CITY VIEWS: IS M&S RIGHT TO INTRODUCE OTHER BRANDS INTO ITS STORES? November 4, 2009 CHARLES MARLOND TALBOT VALIDUS“At a time when most supermarkets are introducing their own lines as a cheaper alternative to branded products – this is a bit different. People are fond of their favourite brands, but I don’t believe it will alter many people’s shopping habits.” KATE PRISKELL MONETISE“?I think it’s a bit sad M&S has [...]
Rosy services data boosts UK prospects November 4, 2009 STRONG growth in Britain’s services sector added to the more upbeat mood prevailing in the UK yesterday, ahead of the Bank of England’s monetary policy decision. The CIPS/Markit services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) yesterday showed the headline business activity index surge to 56.9 in October above 55.3 in September and beating the consensus forecast of [...]
Services sector in Europe sees strong growth November 4, 2009 SERVICES activity in the Eurozone grew at its fastest rate since December 2007, boosted by sharp rises in both the business activity and new orders balances. The headline Markit business activity index for October came in at 52.6, beating both the flash estimate and the September reading. The strongest expansion was seen in France, which [...]
QE decision likely to split Bank’s MPC November 4, 2009 QUANTITATIVE EASING should be extended this month despite the more upbeat outlook for the UK economy, according to City A.M.’s shadow Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which narrowly voted in favour of further asset purchases this month. Ahead of the Bank of England’s decision on interest rates and its QE policy, which is due at midday [...]
CITY A.M. SHADOW MPC November 4, 2009 ALLISTER HEATH CITY A.M.“The MPC should hold QE – or at the very least increase it by less than £25bn while signalling that the measures are coming to an end. The latest PMI figures show that growth is slowly but surely returning to the UK.” SIMON WARD HENDERSON NEW STAR“Hold rates, suspend QE. The weight [...]
RBS board may miss out November 4, 2009 THE boss and directors of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) may not get bonuses if the majority state-owned bank fails to hit government lending targets, sparking fears of an exodus of senior bankers, it emerged yesterday. Chief executive Stephen Hester and senior colleagues will miss out on payments if RBS falls short of lending conditions [...]
Meet steely Neelie Kroes, the queen of UK banks November 4, 2009 Brussels competition chief Neelie Kroes yesterday unveiled the most radical shake-up of UK retail banking in living memory, ordering Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group to sell off assets and authorising an extra £40bn injection of taxpayer money into the banks. The extra capital from the Treasury only served to stoke the anger [...]
Carry trade bubble will burst, so be prepared November 3, 2009 DESPITE his notorious doomsaying, everybody does sit up and pay attention to Professor Nouriel Roubini’s views on the market. And earlier this week, he argued that the mother of all carry trades – borrowing dollars and using the proceeds to invest in countries with higher interest rates – faces an inevitable bust, with problems for [...]
JOBS CRUCIAL TO SUSTAIN US RECOVERY November 3, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT LAST week I wrote that the recovery trade was starting to hit a ceiling as risk assets stalled at key resistance levels of 10,000 on the Dow, 1,100 on the S&P 500 and 1.50 for euro-dollar. Despite relatively positive economic data from across the G20 this week, the risk [...]
This week’s MPC decision to set the tone for sterling November 3, 2009 IN THE run-up to the Bank of England’s interest rate and quantitative easing decision on Thursday, sterling remains extremely vulnerable to further selling pressure. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)’s moves will set the tone for the pound, and for the wider currency market, going into the end of the year. Sterling has pared back some [...]
