Best of the Brokers December 17, 2012 AZ ELECTRONICS Numis has cut the chemical maker from “buy” to “hold”, due to lower than expected growth and a weak market for PCs, which has not seen a boost by the launch of Windows 8. MYTRAH ENERGY N+1 Singer has a “buy” rating on the India-based power producer after a rise in revenues. The [...]
US markets up on hopes of economic deal December 17, 2012 THE S&P 500 ended at its highest level in almost two months yesterday on rising hopes that negotiations over the “fiscal cliff” were making progress and that a deal could be reached in days. After weeks of stalemate, President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner met at the White House, raising hopes that [...]
Aggreko sinks on profit warning as Vodafone is hit by high 4G pricing December 17, 2012 BIG falls by temporary power firm Aggreko and market heavyweight Vodafone weighed on Britain’s top shares yesterday as the final full trading week of 2012 got off to a lacklustre start. Aggreko was the biggest percentage blue chip faller, dropping 22 per cent after the firm issued its second profit warning in two months, saying [...]
Politicians are powerless to curb our shrinking corporate tax base December 17, 2012 IT IS shocking, isn’t it? Despite UK sales of £7.6bn between 2009 and 2012, Amazon paid almost no corporation tax to the UK Treasury. Starbucks has not paid UK corporation tax in 14 of the past 15 years. Big corporate interests, it seems, are not paying their fair share of tax. An open and shut [...]
The welfare trade-off: Why raising benefits doesn’t boost the economy December 17, 2012 DAVID Cameron often says that growth is the coalition’s priority. Yet the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review stated its priorities included aid, the NHS, fairness and social mobility. Clearly, some of these will directly conflict with the growth agenda. Public policy inevitably entails trade-offs. We should therefore be suspicious about policies that supposedly produce the “double [...]
Insurance deficits leave the world at risk of catastrophe December 17, 2012 SUPERSTORM Sandy was 2012’s reminder of the damage caused by natural disasters. It hit within a few of months of the anniversary of the Thai floods in 2011, which killed over 800, made millions homeless and inundated the business parks that underpin the country’s economy. Knock-on global supply chain disruption forced Honda and Acer to [...]
Will US politicians be able to broker a deal by the end of the month to avoid the fiscal cliff? December 17, 2012 YES Michala Marcussen We see a 90 per cent chance that a temporary extension will be agreed before the end of the year. But every day of inaction lowers this estimate. In the latest twist, the Republican House speaker John Boehner has suggested an increase in taxes for incomes over $1m (£620k). While this is [...]
Rapid responses December 17, 2012 Banking union [Re: European banking union will be no friend of vibrant financial services, Thursday] If Europe’s banks are going to be regulated under one umbrella, the financial sectors of smaller countries will likely find themselves stifled. The inclination for a European regulator will be to impose the level of regulation that is already in [...]
Capital classifications will give gold a boost December 17, 2012 US BANKS are staging an eleventh hour appeal to have the implementation of Basel III delayed from its 1 January 2013 deadline, arguing that they would need to bolster their balance sheets with an additional $800bn (£493bn) in core capital assets under the new framework. But while there may be some protests, and the date [...]
The markets don’t sleep during the festive period December 17, 2012 OVER the Christmas period, equity markets are often seen as offering slim pickings for spread bet and contract for difference traders. Granted, there’s the prospect of a Santa rally, but otherwise the FTSE-100 index tends to end up trading in tight ranges as volatility ebbs away. Underlying volumes are low, traders generally aren’t at their [...]
