Hunger for mining shares sees FTSE stay above 6,000 level February 7, 2011 MINERS lifted Britain’s top share index higher yesterday, driven by record metal prices and results from Randgold. The FTSE 100 closed 53.65 points, or 0.9 per cent, firmer at 6,051.03, its highest finish since 18 January and marking the fourth gain in the past five trading days. “A fresh year high is being eyed with [...]
Mergers drive US despite light volume February 7, 2011 MERGER activity drove the Dow and S&P to two-and-a-half-year highs yesterday in the latest in a series of mileposts that point to more gains ahead. Buying accelerated after the S&P 500 broke through the 1,313 mark, taking the index further into levels that prevailed before the financial crisis. More than two stocks rose for every [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 7, 2011 JP Morgan Private Bank Aastha Gurbax (pictured) has joined the private banking arm of JP Morgan, based in London. She will be a vice president on the private banking team, reporting to Olivier de Givenchy. Gurbax has previously worked at Morgan Stanley as an adviser for high net worth families and charities. Formerly, she was [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 7, 2011 ROYAL DUTCH SHELL Deutsche Bank rates the oil major “buy” with a target price of £25.50. The broker was frustrated by Shell’s results last week, believing that its refining branch is stubbornly underperforming. Deutsche expects that the first half of 2011 will be volatile, as new projects ramp up costs, but it does not foresee [...]
Don’t worry, even the economists are confused February 7, 2011 THE curious task of economics,” Friedrich Hayek once said, “is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.” This certainly rings true when you consider Friday’s US 10-year Treasury yields rally. The release of January’s US non-farm payroll data jerked the market into action. But why it [...]
CORRECTION TO GOLD MAY NOW BE OVER February 7, 2011 The major US, UK and European stock indices have had a good start to the year with most seeing decent gains. Civil unrest across North Africa and fears that demonstrations may spread to other countries have been waved aside by investors. Even Friday’s dismal headline non-farm payroll number was passed off as a weather-related aberration, [...]
Alchemy for the digital age: turning charts into profits February 7, 2011 TO ACADEMIC economists, technical analysis is a pseudoscience, rather like water divining, or alchemy. The academics contend that traders are in fact not using technical analysis at all, at least not exclusively, or else are not actually profitable. One particular study described technical traders as “noise traders”, as opposed to “news traders”, concluding that technical [...]
THE TIPSTER February 7, 2011 LAST week’s poor results from GSK have put pharmaceuticals firmly back in the minds of investors. Early in the year Smith & Nephew was the focus of some strongly denied, but fierce M&A rumours, which saw the share price spike through the key 700p mark to a high of 739p. The 700p mark looks set [...]
Romantic relaxation for two February 7, 2011 THE SPA AT CHANCERY COURT, HOLBORN This chi chi spa in Holborn is another with an oh-so-smart couples treatment room, called the Harmony Suite. For its Valentine’s package, you can unwind in the relaxation area before lying side-by-side for a 55 minute personalised massage by candlelight, followed by chocolate-dipped strawberries and a glass of bubbly [...]
FIT IN THE CITY February 7, 2011 Don’t waste your time at the gym THERE are certain traps to avoid when investing your precious time on the gym floor. Here they are. AVOID DOING ENDLESS REPS Research has shown that any more than 15-20 reps and you’re wasting your time (not including endurance-based classes such as BodyPump and circuits obviously). Make sure [...]
