Hung parliament would be a disaster, says our City panel April 26, 2010 THE CITY fears a hung parliament will lead to a fall in the value of sterling, higher government borrowing costs and lower economic growth. The City A.M./PHI Panel, which has been specially recruited with Politics Home to represent a cross-section of London’s financial and business community, were to predict the economic impact of a hung parliament. [...]
Education heads back Tory plans to push for free schools April 26, 2010 A RAFT of school heads yesterday backed proposals by the Conservative Party to give state schools more autonomy within months of the general election, should the party secure a victory. Over 30 heads and governors signed a collective letter yesterday pledging their support for the Tories over plans to hand more power to high-performing state [...]
Vive la France: banks are looking good value April 26, 2010 RISKS to the financial sector are finally starting to abate, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published earlier this month. It also reduced its estimates of bank writedowns caused by the financial crisis by $0.5 trillion. But banks still face a mountain of challenges, and the future of the sector is [...]
ANALYSIS | UK BANKS April 26, 2010 WHILE banker bashing has become something of a national sport here in the UK, it has had little discernible impact on the share prices of our largest financial institutions, which have posted strong performances since their lows in the first quarter of 2009. The partially nationalised banks, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, have seen their [...]
CFD ANALYST PICKS April 26, 2010 TECHNICAL STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Short FTSE at 5,725 Expertise: Technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 5-10 days We managed to exit our long position from a couple of weeks back for a profit and recommended reversing and establishing a fresh short last week. The short trade is now in the money and [...]
FED TO LEAVE RATES LOW THIS MONTH April 26, 2010 DAVID MORRISON CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT IT IS a relatively quiet week on the data front but the closely-watched preliminary US first-quarter GDP will be published on Friday. The forecast is for a rise of 3.4 per cent – a sharp moderation from last quarter’s 5.6 per cent. Meanwhile, today sees President Obama host the first [...]
FTSE 100 closes up as the market is boosted by rising mining companies April 26, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday, boosted by miners as metals rose and overcoming wariness about the outcome of Greece’s debt problem. The FTSE 100 closed up 30.20 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5,753.85, extending Friday’s one per cent rally, but below yesterday’s intra-day peak of 5,800.66. Antofagasta, Eurasian Natural Resources and Kazakhmys [...]
Dow climbs despite fears over finance reform bill April 26, 2010 US STOCKS edged lower yesterday as bank shares fell on fears that financial reform making its way through Congress will curb profits, while Caterpillar’s strong results buoyed the Dow. A proposal to overhaul financial regulation that could restrict lucrative derivatives trading was expected to face a crucial Senate test vote yesterday and weighed on financial [...]
Hertz drives forward with growth plan April 26, 2010 CAR rental group Hertz yesterday agreed to buy smaller rival Dollar Thrifty for about $1.2bn in a deal that will make it the second-biggest US car rental company. Shares of Hertz, which also raised its earnings and revenue outlooks for 2010, rose as much as 18 per cent to touch a two-year high after the [...]
Start-ups secure funding as recovery kicks in April 26, 2010 For those of us on the ground building businesses, a new reality is emerging as the recovery sets in. Ariadne has won funding for five companies in 2010 including Everyclick, which has secured a hefty sum from new and existing investors. Why are so many start-ups getting funded – in our portfolio and elsewhere – [...]
