The Bank of England has come up with a new tool in the fight against cyber attacks June 10, 2014 The threat of cyber terrorism is increasingly perceived as one of the greatest risks to the financial sector, and the Bank of England is on it. The Bank's 2013 systemic risk survey saw a 10 per cent increase in concerns regarding operational risk (the highest since the survey began), with the risk of cyber terrorism [...]
UK industrial output sees strongest annual increase since 2011 June 10, 2014 The UK's manufacturing sector continues to go from strength to strength, with output growing by 0.4 per cent in April, according to new Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates. That's manufacturing's fifth consecutive rise, and is bang in line with the consensus estimates of analysts, while being matched by an equivalent increase in overall industrial [...]
Apple’s own app can’t understand its stock split June 9, 2014 Apple has just finished its first stock split since 2005, and it's confusing more than just humans. The company's own stocks app has been baffled, and reports that Apple has a market capitalisation of nearly $3.9 trillion. The tech giant's value is actually closer to $560bn, around a seventh of what users of the iOS [...]
BoAML: Scottish independence would boost growth in rest of the UK June 9, 2014 As the Scottish independence referendum looms, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) have out a 31-page report on the investment implications of a "yes" vote. The pro-independence campaign has been gaining momentum, as the pro-union side's lead has narrowed from 15 percentage points at the start of the year to just three in a recent [...]
Capital One is looking for someone to help them understand Bitcoin June 9, 2014 One big player in financial services is taking Bitcoin more seriously. Capital One, the US bank holding company, is looking to hire a data scientist to help investigate the impact of the cryptocurrency. Capital One wants a recruit with a bachelor's degree in a quantitative discipline, at least a year of experience with a programming [...]
Deutsche Bank: Three charts that show these are extraordinary times June 9, 2014 European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi lit several monetary fireworks last week, and traders are paying attention. While ECB policy is still the tightest of any central bank in the G10, the steps Draghi took were stronger than investors has expected. Thursday saw Draghi unveil a package of five key measures: cuts to two [...]
Japanese GDP grew at twice the pace of Germany and the UK in first quarter June 9, 2014 Revisions to Japanese growth estimates have seen them move even higher. The Cabinet Office now sees Japan's growth at 1.6 per cent for the first three months of 2014, up from its initial estimate of 1.5 per cent. Stronger than expected business investment saw growth given the nudge upwards, despite analysts forecasting that revisions would [...]
Argentina is the world’s best performing stock market this year and nine other things no-one saw coming June 6, 2014 Deutsche Bank's weekender email contains several nuggets that they doubt anyone really saw coming. They ask recipients to email in if they correctly predicted any of the following at the start of 2014: A narrower trading range in dollar/euro than renminbi spot Irish 10-year bond yields below both UK Gilts and US Treasuries Japan as [...]
AA confirms plans to float at £1.4bn valuation June 6, 2014 Britain's largest car insurer and roadside recovery firm, the AA, has confirmed its intention to list on the London Stock Exchange in the second half of June. The company's current private equity owners want to sell off the stock to a buy-in team, backed by institutional investors, who will then take it public. They'll be [...]
US job additions take total above pre-recession peak June 6, 2014 The labour market appears to have defrosted. According to nonfarm payroll figures released today, the US added a seasonally adjusted 217,000 jobs in May. That's just 1,000 lower than the 218,000 additions that economists had forecast for this month. According to the Bureau for Labour Statistics that takes the total number jobs above their pre-recession [...]