BROKERS BOND AFTER TRAUMATIC TEAM TRIP August 2, 2011 KATIE Small, the managing director of Mercury West Associates, thought the “Tough Guy Challenge” would be a good way to bond her team of insurance brokers. Unfortunately, the nine-mile assault course was billed as “the safest most dangerous event in the world” – which may have had something to do with Small falling ill with [...]
British love of Cadbury dulled by Kraft buyout August 2, 2011 ONE of the big stories of January 2010 was the Kraft takeover of Cadbury. The controversy that this sparked had an immediate and debilitating impact on perceptions of the British confectionary brand. Between the 19 January and the 19 February Cadbury’s buzz score dropped from +25 to -25 and its index score (a composite score [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 2, 2011 CBRE CB Richard Ellis has appointed Adam Wilton as a senior director in its UK debt advisory division, based in London. Wilton joins from Barclays Corporate, where he was a director of the bank’s real estate structured finance business. Wilton has 12 years’ experience covering real estate finance, securitisation and principal finance. His experience includes [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 2, 2011 MACINTOSH RETAIL ING rates the Dutch retails group as a “buy” but cuts its 12-month target price from €25 to €22, after slashing its earnings per share by 25 per cent for 2011, and decreasing them fractionally for 2012. The company’s first-half update last week was dominated by weakness in BelCompany and start-up costs for Steve [...]
FTSE sinks to a five-week low as miners and bank stocks fall August 2, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index sank to a five-week closing low yesterday as investor confidence was further undermined by the uncertain global economic outlook, with miners bearing the brunt of the sell-off. The FTSE 100 fell for a third day in a row and ended down 56.04 points, or 1.0 per cent, at 5,718.39, its lowest [...]
Massive rout spells trouble for Wall St August 2, 2011 THE Standard & Poor’s 500 index turned negative for the year yesterday as wrangling over the US debt ceiling faded and investors turned again to the stalling economy. The broad-based index fell for a seventh day and crashed through the key 200-day moving average in the longest losing streak since October 2008. Investors found little [...]
Strewth – Aussie dollar strength set to continue August 2, 2011 ESCAPING EUROZONE CONTAGION Despite the turmoil in the European Club-Med economies, where five year CDS rates and 10-year bond yields are on an upward trajectory, Australian credit markets have remained largely unaffected, and local bond issuance is solid. As James Hughes, senior market analyst for Alpari, points out, Australia has a strong balance sheet, comparatively [...]
EURO – SWISS FRANC PARITY ISN’T ABSURD August 2, 2011 CURRENCY strategists love to make dramatic pronouncements that capture the imagination of the trading public and seal their reputation as brilliant forecasters. At the height of the Eurozone credit panic last year, more than a few analysts predicted that the euro-dollar pair would hit parity within months. Of course, as negative opinion reached its crescendo, [...]
US troubles will keep yen high August 2, 2011 THE next chapter in Japan’s economic disaster is being written. With US debt a concern, investors have been turning to the yen as an alternative “safe haven” currency. In response, the spectre of intervention has been raised again, but try as they might the authorities won’t buck the currency markets. The export-focused Japanese authorities want [...]
THE TIPSTER August 2, 2011 IN WHAT has been a year of choppy and volatile trading for many asset classes, there is one trend that has persisted throughout the uncertainty. Every month this year has seen fresh all time lows set by dollar-Swiss franc as investors continue to favour the Swissie as a safe haven. The dollar has declined by [...]
