Where the smart money should be heading next year December 16, 2009 AT THE start of 2009, there was a very real chance that we would enter another Great Depression and the banking system was still on its knees. But the past 12 months have been an astonishing year in the markets – stock market indices have risen sharply beyond all expectations and major countries returned to [...]
RECOVERY AND INFLATION ARE 2010’S THEMES December 16, 2009 GEORGE TCHETVERTAKOV HEAD OF MARKET RESEARCH, ALPARI UK IF 2008 was the year of the crisis, then the story of 2009 was recovery. Until March, this looked unlikely. Given the losses suffered by financial institutions during the financial meltdown, there were severe doubts whether the world’s banks and economies could bounce back. But signs of [...]
DON’T EXPECT THE YEN TO FALL SHARPLY December 16, 2009 JANE FOLEY RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COM DEBTS, deficits and creditworthiness may have reared their ugly heads of late in the Middle East, the Eurozone and the UK but the reappearance of economic growth in most countries by the end of the fourth quarter of 2009 should ensure that the market starts the new year with at [...]
Wall St gains from upbeat forecasting December 16, 2009 Wall Street was set to rise at the open yesterday, after data showed consumer prices did not overheat in November, quelling inflation worries ahead of a statement from the Federal Reserve that will be scrutinised for clues on the state of the world’s largest economy. The Labor Department said the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 [...]
Financials and US data boost London’s blue chip companies December 16, 2009 Britain’s leading share index rose 0.7 per cent yesterday as US data led to a rise in commodity stocks, and banks firmed on a report that the enforcement of capital adequacy rules would be delayed. The FTSE 100 finished 34.49 points higher at 5,320.26, after closing 0.6 per cent down at 5,285.77 on Tuesday. New [...]
SOVEREIGN SCORES A COUP AS IT NETS BANK GRANDEE BOB WIGLEY December 16, 2009 MY MY , but hasn’t it been an eventful few months for Aim-listed home equity release firm Sovereign Reversions? Back in August, Countrywide chairman Harry Hill and a couple of fellow dissident shareholders caused a touch of controversy by trying to oust Sovereign’s board and put the company into run-off by sending out pre-ticked proxy [...]
NatEx brings in Tube boss December 16, 2009 TROUBLED train and bus operator National Express has taken on a new chief executive to steer its recovery. National Express, which has completed a controversial £360m cash call, said Dean Finch, the chief executive of London Underground contractor Tube Lines, will take up his post early next spring. National Express will hope Finch, who worked [...]
MAGICAL DEAL December 16, 2009 British film company Pinewood Shepperton will push into Asia after signing an agreement with the Malaysian government to develop a studio in the south of the country. The firm, whose UK base was used for the Harry Potter films, said the deal with state-owned Khazanah Nasional Berhad would yield consultancy and licensing fees.
Intel sued by US regulators over anticompetitive tactics December 16, 2009 INTEL, the world’s biggest computer chipmaker, was sued by US regulator the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday, for deliberately stifling competition. The FTC alleged Intel used its market dominance in efforts to shut out rivals by cutting off their access to the marketplace and denying consumers of their choice among competing microchips and lower prices. [...]
Punch warns of renewed profits slide December 16, 2009 PUNCH Taverns has warned that profits will be hit again after reporting a fall in sales at its managed pubs in the past four months. The company, which has a net debt of £3.3bn, said that looming VAT rises and the continuing affect on trade of the recession were taking their toll. It has been [...]
