BMW drives ahead on China’s craving for luxury as Toyota sales hit by quake August 2, 2011 BMW yesterday tore through market expectations for second-quarter profits as more wealthy Chinese drove away with its revamped 5 Series saloon car. The company reported an 83 per cent jump in quarterly operating profit at its luxury car business, underpinned by surging sales of the 5 series and a 4.8 percentage point widening in its [...]
Strewth – Aussie dollar strength set to continue August 2, 2011 ESCAPING EUROZONE CONTAGION Despite the turmoil in the European Club-Med economies, where five year CDS rates and 10-year bond yields are on an upward trajectory, Australian credit markets have remained largely unaffected, and local bond issuance is solid. As James Hughes, senior market analyst for Alpari, points out, Australia has a strong balance sheet, comparatively [...]
Relief over debt deal is short-lived August 1, 2011 It didn’t take long for the relief caused by Sunday evening’s US debt plan to dissipate. First, there’s the dawning realisation that the plan itself, passed by the House late last night, is unlikely to help the US avoid some sort of debt downgrade. Nor is it likely to repair the wounds caused by weeks [...]
30,000 jobs? It’s a start, says Gulliver August 1, 2011 WHEN HSBC chief Stuart Gulliver told investors in May that the bank had a “cost problem”, few expected him to wield the axe quite so dramatically. But he insists that casting out middle managers to the tune of 30,000 in gross job cuts is still not enough: “It will be a very long journey,” he [...]
THE TIPSTER July 31, 2011 TRADERS are long on silver as the precious metal looks like it might be setting up to test its highs from earlier in the year of around $50. The precious metal has seen its fair share of volatility in the last week – dipping back below the $40 mark – so could be a buy. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 26, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LAW FIRM STOPS WORK ON INQUIRY INTO PHONE HACKING BCL Burton Copeland, the law firm, is no longer advising News International about an investigation into phone hacking. The firm stopped working for NI, which publishes Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspapers, last week, insiders familiar with the situation said, after it was called in at [...]
Political fears drag down Wall Street July 26, 2011 The stalemate in US debt talks dragged down stocks for a second day yesterday, and light volume showed investors remained reluctant to make bets despite another round of healthy earnings. Declining issues solidly outpaced advancing ones, even though major averages showed mostly modest declines. A failure to raise the US debt limit by an 2 [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 24, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CHINA EYES BARTER PLAN TO BYPASS US SANCTIONS ON IRAN PAYMENTS Tehran and Beijing are in talks about using a barter system to exchange Iranian oil for Chinese goods and services, as US financial sanctions have blocked China from paying at least $20bn for oil exports. The US sanctions against Iran, which make [...]
FTSE steadied by Greek breakthrough July 21, 2011 The FTSE 100 started solidly this morning as it emerged that France and Germany had reached an agreement on a second bailout for Greece. Banks led the way as investors gained confidence in stocks recently buffeted by fears of exposure to the debt crisis which has engulfed the Eurozone. Leaders of the 16-country bloc will [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 17, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TESCO TO TRIAL LOYALTY CARD AT US OPERATION Tesco is poised to trial a version of its successful Clubcard loyalty scheme in the US, as it strives to stem losses at its Fresh & Easy chain. Tim Mason, chief executive of Fresh & Easy, said the business, which currently has 176 stores and [...]