Trades to suit all views and risk levels for the year ahead January 6, 2010 THE LAST couple of years have been a rollercoaster for investors, and while 2010 is not shaping up to be quite so unpredictable, there are certainly some bumps in the road ahead. It’s just the sort of environment where covered warrants come into their own. For one thing the most you can lose is your [...]
Data boosts hopes that UK slump is over January 6, 2010 HOPES that the UK recession ended in the last quarter of 2009 were boosted yesterday by service sector data for December showing the strongest growth in new orders in over two years. The latest survey of purchasing managers in services companies, the so called “engine room of the UK economy”, showed activity edged up to [...]
It will be easy to lose money this year December 17, 2009 ONE of the great paradoxes of 2009 was that economic meltdown went hand in hand with strong gains for many investors. After a disastrous few months when everybody was pricing in the end of civilisation, stock markets bounced back, house prices started to rise again and many traders made vast returns. As I wrote yesterday, [...]
Bank jitters and commodity weakness hits London stocks December 17, 2009 Jitters in the financial sector prompted by tough new proposed regulations sent banks sliding yesterday while commodity stocks also retreated on weaker raw material prices, pulling the FTSE 100 down 1.9 per cent by close. The FTSE 100 closed down 102.65 points at 5,217.61, having closed 34.49 points, or 0.7 per cent, higher on Wednesday [...]
Nobody should ever be bailed out again December 15, 2009 CAPITALISM only really works when success is rewarded and failure punished. So as the New Year approaches, here is a radical suggestion: let us usher in a new era of personal responsibility. Let 2010 be a year of no bailouts, no handouts, no bleating and no more blaming everybody else for one’s own mistakes. This [...]
FTSEdrops as windfall tax worries offset mining gains December 7, 2009 Britain’s top shares ended 0.2 per cent lower yesterday, with banks weak on concerns over a possible windfall tax, offsetting modest gains in miners and energy stocks which rebounded from earlier losses. The FTSE 100 closed 11.70 points lower at 5,310.66 points, paring some losses from earlier in the session when the index dropped to [...]
BANKS BRACED FOR 1BN WINDFALL TAX December 6, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling was this weekend mulling a £1bn windfall tax on the banks as part of a “class war” strategy to depict the Tories as a party for the “rich”. The windfall tax, versions of which were still being worked on by officials last night, is likely to be for a year only and [...]
Battle lines drawn for pre budget report December 6, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling faces his toughest week yet at the helm of the Treasury as he prepares to deliver the 2009 Pre-Budget Report (PBR) to Parliament on Wednesday. He is likely to downgrade his forecast for 2009 GDP – admitting the UKshrank much more than he predicted – but City economists expect him to hold [...]
High earners set to be hit by new taxes December 1, 2009 FOR those bankers who had become a tad complacent, I have some news for you: the Tories are still not ruling out a windfall tax on banks if their behaviour doesn’t conform to what is expected of them on pay and lending. I asked Mark Hoban, a key member of George Osborne’s shadow treasury team, [...]
MPC member moots a housing bubble tax December 1, 2009 BANK of England policymaker Adam Posen yesterday called for taxes on British homeowners like capital gains tax and stamp duty to be hiked in line with house price inflation, in a bid to prevent another housing bubble. Interest rates are too blunt an instrument to prevent boom and bust in the housing market, Posen said. [...]