Aussie outlook spinning around October 2, 2012 THE Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) yesterday called the end of the country’s commodities boom, citing the effects of the Chinese slowdown on the mining sector. At the same time, it announced that the official cash rate will be cut by a quarter of a point – down to 3.25 per cent. This latest drop [...]
Stimulus could lift FTSE index October 2, 2012 THE FTSE 100 is the only G5-nation equity index (ex-Japan) yet to hit a new high for the year. The index is up a mere 5 per cent this year, compared to 24 per cent for the Dax 30 and 15 per cent for the S&P 500. But we deem the FTSE’s underperformance to be [...]
Bears prepare to pull British bulldog down October 2, 2012 THE FUNDAMENTAL CASE I F CURRENCIES reflect the health of their economies, there are many reasons to be bearish on sterling. Although recent data has been mixed, sterling-dollar (or cable) looks overvalued. The days of the UK’s position as an apparent safe haven look to be numbered. MYTH OF SAFETY The idea of the UK [...]
The chartists’ case for going short sterling October 2, 2012 THE TECHNICAL CASE STERLING-DOLLAR, or cable, has been a rewarding trade over the last few months, rallying by over 1,000 pips (one pip is equivalent to one hundredth of 1 per cent) since the lows in summer. This has been on the back of weakness and uncertainty in both the US and Europe. However, the [...]
Big government may be dead but iDemocracy will reshape our lives October 2, 2012 IT’S over. The West’s big government way of doing things is coming to an end. For six years, the financial crisis has rumbled on. The longer it does so, the clearer it becomes that we are not watching a global crisis, but a Western one. From Spain and Greece to Britain and America, we are [...]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles can teach us more than economics textbooks October 2, 2012 CHRISTMAS is coming and retailers are beginning to push their offers hard. The first page of a Google search for “Christmas Toys 2012” is full of sites announcing the hot must-haves of the year. In total, there are over 75m results to be perused. Last year it was Mishling Tree Monsters and Doggie Doo that [...]
EU banking report raises prospect of bailout divisions October 2, 2012 THE EU’s Expert Advisory Group, chaired by Erkki Liikanen, reported yesterday on whether to legally separate retail from investment banking – as considered by the Vickers Commission and discussed at the weekend by Ed Miliband. The Liikanen Report proposes five things. First, although the report suggests investment banking could be done within the same banking [...]
As the FSA proposes changes to listing rules, will it be enough to help the London market? October 2, 2012 YES Daniel Bellau The FSA proposals are a timely example of tightening regulations in order to protect investors and attract quality issuers. Seeking to ensure independence at board level if there is a powerful majority shareholder, and regulation of that shareholder’s relationship through a relationship agreement, already reflects the market. Codifying this within the regulations [...]
Rapid Responses October 2, 2012 Cost of statistics [Re: Time for MPs to summon statisticians over endless revisions, Friday] There are two main reasons why GDP is now revised more than it used to be. Allister Heath is right that the initial estimate comes out too quickly. But this is at the insistence of ministers, not statisticians. Secondly, ministers now [...]
Few compromises on this eco Ford October 2, 2012 With fuel economy figures of 78.5mpg, Ford’s Fiesta Econetic model is not just the most economical model in Ford’s range but one of the most frugal cars on sale anywhere. This is one reason why I am not overly excited to drive it: in my experience, most super-economical and green cars are lacking enjoyment-wise. Which [...]
