China tops forecast with strong growth January 10, 2010 Growth in China’s exports and imports last month blew past expectations, figures yesterday revealed, providing fresh evidence of the vigour of the economy and strengthening the case for Beijing to let the yuan start climbing again. Exports leapt 17.7 per cent from a year earlier, dwarfing the 4.0 per cent rise forecast by economists and [...]
Trades to suit all views and risk levels for the year ahead January 7, 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 [...]
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 [...]
Rusal float set to earn millions for Rothschild January 3, 2010 RUSSIAN aluminium firm Rusal, owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, is planning a $2.6bn (£1.6bn) flotation this month, tipped to earn millions for merchant bank NM Rothschild, it emerged yesterday. Rusal will sell 1.61 billion shares at up to HK$12.50 (£1) a share to cut $14.9bn (£9.2bn) of debt in a float set to value Rusal [...]
HSBC Shanghai plan to boost expansion December 20, 2009 HSBC is poised to become one of the first foreign companies to list on the Shanghai stock exchange, returning to its Asian roots. The bank wants to raise its profile in China as it opens more branches and considers taking stakes in Chinese lenders. It first announced in May last year that it wanted to [...]
Sun, sea and Hinduism all come together in Mauritius December 14, 2009 THE first thing that you notice about Mauritius is that it is a real place. By that I mean that it is a contrast to its holiday competitors in the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles and Maldives. They are made up of dozens of tiny islands which are often owned by resorts and have been turned into [...]
Rio and BHP seal deal December 6, 2009 MINING giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shook hands on their proposed $116bn (£67.8bn) iron ore tie-up over the weekend, putting paid to reports that competition bodies would interfere with the deal. The agreement, which is expected to produce synergies of $10bn, has been a bone of much contention for Chinese customers, who say it [...]
CITY TYPES FANCY A FLUTTER ON RACE GAME December 6, 2009 AN ENTERPRISING businessman, a barrel-load of twenty quid tickets, the chance to win a lucrative prize of your dreams… sound familiar? It may well do, given ex-Nomura banker Andrew Paul’s recent venture selling tickets for the chance to win his mansion, Aston Martin and power boat, which is now going to be made into a [...]
DIYboost for owner of B&Q December 3, 2009 B&Q owner Kingfisher yesterday beat City forecasts for its third quarter, boosted by a change of strategy in China and a renewed interest in home improvement. The group said that pre-tax profits rose in the 13 weeks to 31 October to £227m, compared to £176m last year, ahead of expectations. Kingfisher said that a revival [...]
Your attitude to risk key to 2010 trading December 1, 2009 IT WAS no surprise that the Dubai debt scare saw investors running back to safe-havens such as the US dollar, Japanese yen and the Swiss franc. Risk appetite is one of the biggest drivers of the foreign exchange markets. The story of recent months in forex markets has been one of increasing investor confidence, which [...]