What you need to know before the open – 23/12 December 23, 2013 The FTSE 100 is expected to open higher on the last full day of trading before Christmas. Volumes will however be thinner than usual with many investors enjoying the festive season and limited news releases to trade on. Last Friday saw the best week for European stocks in eight months. They're now expected to get [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 20 December 2013 December 19, 2013 FINANCIAL TIME Taper pressures emerging markets Markets soured on the day after the US Federal Reserve’s dramatic tapering of its asset purchases from $85bn to $75bn per month as the dollar climbed and vulnerable emerging markets came under pressure. The taper heralded a new era of dollar strength, with the US currency up by 0.6 [...]
China: Why US tapering won’t affect it and 5 other things December 18, 2013 As we head towards the new year, JP Morgan analyst Haibin Zhu looks ahead to the Chinese economic outlook for 2014. Where is China’s growth heading in 2014? The investment bank expects the Chinese economy to decelerate from 7.6 per cent in 2013 to 7.4 per cent in 2014. It believes that a shift in government [...]
GSK to stop paying doctors in overhaul to marketing plan December 17, 2013 GLAXOSMITHKLINE will stop paying doctors for promoting its drugs and scrap prescription targets for its marketing staff – a first for an industry battling scandals over its sales practices, and a challenge for its peers to follow suit. The drugmaker also said yesterday it would stop payments to healthcare professionals for attending medical conferences as [...]
Iron ore prices are set to crash by 40pc. Here’s why December 13, 2013 Demand for major commodities was strong this year, but supply topped it. When it came iron ore, demand outweighed supply on a relative basis because it was stronger and there was marginal shortage in the market, but many analysts don't expect that to remain the case. By 2015, Goldman forecasts "major oversupply" of iron ore, [...]
We need to stop playing politics with aviation and go for growth December 11, 2013 IT is time for our political establishment to get its act together and take the tough decisions this country needs. The case in favour of airport expansion is overwhelming. Britain has failed to build a single new full-length airport runway anywhere in the South East of the country since the Second World War (City Airport, [...]
Why the 50-year bull market may end with a whimper not a bang December 9, 2013 MY NEXT Gresham professorial lecture has the provocative title “Was Karl Marx always wrong?”, but those wanting a detailed dissection of Marxism should stay away. Rather, I used this to highlight one of the important phenomena of our times – the falling share of labour incomes of GDP. The fall has meant a growing share [...]
What you need to know before the open – 09/12 December 9, 2013 A positive start to the week's trading is expected today, with a very thin macroeconomic calendar ahead of us for Monday. Analyts forecast that the FTSE will open higher on momentum from Friday's US session, record highs on India's Sensex stock index, and the better than expected Chinese inflation data published this morning. Morning all. [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 09 December 2013 December 9, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES HSBC eyes listing of £20bn UK bank HSBC has sounded out investors about a flotation of its UK arm, in a move that would realise value from its high street banking business and address regulatory pressures. The bank has in recent weeks asked investors whether they would support the sale of a sizeable [...]
Are all virtual currencies in danger as China cracks down on Bitcoin? December 9, 2013 The founder of virtual currency Peercoin, Sunny King has warned the he does not rule out the possibility of governments banning virtual currencies. His comments follow Chinese authorities’ recent crackdown on the use of Bitcoin by financial institutions. Speaking to CNBC on Friday, King said: I wouldn’t eliminate possibilities that they [China’s authorities] issue a [...]