MARKETS HIT BY BROWN CONJECTURE June 8, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT IS the recession over? The debate over whether the current stock market rally continues to rage. The good news on the economic front just keeps on coming and investors are lapping it up. The FTSE 100 is up nearly 30 per cent from its March lows on the perceived belief [...]
Emerging market strength means luxury is down but far from out June 8, 2009 FOR a while it seemed like the luxury goods retailers would escape the global recession relatively unscathed. The rich would still remain relatively rich and any loss of custom in developed countries would quickly be replaced by growing demand in emerging markets like China. That hope has vanished in the past two weeks as the [...]
Global recovery sparks interest in commodities June 8, 2009 AS THE prospects of a global recovery have returned, so have rising commodity prices. And while it is oil that is dominating the headlines, the surge is happening across the board. According to the S&P/Goldman Sachs Commodity Index, raw material prices rose 20 per cent in May and the Baltic Dry Index – a measure [...]
Alliance Boots and the ex-banker: Pessina’s most daring appointment June 8, 2009 IT’S been quite a busy couple of days,” says the 67 year-old Stefano Pessina, in a somewhat understated sort of way. The executive chairman of Alliance Boots was supposed to have spent the weekend by the sea in his native Italy before flying off to a conference in the US. Instead, he’s in his financial [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 8, 2009 DeloitteThe business advisory firm has appointed risk management specialist Philipp Keller to its European Solvency II team. Keller, who joins the Zurich office as head of insurance risk management, was previously head of research and development and a board member of the Federal Office of Private Insurance in Switzerland. He is also an adviser on [...]
Analysts: investors are irrational June 8, 2009 More than two thirds of financial professionals believe there is no rhyme or reason to market movements, according to research released yesterday. Of 438 surveyed members of the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Society of the UK, the member association for investment professionals, 77 per cent said they did not agree that market prices fully reflect [...]
Shareholders positive, says IMA June 8, 2009 Rebounding markets finally pushed investors into confident territory last month, according to the Investment Management Association (IMA). The association said its GB Investor Confidence index – which ranges from 0 to 200 where 100 is “neutral” – hit 106 last month. This compares to 99 at the start of May, and 71 six months ago.
Bingo resilient in the downturn June 8, 2009 The recession will have only a muted effect on the UK’s bingo halls after the industry already absorbed the negative impact of the smoking ban and changes to machine regulation, accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has predicted. The firm forecasts that bingo revenues will remain relatively static over 2009, falling between zero and three per cent. But [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 8, 2009 RIO TINTOCitigroup said that Rio Tinto’s growth projects will come back onto the agenda now that the miner has pulled out of the Chinalco deal and confirmed a rights issue. to reduce its debt burden. The broker notes that dilution from the cash call will be less than if the Chinalco deal went ahead, and [...]
EDF launches offer for EcoSecurities as bid war hots up June 8, 2009 CARBON credits firm EcoSecurities yesterday rejected a takeover bid from French utility giant Electricité de France (EDF), the second it has received in June so far, sparking hopes that a bidding war will soon break out for the company. EDF Trading, a subsidiary of EDF, said it was considering a cash offer of at least [...]
