Why the euphoria was not justified October 27, 2011 MARKETS are hugely preferable to central planning – but sometimes capitalism’s finest get it spectacularly wrong. Yesterday’s deluded jump in stock prices – the FTSE is now back up to 5,713.82 – was a gross over-reaction to the Eurozone’s deal. A sigh of relief that the outcome wasn’t worse would have been understandable; but there [...]
€UROFUDG€ October 26, 2011 EUROZONE leaders once again put off finding a decisive remedy to the region’s debt turmoil last night, producing little but rhetoric on the most pressing problems in a crisis that threatens to throw the world into a new recession. After more than a week of delays, the summit of 17 euro nations produced merely the [...]
These vague plans won’t save Europe October 26, 2011 FORGET about all the nonsense, the acronyms, the double-speak and the details of last night’s communiqués from Europe’s leaders. The reality is this. A country that has too much debt and cannot repay it by raising taxes or selling assets faces three choices: it can default; try and inflate or depreciate the debt away by [...]
Recalling how machines took over the old City October 26, 2011 IN 1986, we saw our way of life on the floor of the stock exchange coming to an end. How would we respond, off the floor, sitting behind screens? We’d had a while to realise how things would change as we already had SEAQ in play on screens so we were experiencing a mixture. We [...]
25 years after the Big Bang we ask: Was it a good idea? October 26, 2011 YES Eamonn Butler SOMETHING had to happen. London had once been the world’s major financial centre, but by the 1980s it had been overtaken by New York and that lead was growing. The City remained an old-fashioned world: to outsiders like me, more like a private gentlemen’s club than a place of business. Its leading [...]
Volvo says Europe demand will slow October 25, 2011 TRUCKMAKER Volvo said it was preparing to cut output in anticipation of lower vehicle demand in Europe next year as a recovery in sales in the region runs out of steam. The group reported a third quarter operating profit of 5.8bn crowns (£553m), up from last year’s 4.9bn on recovering demand but undershooting a forecast [...]
Bearish Aussie avoided by pandering to China October 25, 2011 THE Australian dollar has been trading around its six-week high this week, receiving a boost from encouraging data coming out of China – a country upon which its economy relies on heavily. At the same time, it has benefited from a strong commodity market. The Aussie dollar was trending around the $1.0400 area yesterday, but [...]
Factory boom averts hard landing fears October 24, 2011 THE FIRST growth since June was registered in yesterday’s HSBC purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China, estimating industrial activity. At 51.1, the index registered its strongest growth in five months. September’s reading came in at 49.9. Any result above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. The positive reading is expected to alleviate fears of a [...]
ECONOMISTS’ VIEWS: HAS CHINA’S ECONOMY AVOIDED A HARD LANDING? October 24, 2011 QINWEI WANG | CAPITAL ECONOMICS At 51.1, this month’s PMI estimate is very strong. There are risks ahead, however – Eurozone figures are very disappointing. Furthermore, China’s PMI may reflect output rising simply to replenish and increase inventories, which have been very low recently, rather than signaling strong demand growth. CHRIS SCICLUNA | DAIWA CAPITAL [...]
Miners lead FTSE up after China boost October 24, 2011 Markets have risen this morning triggered by hopes that a deal to resolve the Eurozone debt crisis can be put together while manufacturing data showed China’s growth is picking up. Although a weekend summit of Eurozone leaders was inconclusive with bickering clouding the talks. The skeleton of a deal was agreed with a summit to [...]