Tokyo happy Toyota February 21, 2010 JAPAN’S transport minister, Seiji Maehara, has expressed relief at Toyota president, Akio Toyoda’s decision to testify in US Congressional hearings on Wednesday. “It’s good that he has decided to accept [the invitation]. This is a safety issue on which people’s lives depend and it’s a manufacturers duty to respond firmly,” minister Seiji Maehara told a [...]
Severn Trent latest to back Diplomas February 21, 2010 UTILITIES giant Severn Trent is the latest employer to join a network of 250 companies supporting Diplomas, a government-backed programme designed to help teenagers prepare for the workplace. Severn Trent chief executive Tony Wray has joined a growing number of organisations supporting the programme, including House of Fraser, the British Chambers of Commerce and Chartered [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 21, 2010 HENDERSON Evolution forecasts full-year earnings will fall despite higher market levels boosting second-half profits. It forecasts net new money of £300m, is concerned about future capital requirements and progress on the New Star transaction and market volatility means it remains cautious over short term growth credentials. “Reduce” is the rating. REED ELSEVIER S&P reiterates its [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 21, 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers The accountancy giant has taken on banking veteran Martin Allison as a director to head up its debt advisory services team in the North. Allison started his career at NatWest before working his way up the ladder to become head of international banking services at RBS until 2008. He has recently pursued a more [...]
All eyes on Ben Bernanke’s testimony to Congress February 21, 2010 A QUICK look at last week’s performance data for European equities and bonds would suggest at first glance that the economic outlook for Europe had improved. The DAX and FTSE tacked on gains while German and UK bond yields moved higher. However, looks can be deceiving: we received a barrage of weak UK economic data [...]
ECONOMIC DIARY February 21, 2010 AFTER a week packed with economic data releases, the next five days promise to be a bit quieter. Last Thursday, the US Federal Reserve hiked the rate it charged banks to hold reserves in a surprise move that signalled a return towards more normal monetary policy. On Wednesday Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will be giving [...]
Fed move to lift US stocks and dollar February 21, 2010 ALTHOUGH the Federal Reserve was keen to downplay its surprise move last Thursday, the markets initially reacted strongly to its announcement that it would hike the rate it charges banks for emergency loans. But while the currency market saw the biggest moves – the dollar strengthened to a nine-month high of $1.5345 against the pound [...]
SPREAD BET GURU February 21, 2010 Q.Dear Josh, does Barclays’ stellar results for 2009 mean that RBS and Lloyds will follow suit this week? A.My first thoughts are to be careful as this is not a straightforward trading strategy. While there is always some form of a correlation between companies that are in the same sector, stocks can become very volatile [...]
State-owned banks lag their peers February 21, 2010 BANKS were the star performers in the FTSE 100 last week, after Barclays reported its best ever profit of £11.6bn in 2009, an increase of 92 per cent in just 12 months. This week the focus shifts to RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, who will announce earnings on Thursday and Friday respectively. After the turmoil [...]
THE TIPSTER TIME TO GO DEFENSIVE IN YOUR PORTFOLIO February 21, 2010 VOLATILITY has been rising since the start of this year and all of these extreme moves can make investors dizzy. Now is a good time to switch to a more defensive stance on equities and invest in the likes of supermarkets and energy providers. These companies tend to perform strongly when risk aversion returns to [...]
