Barclays leads FTSE down as Qatar Holdings sells remaining warrants November 26, 2012 BRITISH blue chip shares fell yesterday, with Barclays tumbling more than five per cent, as the market retreated after its best performance this year last week. Barclays dropped 5.4 per cent after top shareholder Qatar Holdings cashed in its remaining warrants in the UK bank, a move which led to the sale of up to [...]
Three challenges await the new governor of the Bank of England November 26, 2012 WE should be prepared for changes at the Bank of England when the new governor, Canadian Mark Carney, takes over in the middle of next year. George Osborne has chosen to go outside the UK economic policy establishment in his choice of a successor to Sir Mervyn King. And that suggests that he is looking [...]
You can’t reform a central bank by changing the faces of its management November 26, 2012 SIR Mervyn King’s replacement as Bank of England governor has finally been announced. But we shouldn’t let our excitement at the appointment of Mark Carney distract us from the severe structural issues that persist beneath the surface. The Bank has recently come under strong scrutiny for the way it handled the financial crisis. Its economic [...]
Press regulation is not the solution to privacy breaches November 26, 2012 THE Leveson Inquiry will make its long-awaited recommendations on Thursday, and the main expectation is that Lord Leveson will propose putting Britain’s press under statutory regulation. But this is a one-way street towards a British media that is afraid to take on the most powerful voices in the land. That is not what civil society [...]
Will the £29.7m fine imposed on UBS by the FSA reduce the risk of future rogue trading? November 26, 2012 YES David McCluskey The extra capital requirements proposed by the Financial Stability Board reflect the global effort to make banks safer post 2008. But to really change the way banks deal with risk, we need a culture where risk management is prioritised and adequately resourced in all financial institutions. The FSA’s enforcement agenda increasingly focuses [...]
Rapid responses November 26, 2012 Bill please [Re: There must be no compromise on our own press freedom, Monday] Brendan O’Neill is right to invoke the spirit of the First Amendment that guarantees freedom of speech – and by extension, freedom of the press. He highlights a gaping hole in our political institutions: we do not have a simplified Bill [...]
Japan’s companies are in dire need of a boost November 26, 2012 THE Bank of Japan (BoJ) has a real problem. Japan has an astronomical debt burden, ailing exports (hurt by a strong yen), and a population that cannot be persuaded to spend its way out of recession. October saw the fifth straight month of export declines, down 6.5 per cent on the year. Japan has been hit [...]
How traders could pilot festive market sentiment November 26, 2012 AS CHRISTMAS rolls around, many market pundits will once again seek to explain away the typical bull market sentiment as a seasonal anomaly – or indeed, to give it full moniker, a Father Christmas rally. But is this actually something you can hope to trade successfully? Or is this seasonal sentiment nothing more than a [...]
The Tipster | Thomas Cook struggles to fly November 26, 2012 DOUBTS remain over whether tomorrow’s full-year results from Thomas Cook Group will launch another take-off for the travel company. Even though its shares are up by over 30 per cent over the last year, many seem unconvinced whether the firm can fly any higher. Chief executive Harriet Green is set to unveil a new strategy, [...]
No reason to fear UK downgrade November 26, 2012 THE downgrade of the UK’s credit rating by at least one of the three major agencies looks increasingly likely in the New Year. But losing the triple-A crown may not be such a big deal after all. The most important fallout from a downgrade will probably be political. George Osborne has hung his hat on [...]
