Any Other Business – 05/08 August 4, 2013 ■ The latest fan of American television show Breaking Bad is none other than the sage of Omaha himself Warren Buffett (pictured). Not only did he recently attend the New York premiere of the show’s final series, but the billionaire also declared the acting to be “superb”. Buffett even got some of show’s stars to [...]
SocGen sees gold prices rising to $1,400 August 2, 2013 Societe Generale predicts that gold prices will reach $1,400 per ounce in 2013 friom $1,308.29, before falling to $1,150 in 2014. The same note suggests silver will climb to $22 this year from $19.58 before dropping back to $20 in the next. Societe Generale's Robin Bhar: Our latest study of the global gold hedge book, [...]
US factory orders choke in June August 2, 2013 US factory orders have grown by just 1.5 per cent in June, behind analyst estimates of a 2.3 per cent increase. Last month saw orders up 3.0 per cent (revised up from 2.1 per cent) so there's still some good news in the latest data. Regardless, while economists had been hoping for an acceleration from [...]
HSBC shakes up auditors for first time in over two decades replacing KPMG with PwC August 2, 2013 HSBC has announced that it will be switching its current auditor KPMG for PricewaterhouseCoopers for the year ended 31 December 2015 (release). The change will be recommended to shareholders at HSBC's 2015 AGM. KPMG will continue to undertake the audit of the bank's consolidated accounts for the year ended 31 December 2013, and subject to [...]
Fed probably won’t raise rates until 2015 as US jobs market disappoints August 2, 2013 The US jobless market has come in weak, with only 162,000 new jobs in July (seasonally adjusted of course). Analysts had expected a number of 185,000, from 188,000 last month (revised down from 195,000). Reuters now report that the reaction by traders of short-term US interest-rate futures suggests that they think the Federal Reserve will [...]
Analyst says Fed looks unlikely to tighten policy pre-2016 August 2, 2013 After several good pieces of news for the US jobs market and strong manufacturing data this week, some have suggested that a tightening of policy by the Fed could be on the cards. Kit Juckes, Societe Generale, gives his view: Manufacturing PMI data brought a little relief in China, a bit of stability in the [...]
Lloyds presents Osborne with a dilemma – is it time to return the bank to private hands? August 2, 2013 As Lloyds shares pass their true break-even point of 73.6p, is it now time for chancellor George Osborne to return the bank to private hands? Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets: he turnaround is working and profits have returned. Another 30 days at/above 73.6p, or a 1/3 stake sale >61p, and the [...]
RBS names new chief Ross McEwan August 2, 2013 Along with its results the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced a new CEO. Kiwi Ross McEwan will take the role from 1 October. McEwan will take a small pay packet than his predecessor Stephen Hester, taking a £1m annual salary and waiving his bonus. The new boss thanked his colleagues and Hester, saying [...]
Poor Spanish unemployment data an embarrassment for prime minister Rajoy August 2, 2013 Spanish unemployment has fallen by just 64,900 in July, falling short of analyst forecasts of an 80,000 drop. Last month unemployment fell by 127,200. This could be embarassing for prime minister Mariano Rajoy, who yesterday said he expected a big improvement in unemployment data.
S&P 500 breaks through 1,700 for first time – but is that level important? August 1, 2013 US markets continue to break records, with the S&P 500 breaking the psychologically significant 1,700 level for the first time. Not that 1,700 is any more inherent significance than 1,699, but as traders attach importance to it, that makes it important. Classic example of the self-fufilling prophecy and our obsession with base 10 numbers. Some [...]
