Best of the Brokers for 27 January 2015 January 26, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com IGAS Westhouse Securities has downgraded British oil and gas firm IGas from “buy” to “neutral”. Analyst Mark Henderson cited the “significant uncertainty” created by Lancashire Council’s decision to deny permission for Cuadrilla Resources’ two proposed shale gas wells, and the EAC recommendation to [...]
FTSE stays fresh but Coca-Cola HBC stock goes worse than flat – London Report January 26, 2015 THE FTSE closed at a fresh four-month high yesterday helped by a rebound in energy shares, although hefty falls in Greece-exposed Coca-Cola HBC capped gains. Heavyweight oil & gas majors BP, BG and Shell rebounded sharply in the afternoon after the secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), Abdullah al-Badri, said he [...]
No Wall Street Greek tragedy – New York Report January 26, 2015 INVESTORS in the US brushed off fears that a leftist victory in Greece would bring fresh crisis to the Eurozone and energy stocks advanced. While the US has limited direct exposure to Greece’s relatively small economy, extended volatility in the region could hurt multinational companies. “There was a lot of trepidation in the market going into [...]
Why Syriza’s fairy tales will devastate Greece – and the wider Eurozone too January 26, 2015 When I was 16 years old, my family (bless them) scraped together enough money to send me to Europe; the first place I touched down on the continent was Athens. A longstanding – and correct – family joke makes it clear that, in many ways, I intellectually never came back from that first trip. It’s [...]
The populist crusade against tax avoidance has turned into an assault on justice January 26, 2015 If “tax avoidance” is the answer, what is the question? For many years it might have been: “what subject excites only a small number of tax lawyers and HMRC officials?” But in the age of attempted deficit reduction, “tax avoidance” – or rather “clamping down on tax avoidance” – is the answer you hear every [...]
Misguided anti-fracking campaigners jeopardise our economy and climate January 26, 2015 If I told you I had a technology that could create tens of thousands of jobs, many in parts of the North of England with relatively high unemployment, support domestic manufacturing, and help us reduce carbon emissions, I imagine I would have your attention. If I added that the technology has already been in large-scale [...]
With public borrowing still high, is David Cameron right to renew his pledge of £7bn in tax cuts? January 26, 2015 John Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, says Yes The Prime Minister is absolutely right to go into the General Election campaign with a plan to cut taxes – even in the face of continued public spending restraint and necessary belt tightening. Lower personal taxes can be a fillip to businesses, who [...]
Syriza’s triumph: Where debt dialogue could take markets January 26, 2015 Grexit is unlikely, but expect six months of Eurozone volatility. Financial markets took the result of the Greek general election largely in their stride yesterday. The victory of hard-left, anti-austerity party Syriza was predominantly in line with analysts’ predictions, with plenty of advance warning for investors and traders. But even so, the news did [...]
Wolfgang Schauble’s fine line on the Eurozone’s QE – CNBC Comment January 26, 2015 I had to laugh. Watching the CNBC panel at the World Economic Forum last Friday in Davos, the German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble stole the show in his dry, wry way. Having been one of the biggest critics of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) QE programme from the start, he walked a delicate line defending [...]
How to tell when a trading idea has become too popular – DailyFX Tips & Picks January 26, 2015 WITH Syriza’s victory in Greece, markets should be very nervous given what has been said on TV and in the press. The anti-austerity party is expected to try to renegotiate existing austerity measures with the Troika, which should be a no-brainer sell signal for most euro-dollar traders. So why is euro-dollar higher when I write [...]
