Profit taking hits Wall St after rally October 27, 2009 THE S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell yesterday as investors booked profits following the stock market’s recent run-up, while a weaker-than-expected reading on a measure of consumer confidence raised doubts about spending. Technology and consumer discretionary shares fared worse than the broader market as investors sold recent winners. Baidu’s disappointing outlook added to the negative [...]
CHINA’S YUAN POLICY COMES UNDER FIRE October 25, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMBY ALMOST everybody else’s standards, an annual growth rate of 8.9 per cent in the third quarter would be an opportunity to break open the champagne and put on the party hats. But expectations for Chinese expansion had been higher and this “disappointing” figure was enough to see investors lose, at least [...]
ECB TALK HAS SLOWED FALL IN THE BUCK October 21, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COM THANKS to a healing of risk appetite, a sharp deterioration in the American fiscal position and the perception that US monetary policy will stay loose potentially until the latter part of 2010, further losses could well be ahead for the US dollar. And with euro-dollar rising towards, and potentially through the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 15, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES BUYERS AWAIT DYSON’S FANSSir James Dyson, champion of British industrial design, has launched his latest invention aimed at catapulting the conventional electric desk fan into the 21st century. His “Air Multiplier” fan boasts reduced energy consumption and no external blades. But fans of Dyson inventions must wait several weeks for the fan to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 14, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES INVESTORS IN MADOFF SCHEME SUE SECTwo investors who lost more than $2.4m in the Bernard Madoff “Ponzi” scheme have filed suit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission, claiming that the government agency responsible for protecting investors was negligent in its oversight of Madoff’s operations. CHINA AND KENYA IN KEY INFRASTRUCTURE TALKSKenya’s government [...]
GEAR UP YOUR EXPOSURE TO RECOVERY October 14, 2009 ALEXANDRE HOUPERTHEAD OF LISTED PRODUCTS UK, SG CORPORATE & INVESTMENT BANKINGa LAST year there were hopes that emerging markets, particularly in East Asia, had decoupled from the crisis that was plaguing the most developed economies in the world. But they did not remain immune from the global downturn and stock markets saw sharp falls. But [...]
Changing oil currency wouldn’t hurt the buck October 13, 2009 QUESTIONING the dollar’s status as a global reserve currency has become almost de rigueur in the past few weeks. In fact, it has been an ongoing discussion for some months now. It was discussed at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh at the end of September and then a news report last week suggested that the [...]
Attention turns to the pub as leisure sector steps out October 11, 2009 This week will give us a glimpse of how consumers are spending their time, with Whitbread, Punch Taverns and PartyGaming all reporting. But it will be opinion-polling firm YouGov that gets a reaction from investors today, as it reports its full-year results. The company said in July that it was beginning to see the benefits [...]
GOLD’S RALLY IS WITHOUT FOUNDATION October 11, 2009 JANE FOLEYRESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMA bout of profit taking on Friday barely made a dent in gold’s storming rise last week and other commodities were not lagging far behind. Dollar-denominated commodities were underpinned by the creeping feeling that the desirability of the dollar may now be fading. Equally supportive was a rise in inflationary fears, despite [...]
Exxon is the world’s biggest firm again October 7, 2009 ENERGY giant Exxon Mobil has snatched back its crown as the world’s most valuable company after overtaking rival PetroChina, according to the latest Bloomberg data. Exxon’s market capitalisation rose to $330bn (£207.4bn) in the period between 2 September and yesterday, the group said, as PetroChina’s has dropped by 2.2 per cent to $325bn. PetroChina has [...]