BEST OF THE BROKERS November 21, 2011 STANDARD CHARTERED JP Morgan rates the bank “overweight” with a target price of £18. The broker believes the group is well positioned to benefit from its strong balance sheet, which includes $150bn of near-cash equity. Following meetings with management across the firm’s Asian operations, JP Morgan also notes that revenues are still rising, costs are [...]
FTSE slides to a six-week low over Eurozone debt worries November 21, 2011 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 slid to its lowest close in six weeks, with worries mounting over the health of the global economy as the US and Europe wrestled with their respective debt problems. London’s blue chip index fell 140.34 points, or 2.6 per cent to 5,222.60 yesterday, its sixth straight day of losses and adding to [...]
US stocks sink as confidence drops November 21, 2011 US stocks fell for a fourth session yesterday, as the lack of progress in dealing with heavy debt both in the United States and Europe further sapped investor confidence in equities. Risky assets like commodities also fell, sparking a sell off in shares of industrials and energy companies. Volume was lower than average, with investors [...]
Remembering the Iron Lady’s legacy: Why Margaret Thatcher still matters November 21, 2011 HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR THE place is Britain; the year, 1978. It is the Winter of Discontent. Labour unrest has shut down public services, paralysing the nation for months on end. Rubbish is piled high on the street. The government been obliged to supplicate for a loan from the International Monetary Fund. Soon the Soviet trade [...]
George Osborne has to hold his nerve – the UK economy needs vision, not populism November 21, 2011 EVERY day the pressure grows for the government to do something about growth. Usually this translates into calls for more borrowing and spending, special rules for struggling businesses, or other eye-catching initiatives. The government should resist. Recent history has taught us such quick wins often end up being own goals. They make the business environment [...]
Why I disagree with Ken Olisa on listing rules November 21, 2011 ZHEZKAZGAN, Sverdlovsk, Pavlodar. Not names your average investor will have heard of, but all of them are places of operation in Kazakhstan and Russia for an ever-increasing number of companies from overseas that have become members of the prestigious FTSE 100 share index. This seemingly open door to natural resource companies from countries where corporate [...]
Tightening up on loose interest rate language November 21, 2011 WOULD a rise in interest rates by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) constitute a tight monetary policy? Not necessarily. Economists tend to refer to the “neutral interest rate” as that which coincides with output growing at its trend rate and low inflationary pressure. Austrian school economists would also stress that interest rates [...]
RAPID RESPONSES November 21, 2011 Xmas trimmings Your comment pieces by Detlev Schlichter and Andrea Leadsom yesterday reminded me of an entry in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle – “In this year [1124] before Christmas King Henry gave instructions that all the moneyers who were in England should be deprived of their members, namely the right hand of each and their testicles [...]
Don’t oscillate on using stochastics November 21, 2011 STOCHASTIC oscillators can be wielded in the constant battle against the random walk of the market. As with all technical analysis tools, they won’t unlock all the secrets of the price action, but they can be an additional clue as to the statistical likelihood that the market is due a correction on the downside or [...]
HOLDING NO STOCK IN EURO DELIVERANCE November 21, 2011 INVESTOR sentiment has turned decidedly bearish over the past week. As usual, the primary concern is the slow motion train wreck that is the European debt crisis. This means that Eurozone sovereign bond yields remain in focus, with the spreads of Spanish, Italian and even French debt over German bunds under intense scrutiny. Once again, [...]
