CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 9, 2011 James Caird Asset Management The hedge fund has appointed Mary Goodman, former special assistant to the president for financial markets at the Nation Economic Council and senior adviser to the US Treasury, as managing director of the firm’s US business, based in Washington DC. Goodman will advise on global macroeconomic outlook and on monetary, fiscal, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 9, 2011 GREAT PORTLAND UBS has downgraded the property firm from “neutral” to “sell” and has raised its target price by 40p to 390p. The broker thinks the current share price is forward-looking, and does not allow for much execution risk in Great Portland’s ambitious development plans in the City and West End. However, it thinks strong [...]
Weak banks and fears over Eurozone debt drag on FTSE May 9, 2011 BANKING stocks weighed on Britain’s leading share index yesterday, with the sector hit by their capitulation in a fight over loan insurance mis-selling, and by Eurozone debt concerns after S&P cut Greece’s credit rating. The British Banking Association said members would not appeal a ruling that they compensate customers wrongly sold payment protection insurance (PPI). [...]
Commodity gains boost Wall Street May 9, 2011 US stocks rose yesterday as commodity-related shares rebounded from last week’s collapse, masking deeper doubts about what will sustain the market’s long-term strength. Last week a massive sell-off in materials and oil forced investors out of high-risk assets, and stocks ended down about one per cent for the week. The commodity market slump comes at [...]
Profit but avoid being caught in an oil slick May 9, 2011 IF YOU thought that you were nursing a financial hangover from last week’s commodity crash, spare a thought for Clive Capital. The world’s largest commodity hedge fund was left with losses of more than $400m (£240m) after being caught short (or long as the case may be) in the oil price collapse on Thursday. Moves [...]
A GLEAM OF A SILVER LINING IN THE STORM May 9, 2011 LAST week was truly horrible for leveraged longs in commodity markets. Silver fared particularly badly with prices falling close to 30 per cent in five days. It was a vicious sell-off which will have left many traders and investors bruised, battered and wary of future volatility. Yet there is plenty of anecdotal evidence from dealers [...]
Milton Friedman was wrong: There is such a thing as a free breakfast May 9, 2011 IN ASSOCIATION with GFT, next Thursday City A.M. is hosting a free workshop on contracts for difference (CFD) and currency trading. The speakers will be the regular City A.M. columnists David Morrison, GFT’s market strategist, and Boris Schlossberg, GFT’s director of currency research. It is taking place on Thursday 19 May at The Grange St [...]
THE TIPSTER May 9, 2011 SAINSBURY’S, the third largest supermarket by market share after Tesco and Asda, is expecting a rise in pre-tax profit by eight per cent to £659m when it reports on Wednesday. The top three chains have all dropped market share since April 2010, which suggests shoppers may be looking for cheaper alternatives such as Aldi and [...]
Chelsea gets some traditional Brit grub in a sleek modernist setting May 9, 2011 The Penny Black 212 Fulham Road, SW10 9PJ www.thepennyblack.com FOOD **** SERVICE *** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £40 IT sounds like the name of a pub, doesn’t it? For some reason, the image I had in my head of a restaurant called The Penny Black was some dark, old-fashioned tavern, a place [...]
Learning to make the most of asparagus May 9, 2011 ASPARAGUS is one of the glories of the British spring. Its yearly sprout excites chefs the country over. The problem with asparagus, though, is that it’s not exactly sexy for the rest of us. You don’t race to the supermarket with a craving for it – nor do you discuss its sensual merits with foodie [...]
