The Smith & Nephew chief intent on making waves in tough times August 2, 2009 When politicians say that Britain should have more upmarket, research intensive manufacturing businesses, what they really mean is that we need more Smith & Nephews. Over the last five years, the firm, founded over 150 years ago, has grown its sales from £1.39bn to £2.3bn in 2008. It invests a very strong four per cent [...]
Banks gear up to report on the first half of a tough year August 2, 2009 The market’s attention is likely to be dominated this week by the banks, which will be reporting their first-half results during the five days. But there will be plenty more for investors to sink their teeth into, with insurers, bookmakers and industrials all on the radar too. Barclays and HSBC kick the week off this [...]
FTSE set to dip as banks hit spotlight August 2, 2009 MUCH of the rally of the past three weeks has been US earnings-led, but this week we’ll have the chance to see how a range of UK banks’ half-yearly numbers go down. The overall diagnosis is likely to be one of recoveries in profitability, with concerns mounting over soaring bad-loan losses. Two of the likely [...]
Tight supply drives sugar even higher August 2, 2009 IT MAY not attract the same attention as crude oil or gold, but the potential for multi-decade highs means that white sugar deserves a closer look from spread betters looking to diversify their trading portfolio. Raw sugar futures hit three-year peaks of at the end of last week with New York’s October contract touching a [...]
ONLY A WEAK YEN POINTS TO REAL GROWTH August 2, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR,FOREX.COM President Obama last week claimed that the US may be seeing the “beginning of the end” of the recession and his words coincided with subtle improvements in the tone of some central banks, whose rhetoric provides a useful gauge as to how the world is moving on in the wake of the [...]
Newfound appetite for stocks does not mean a bull rally August 2, 2009 INVESTORS are regaining their appetite for equities in the wake of generally positive second quarter earnings results, according to a fund managers’ survey conducted last week by financial information company Thomson Reuters. As a percentage of a typical balanced portfolio, equities were at their highest since the end of August last year, just a couple [...]
THE TIPSTER RESULTS ARE STILL THE MAIN DRIVER August 2, 2009 THIS week the focus will be clearly on the British banks, which will be releasing their second quarter earnings. While traders will be looking at the performance of the whole sector, spread betters should be particularly watching Lloyds Banking Group, which reports on Wednesday. Recently, there have been several bullish broker notes and the shares [...]
St Lucia’s most spectacular retreat is taking luxury to new levels August 2, 2009 ONE OF THE remaining signs of St Lucia’s colonial past (and Commonwealth present) is the fact that, by law, the first 40 feet inland of every stretch of coastline belongs to the Queen. That doesn’t mean sunbathing is restricted to Her Maj and Philip, should they deign to drop anchor in these parts, but it [...]
TRAVEL NOTES August 2, 2009 Cruise the Med in LuxuryThe super-luxe, boutique cruise line The Yachts of Seabourn has always been good value – hell, when champagne flows non-stop all week, how can it not be? Now you can take a Mediterranean cruise for £1,699 per person based on two sharing with all inclusive (and they mean ALL, but the [...]
Victory is still in our hands, says Flintoff August 2, 2009 ALL-ROUNDER Andrew Flintoff believes England are still in the box seat ahead of a potentially thrilling final day of the third Ashes Test with Australia at Edgbaston today. Flintoff top scored with a fine 74 – his highest innings on home soil since the 2005 series – to hand the hosts a healthy 113-run first [...]
