FOREX FLASH December 15, 2009 Dovish RBA bad news for Aussie The strong Australian dollar was hit yesterday by the latest minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which showed that the decision to raise rates was a finely balanced one. Although there are further RBA hikes in the pipeline, the central bank is aware of the impact that [...]
THE TIPSTER December 15, 2009 EUROPEAN policymakers have been complaining about an overly strong euro-dollar for weeks but it would appear that the price to pay for a weak euro is sovereign debt fears and renewed jitters over the Eurozone’s banking sector. While Greece is still struggling to bring its deficit under control, speculation that Austrian bank Oesterreichische Volksbanken has [...]
Fears over Greek and Austrian banks send FTSE shares down December 15, 2009 Britain’s leading share index shed 0.6 per cent yesterday, snapping a three-session rally with banks hit by some renewed sector caution, while oils and miners fell as a strengthening dollar weighed on metal prices. At the close, the FTSE 100 was 29.57 points lower at 5,285.77 after having gained one per cent on Monday to [...]
Inflation worries spark dollar rally December 15, 2009 Higher-than-expected November US inflation fuelled demand for the dollar yesterday. but weighed on stocks and bonds as investors feared the Federal Reserve may need to raise rates faster than anticipated. Oil futures prices rose almost two per cent to settle above $70 a barrel following nine sessions of losses, offering some support to energy stocks. [...]
Goldman to fight bonus fury in court December 15, 2009 INVESTMENT bank Goldman Sachs is being sued for billions of dollars in compensation after an institutional shareholder accused it of blindly “looting” the firm’s coffers by paying out rich rewards to its employees. The lawsuit, which has been filed with the New York Supreme Court by the Security Police and Fire Professionals of America Retirement [...]
Wells Fargo sells $10.65bn in stock to repay Tarp bailout December 15, 2009 US bank Wells Fargo sold $10.65bn in stock yesterday to raise funds to help it repay the $25bn (£15bn) bailout it received from the US government last year. The move, which follows a similar measure from Citigroup, makes Wells Fargo the last of the major financial institutions to repay funding from the Troubled Asset Relief [...]
Investors back RBS on bad debts scheme December 15, 2009 SMALL sharesholders in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) voted overwhelmingly in favour of the bank joining a government-backed insurance scheme for bad debts yesterday. Some 99 per cent of minority investors in RBS, now 84 per cent state-owned, supported the decision to join the asset-protection scheme at a meeting at the company’s Edinburgh headquarters. The [...]
UBS decides against pursuing its former directors in the courts December 15, 2009 SWISS bank UBS will not sue its former bosses after risky bets on subprime mortgages and a strategy of helping its US clients dodge taxes by hiding money in secret accounts brought the seemingly invincible group to its knees. Zurich state prosecutors also said they would not open criminal proceedings against UBS employees as there [...]
We’re suffering, says AIG boss December 15, 2009 EXECUTIVES from AIG have been personally struggling financially after the near collapse of the stricken insurance giant last year, chief executive Robert Benmosche said yesterday. But he was confident his firm would be able to pay off taxpayer bailout money in about two years. “Many people think there was no penalty for the executives at [...]
Harding walks to TalkTalk December 15, 2009 DIDO Harding, the former Tesco executive who heads Sainsbury’s convenience stores, is to join TalkTalk as its chief executive when it demerges from Carphone Warehouse. TalkTalk will be Britain’s biggest residential broadband provider when it splits from the retail arm of Carphone Warehouse next year. Harding, who previously held management positions at Thomas Cook and [...]
