Investors beware: Valentine’s Day markets give no love February 14, 2014 A thorny day for traders. S&P research finds that since 1928 the S&P 500 has closed up on just 40 per cent of Valentine's Days. Similarly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen on 14 February just 43 per cent of the time. Perhaps investors are more concerned by their plans for the evening. There's [...]
This may change your mind about who’s going to win the Premier League February 13, 2014 Chelsea may occupy top spot in the Premier League, Manchester City remain the bookmakers’ favourites to win the title in May and Arsenal are hanging in there (somehow), but Liverpool are currently the best team in the division. That’s according to Kickdex, a stats-based index that assigns a value to every team and player in [...]
Of course Scotland can use the pound without a currency union. Jersey does exactly that February 13, 2014 Panama might do well in an informal currency union, but proponents of Scottish independence might prefer an example closer to home. The British crown dependency of Jersey has just such an arrangement with the UK, and has been managing just fine since the pound became its currency in 1834. A publication compiled by the European [...]
Gold hits $1,300 for first time since November February 13, 2014 Gold has been climbing after today's disappointing US figures, and prices just hit a November 2013 high. While 2013 was a year that saw gold prices in decline, they're now back up to $1,300/oz. ABN Amro analyst Georgette Boele says that "the short-term drivers seem supportive for gold because we had quite a lot of [...]
Political risk prompts Brewin Dolphin downgrade of UK utilities February 13, 2014 The UK’s utilities sector was given another blow today with a downgrade from Brewin Dolphin to underweight. The researchers are also downgrading their recommendations on the two FTSE 100 energy suppliers Centrica and SSE to "hold". The downgrades were partially triggered by energy secretary Ed Davey writing to the regulators this week, calling for the [...]
Investment banks throw toys out the pram with new FX trading platform February 13, 2014 Fourteen investment banks, including some of the biggest names in foreign exchange trading, are setting up a new trading platform so they can escape the pressure from high-frequency traders (HFT). Citi and JP Morgan today joined ParFX in a bid to duck out of the HFT arms race which has seen increasingly huge sums spent [...]
Shopping centre sales jumped by 70pc last year February 13, 2014 Shopping centres were caught up in a whirlwind of activity last year. A total of 84 centres worth £4.58bn changed hands, up 70 per cent on the previous year when £2.7bn of assets were sold, with this activity set to continue into 2014, according to Savills research. The weight of capital coming into the sector [...]
Is Europe turning Japanese? Barclays really thinks it could be February 13, 2014 Is the Eurozone falling into a deflationary spiral? Two more bleak pieces of research earlier suggest that at best, Europe’s inflation outlook is failing to improve, and at worst, it may face a “Japan-style deflation cycle”. The European Central Bank’s monthly bulletin’s survey of forecasters suggests disinflation is still going on – they project 1.1 [...]
Nuclear bunker on the market for £50,000 February 13, 2014 A spacious property with space for 16 people has been put on the market with a guide price of just £50,000. The downside is that the property is a 1978 bunker built by South West Water to keep the region’s sewage flowing in the event of a nuclear attack. The water company is selling off [...]
Labour will win Wythenshawe – But it matters most as a test for Ukip and the Tories February 13, 2014 (Laura Lean/City A.M.) The outcome of today's by-election in Wythenshawe and Sale East is a foregone conclusion. It’s a safe Labour seat where the party had a 7,575 majority in 2010, with the by-election triggered by the sudden death of widely-admired Labour MP Paul Goggins. No-one expects anything apart from a Labour victory. But Wythenshawe matters. It's [...]
