Solid earnings are only the beginning for banking stocks August 2, 2010 AFTER what has been a difficult few months, the European banking sector couldn’t have asked for a better start to a week that is jam-packed with their first-half earnings announcements. Both London-listed HSBC and Paris-quoted BNP Paribas posted better than expected profits and revealed that their bad debts have fallen sharply to pre-crisis levels. Traders [...]
THE TIPSTER August 2, 2010 HIGH street retail giant Next releases its latest trading statement tomorrow and the statement should give some insight into whether the company feels that the man on the street is more optimistic than he was six months ago or if concern about government cuts is still curbing our spending at the tills. Next had a [...]
Huang vows to spend big in Liverpool bid August 2, 2010 CHINESE businessman Kenny Huang has promised to give manager Roy Hodgson big money to spend in the transfer market if he succeeds in his bid to buy Liverpool. Huang, a former Wall Street stockbroker and now head of Hong Kong-based investment company QSL Sports Ltd, announced yesterday he had been in talks with Royal Bank [...]
Dramatic recovery for Britain’s banks August 1, 2010 BANKS will come under renewed pressure to extend credit to small businesses this week as the UK’s five largest lenders reveal combined pre-tax profits of nearly £12bn. With the stronger players returning to pre-financial crisis levels of success, a fresh row is brewing between politicians – who are demanding more finance for enterprises – and [...]
Syrian mulls £400m bid for Liverpool August 1, 2010 A FORMER Syrian international footballer has become the latest businessman to be linked with a bid for Liverpool Football Club. Yahya Kirdi, who claims to be fronting a consortium of wealthy Arab investors, is understood to be in talks with the club’s much-maligned American owners. There was speculation earlier this year that Kirdi, who is [...]
SPREAD BET GURU August 1, 2010 MARKET STRATEGIST josh@cityindex.co.uk Q. Dear Josh, what aspects are there to consider before using stop losses when spread betting? A. Stop losses can be a good means of protecting your trading risk. The first aspect I would always consider would be whether to use a standard or guaranteed stop loss. Of course, a guaranteed stop [...]
EARNINGS SEASON | CALENDAR August 1, 2010 Monday 2 August Xchanging – UK Thomas Cook – UK Hammerson – UK Tullett Prebon – UK HSBC – UK Intertek – UK Mouchel – UK Qinetiq – UK Berkshire Hathaway – US Warner Music Group – US Linde – Germany BNP Paribas – France Air Liquide – France Tuesday 3 August ITV – UK [...]
Bradford & Bingley back in the black July 30, 2010 Bradford & Bingley, the mortgage lender which was nationalised after running into problems during the credit crisis, said on Friday it had swung to a first-half profit after making a loss a year earlier. The bank reported a pretax profit of £896m for the six months ending June 30, having made a loss of £160m [...]
Exxon Mobil tops Wall St as output rises eight per cent July 29, 2010 EXXON MOBIL reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit, with oil prices and margins to process crude into fuel rebounding and production rising. Profits for the US-based group came to $7.56bn (£4.83bn) in the quarter excluding items, compared with $4.09bn a year ago. Oil and gas output in the quarter rose eight per cent, boosted by the [...]
AstraZeneca profits rise July 29, 2010 ASTRAZENECA, the UK’s second-largest drugs company, doubled its 2010 share buyback plan to $2bn (£1.3bn) yesterday after posting strong results and clearing several regulatory hurdles in the US. Pre-tax profit in the second quarter rose to $6.4bn (£4.1bn) from $5.6bn in the same period a year ago, on sales up three per cent at $8.18bn, [...]