Greek workers strike as talks on debt crisis begin February 10, 2010 Thousands of Greek civil servants staged a 24-hour strike shutting schools and grounding flights yesterday, but a protest march was poorly attended, offering some hope Athens can tackle a debt crisis shaking the eurozone. Today’s meeting among the EU’s 27 leaders, economic advisers, the central bank chief and other senior EU officials is expected to [...]
ETFs are ideal for commercial property plays February 10, 2010 ONE of the biggest casualties of the financial crisis was the commercial property sector – capital values slumped 45 per cent in the UK, according to the Investment Property Databank (IPD). The recession also saw occupier demand contract, which drove up vacancy rates and forced down rents. But since the summer, we have seen an [...]
Bank: Bumpy UK recovery February 10, 2010 BRITAIN’S path to recovery will be much slower than previously predicted and inflation will fall further below target over the next few years, the Bank of England said yesterday as it unveiled its new growth and inflation forecasts as part of the quarterly Inflation Report. The Bank said the pace of growth was weaker than [...]
Strong manufacturing data boosts hopes of GDP revision February 10, 2010 BRITISH manufacturing output surged an impressive 0.9 per cent in December, strengthening hopes that the dismal fourth quarter GDP data would be revised upwards. The strong industrial and manufacturing data vindicated survey evidence, which has suggested that the recovery was stronger in the second half of 2009 than official data showed. The Office for National [...]
Larger than expected US trade deficit sparks fears over growth February 10, 2010 A BIG jump in oil imports swelled the US December trade deficit to $40.2bn (£25.8bn), an unexpected widening that suggested US economic growth was not as strong as initially thought in the fourth quarter. The Commerce Department’s report published yesterday, showing a 10.4 per cent jump in the trade gap, came as both US exports [...]
Bernanke’s brakes on bonds good for stocks February 10, 2010 THE snow forced Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to submit a written testimony to Washington’s legislators yesterday rather than go to Capital Hill in person, but the message the Fed governor delivered was the same regardless of the weather: he plans to withdraw support from the financial markets at some point soon. Bernanke outlined a [...]
Astaire buys up Hoodless February 10, 2010 ASTAIRE, the rapidly-expanding City stockbroker headed by small-cap broking veteran Edward Vandyk, yesterday announced its fourth acquisition in just 12 months, buying up Hoodless Brennan for £3.6m. Vandyk said Hoodless was an attractive fit for Astaire because both firms operate stockbroking businesses in London and Bristol, while Hoodless is strong in market-making, an area in [...]
Honda faces global recall over airbags February 10, 2010 Honda’s troubles are deepening as it was forced to extend its global recall for faulty airbags by 437,000 cars yesterday. The second-biggest Japanese carmaker will replace the driver’s side airbag inflator on the cars because they can deploy with too much pressure, causing the inflator to rupture and injure or kill the driver. The recall [...]
INVESTORS’ GLOSSARY February 10, 2010 ALPHA Alpha is one of the two measures traditionally used to judge the performance of a money manager. It refers to the excess return that a money manager can generate by using his skills to pick the best performing stocks in the financial markets. If a money manager generates a positive alpha this means they [...]
Imperial fights ban on vending machines February 10, 2010 IMPERIAL Tobacco said it would seek a judicial review of plans to ban cigarette vending machines yesterday, upping the ante in the battle between the industry and the government. The maker of Lambert & Butlers believes the crackdown, due to come into effect in October 2011 under the Health Act 2009, is disproportionate because booths [...]
