Wall St buoyed by Apple divi scheme March 19, 2012 THE S&P 500 extended its rally yesterday to climb within 10 per cent of its historic closing high, after Apple said it would pay a $10bn annual dividend and buy back stock. The benchmark index is now at its highest level since May 2008 and 10 per cent below the record close of 1,565.15 set [...]
Rebalancing taxes towards consumption will allow our thwarted youth to flourish March 19, 2012 THE REAL debate on tax strategy was started by Andrew Sentance in City A.M. last week. But too little has been said on the issue of incentives for younger people – and their opportunities to drive economic growth. We are faced with a situation in which the number of people over 65 is set to [...]
Crowdfunding is a fresh new way to back business March 19, 2012 THE emergence of crowdfunding, a new method of raising capital over the internet, is set to test how adept the coalition is at adorning London’s financial services crown with new jewels, particularly as attitudes to regulation turn from light touch to intensive interference. Crowdfunding is a web-driven means of raising money from the mass market. [...]
Why Budgets are bad news for the economy March 19, 2012 LIKE many economists I will be busy tomorrow covering George Osborne’s third Budget. For once, it seems like it could be quite radical. However, I won’t be poring over the fine print trying to distinguish between the populist gimmicks and the parts that will really matter. Instead, I will be arguing that Budgets are a [...]
RAPID RESPONSES March 19, 2012 Radically similar [Re: Budget could be surprisingly radical, yesterday] What ever happened to all the radical discussions about merging income tax and national insurance? What about getting rid of the absurd 60 per cent tax rate on those earning between £100,000 and £120,000? This will not be a radical budget. I will believe our chancellor [...]
Spread betting on a basket of stocks March 19, 2012 EXCHANGE-traded funds (ETF) have been seen by many as being one of the greatest financial innovations in recent decades. Offering retail clients cheap and highly liquid exposure to a huge range of markets, despite an initially slow uptake, there are now almost 1,000 ETFs on US exchanges alone. If there’s a sector, there’s probably an [...]
FX MARKETS FOLLOWING THE BOND MARKETS RATHER THAN EQUITIES March 19, 2012 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT OVER the past several weeks, the FX market has undergone a monumental change. Bonds not stocks have become the primary driver of trade for currencies and that one dynamic has been able to explain most of the movement in the dollar both up and down. Instead of the old mantra [...]
THE TIPSTER March 19, 2012 THE management statement from Punch Taverns later today should allow investors to decide whether the glass is really half full or half empty for the pub chain. Last year saw a de-merger and a run of poor results, and the share price in the first quarter of 2012 hasn’t seen much movement at all – [...]
A tough lesson in learning to trade March 19, 2012 THE LEX VAN DAM TRADING ACADEMY EDUCATION is an integral part of trading. When I started working at Goldman Sachs in 1992, I went through a nine-month training program before I did one single trade. The time was spent learning the technical skills that trading requires. I have not stopped learning since. That’s what I [...]
Analyst picks for 20 March 2012 March 19, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Looking to buy euro-Swiss franc Expertise: Combining fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 month to 3 months It’s hard to ignore the Swiss National Bank’s SFr1.2000 floor on the cross and the ability for the market to remain so well supported ahead of the barrier. [...]
