FAITH IN QE2 LIMITS FALLS IN EQUITIES November 15, 2010 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT RECENTLY, investors have got used to their expectations being met. Republican victories in the mid-terms led investors to expect a more business-friendly environment. The Fed’s latest QE announcement was in line with estimates, while a thumping gain in non-farm payrolls has raised hopes that unemployment may have turned a corner. With [...]
BHP moves on from Potash takeover bid November 15, 2010 MINING giant BHP Billiton’s shares rose yesterday following its decision to abandon its hostile takeover of Potash Corp and begin a $4.2bn (£2.6bn) share buyback, as analysts pored over the world’s largest mining group’s next move. BHP’s London-listed shares closed 1.8 per cent up at £24.06, outperforming a 0.4 per cent gain in the FTSE [...]
Storm clouds gather as G20 leaders meet November 11, 2010 Group of Twenty in Seoul clash on growth, currencies and trade Ireland moves ever closer to the brink as bailout fears mount Oil price hits a fresh 25-month high of $88 a barrel on China demand IRISH ten-year bond yields shot to their highest level since the founding of the euro yesterday, closing at 8.6 [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 11, 2010 HILL & SMITH Altium Securities rates the highway infrastructure group a “hold” with a target price of 275p. The broker says it is disappointed by the firm’s recent interim management statement, which reduced the company’s operating profit forecast by £7.5m for the year. Altium has cut its estimates for 2010 pre-tax profit to £41m following [...]
ICBC to launch £4bn rights issue November 11, 2010 Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) plans to raise 45bn yuan (£4.2bn) through a rights share offering this month, capping an $80bn fundraising boom by Chinese lenders to replenish capital depleted by last year’s lending spree. ICBC, which first unveiled its rights issue plan in July, will now be selling fewer rights shares in [...]
Why protesters need a reality check November 10, 2010 IT is a tragic day when the headquarters of a political party in a democracy are stormed by a lawless mob. That is what happened yesterday to the Tory HQ in Millbank; it almost happened at the Liberal Democratic base in Cowley Street. A minority of thugs in the crowd – possibly professional agitators of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 10, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES GREENSPAN WARNS OVER WEAKER DOLLAR The US is pursuing a policy of weakening its currency which is driving up exchange rates in the rest of the world, according to Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve. Writing in today’s Financial Times ahead of the G20 meeting in Seoul, Greenspan argues that [...]
Nokia and Apple lose sales to cheap Chinese phones November 10, 2010 NOKIA and other established handset makers are quickly losing global market share to a push by Chinese no-brand vendors into emerging markets, research firm Gartner said. Surging growth of no-brand manufacturers coupled with growing smartphone sales boosted third-quarter mobile phone sales 35 per cent, Gartner said yesterday. But Nokia saw its marketshare slip from 44.6 [...]
Making money out of the East isn’t that easy November 10, 2010 DAVID Cameron is not having an easy time in China. Instead of idle rhetoric about trade and cooperation, Cameron’s visit has been overshadowed by human rights concerns, by global imbalances, and, perhaps most surprisingly, by a dispute over the symbolism of the poppy. China is one of the world’s most exciting countries, but it is [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 9, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES EX-CLINTON AIDE TO ADVISE NEWS CORP ON EDUCATION Joel Klein, the chancellor of New York City’s schools and former deputy White House counsel to Bill Clinton, is joining News Corp as a senior adviser to Rupert Murdoch, as the company looks to make investments in educational start-ups. ASIAN EQUITY HEDGE FUNDS OUTPERFORM Asian [...]