterday after mixed economic reports, which showed a slowdown in growth in the US services sector and a rebound in new orders for factory goods. The technology sector was the day’s leading decliner after a downgrade by Morgan Stanley. Notes on Twitter and eBay weighed on the shares of both companies. [...]
Solve the capital’s hidden transport crisis by bridging the Thames Chasm January 6, 2014 SOMETIMES a crisis doesn’t seem like a crisis because it is the status quo and people just take it for granted. For London, a case in point is the Thames Chasm – the acute shortage of road crossings of the River Thames east of Tower Bridge. The inability to get across the East Thames is [...]
2014: The year to start a proper debate on what the welfare state is for January 6, 2014 GEORGE Osborne has been quick to define 2014’s political agenda. He indicated yesterday what the Conservatives’ offer at the next election is likely to be: completion of deficit reduction in a lower-tax, lower-spend way than Labour, buttressed with continued school reform and tighter control of immigration and welfare. Osborne laid down a challenge to his [...]
Why annuities switching is likely to cause serious problems for UK insurers January 6, 2014 WE HAVE little detail of pensions minister Steve Webb’s proposals to allow pensioners to switch between annuity providers in the same way that they can switch between mortgages. However, at first sight, his ideas provide more evidence that the coalition made a serious error in appointing somebody so far to the political left to such [...]
Letters to the Editor – 07/01 – Space travel, Best of Twitter January 6, 2014 Space travel [Re: Which technological development will see the most game-changing advances in 2014?, yesterday] Commercial space travel could be the most exciting technological development this year. In 2013, we saw the final technical pieces of the complex jigsaw puzzle for our human spaceflight programme fall into place. Early-2014 will see our pilots further expanding the [...]
Fed taper not a grave threat to the Fragile Five January 6, 2014 But 2014 will see heightened political risk in emerging markets FOR MANY emerging market investors, 2013 will go down as a year to forget. The MSCI emerging market equity index fell from highs of over 1,055 at the beginning of the year to less than 884 in June, ending the year 5 per cent down [...]
CNBC Comment: Global markets in 2014: What to expect January 6, 2014 IT’S A new year, and I received the most important present just before Christmas. In 2014, I will never again have to ask whether the US Federal Reserve will start tapering its asset purchase programme. The relief of that single fact cannot be overestimated, and I would like to personally thank Ben Bernanke and the rest [...]
DailyFX: Analyst picks January 6, 2014 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Looking to buy euro-Aussie dollar and euro-yen Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: A few hours to a few weeks In the absence of further central bank stimulus, a return of growth to Europe should bring a return of capital in 2014. Ahead of the [...]
Position your portfolio for a cautiously optimistic 2014 January 6, 2014 Large cap success, a stronger dollar, risky bonds, and volatility should be key themes DESPITE troubles in emerging economies, 2013 proved to be a strong year for developed economy equity markets. And while remaining cautious about the coming months, investors also have reason to be optimistic about 2014. With economic data improving, corporate earnings better-than-expected, [...]
