Best of the Brokers February 10, 2013 THOMAS COOK Morgan Stanley rates the travel group “overweight” and has raised its target price from 60p to 100p after last week’s update. The broker has greater confidence that the firm can turn itself around, based on better than expected cost savings and some signs of growth in the Nordic and German markets. The success [...]
Market braced for bad news in Inflation Report February 10, 2013 ECONOMISTS have warned that markets should be braced for bad news this week as the Bank of England releases its quarterly update on the UK’s financial outlook. “The upcoming Inflation Report is likely to project that inflation will still be clearly above the two per cent target two years ahead, and perhaps not even back [...]
US bull market to face further tests in March February 10, 2013 THE US stock market is no stranger to strong performances in January, only to see the lofty gains early in the year transition into months of grinding action that goes nowhere. That’s what happened in 2011 and 2012, and some analysts think 2013 could follow the same routine. Markets are higher this year in the [...]
Black swans are difficult to predict but we still need maths in finance February 10, 2013 SINCE the 2008 crash, we’ve heard steady criticism of the role of physicists in finance. The terms quants, derivatives and models have all taken on nasty connotations. But if you think about mathematical modelling in the right way, this criticism is wrongheaded. One of the most prominent critiques is an argument from psychology. It suggests [...]
Don’t let the rise of the Brics mask burgeoning opportunities in the Gulf February 10, 2013 ONE of the most striking phrases in David Cameron’s recent speech on Europe was his recognition “that a new global race of nations is underway today”. Adapting to a fast-changing global economic order is critical to the continued prosperity of the UK. Over the past decade, a huge amount of focus has – quite rightly [...]
Cynical Labour has no claim to being a party of business February 10, 2013 CHUKA Umunna, the shadow business secretary, suggested in last week’s City A.M. that Labour is the natural party of entrepreneurship. This is little more than a cynical attempt at gesture politics. Like Umunna’s father, my parents came to Britain with very little and set up their own businesses. The small shops they owned created jobs [...]
The Debate: Could escalating tensions between Japan and China bring about serious economic damage? February 10, 2013 YES Nicholas Consonery In the near term, China and Japan are unlikely to negotiate a return to stability. A continued push by Beijing to weaken Japan’s administrative control over the disputed islands sustains the risk of an accident; but military confrontation is unlikely given Japan’s alliance with the US. However, risks surrounding the Japan/China relationship [...]
Letters to the editor February 10, 2013 Consensual leader [RE: Mark Carney will be more of a reformer than a revolutionary, Friday] This article is thoughtful, but I disagree with its second point. The Monetary Policy Committee’s current inflation target is already quite flexible; it is unclear what would be achieved by formalising flexibility. Mark Carney’s testimony was more candid than the [...]
Why sometimes it pays to return to square one February 10, 2013 JASON Goldberg and Bradford Shellhammer, founders of the overnight internet sensation Fab.com, were almost too busy for our conversation to take place. That may be an occupational hazard if you’ve made it your mission to “change the world”. Fab.com is the hugely successful flash-sale site, that sells design items as diverse as furniture and jewellery [...]
Chess players may be nerds but they sometimes pack a punch February 10, 2013 I THINK I closed my eyes as the other boy pounded my face, punch after punch. It seemed I had no defence. Trying to hit him back or to block him was just useless. The minister eventually broke us up, and it was only then that I burst out crying. “I didn’t come to church [...]
