BEST OF THE BROKERS January 4, 2012 AFREN JP Morgan Cazenove rates the oil and gas company as “overweight” with a target price of 98p after it announced earlier in the week it had achieved an exit rate production level of 55,400 barrels a day, ahead of target. The broker says even at lower production levels Afren is still in a reasonably [...]
Indices hold gains even as euro falls January 4, 2012 MAJOR US stock indices were little changed in a low-volume session yesterday, but some investors were encouraged to see equities avoid a sell-off amid lingering Eurozone debt problems. Indices held on to the previous day’s large gains even as the euro dropped sharply against the dollar. Notably, US banks held up well, even though bad [...]
Banks drag FTSE down as UniCredit prices at discount January 4, 2012 CONCERNS over the Eurozone sent Britain’s top shares into reverse yesterday after the previous session’s sharp gains, as Italian lender UniCredit priced a rights issue at a huge discount, and a German bond auction failed to excite. The FTSE 100 fell 31.46 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 5,668.45, albeit in light volume, at 79 [...]
True owners bear risks and rewards – UK shareholders should not be any different January 4, 2012 IT IS early in the life of Professor John Kay’s review into the operation of UK equity markets, commissioned by Vince Cable. But it is already clear both from the responses to the first call for evidence and from John Kay’s reputation that it is going to shine an uncomfortable light on one of the [...]
Going green isn’t easy when we’re so far in the red January 4, 2012 GOING green is important. But costs matter too, and never more so than at present. Household incomes are going through a decade of stagnation and businesses and jobs face a big hit this year if the euro crisis is not resolved. The potential consequences, positive and negative, of British energy policy are huge, but right [...]
Our hunt for beauty is costing women dearly January 4, 2012 GIVING up alcohol is not going to happen. But there is one new year’s resolution that I’m going to try to stick to this year. It is to find self-validation in my achievements – professional, moral, intellectual – not in my appearance. As up to 50,000 British women face the risk of their PIP silicone [...]
RAPID RESPONSES January 4, 2012 Wellbeing matters While some workplaces may now have strategies aimed at improving staff wellbeing [2012 should be the year we get off the couch and make companies more productive, Tuesday], few yet have addressed the more significant need to support the one in six of the working population who will be at risk of a [...]
Undiversified portfolios were a risky bet in 2011 January 4, 2012 BEFORE the bust of 2008, investors coveted their neighbours’ investments, jealously looking elsewhere for the next big thing. Now in a bust, success is measured not by how much you make, but by how little you lose. 2011 was cut through with fears about persistent inflation, while the equally unrelenting crisis – or crises – [...]
Three expert insights on how to invest in 2012 January 4, 2012 ALLOCATING ASSETS WILL BE DIFFICULT TOM STEVENSON FIDELITY WORLDWIDE INVESTMENT THE nervous tone of early trading in 2012 has carried on where it left off at the end of a year that investors will gladly forget. An initial rally has soon run out of steam as European bond yields rise again and everyone remembers that [...]
Perfect the art of networking with these simple tips January 4, 2012 CAREER DEVELOPMENT EXPERT ONE of the first things to greet executives on their return to the office in the new year should be the fruit of attending all those pre-Christmas hospitality events – a neat stack of business cards promising new business leads. But perhaps not. Many people will be lucky to have amassed a [...]
