THE TIPSTER December 21, 2009 MARKET liquidity is really thin this week and next due to the Christmas holidays, which means that you need to be aware of pockets of volatility. During this time of year you need to stick to the larger FTSE 100 equities that benefit from strong liquidity. Keep nice tight spreads or range trade the FTSE [...]
BA set for fresh spat on pensions December 21, 2009 BRITISH Airways is on a fresh collision course with union leaders over plans to address the gaping deficit in its retirement scheme, experts warn. The troubled airline has until June to agree a solution with its trustees to the £3.7bn shortfall in its two defined benefit funds, which together cover around 100,000 retired and working [...]
Shoppers defy cold to set Christmas record December 21, 2009 SHOPPERS are coming out in force in the run up to Christmas, setting records in the capital and throughout the country. The New West End Company, representing more than 600 traders in central London, declared sales have been even higher than expected. Jace Tyrrell, head of communications, said: “We have had a good weekend. We [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 21, 2009 THE SUNDAY The Sunday Telegraph TEST FOR DEFENCE SPENDING PLEDGE The government’s pledge to direct £900m of defence spending into better equipment for Afghanistan will be tested next month when it announces the replacement for the controversial Snatch Land Rover. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is understood to be choosing between four vehicles, and industry experts say the [...]
ATM Christmas is on the cards December 21, 2009 Wednesday 23 December will be the busiest day on record for cash purchases, according to research, suggesting consumers are shunning credit cards for banknotes. Figures compiled by Tesco Bank indicate cash machine withdrawals so far in December have outstripped 2008’s numbers. The trend is expected to peak on Wednesday, when ATMs are predicted to handle [...]
Christmas party spending cut as companies play Scrooge December 21, 2009 Businesses are spending nearly a third less on Christmas parties this year than they did in 2008, according to research due to be published today. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) estimates that employers will spend about £600m on Christmas parties for their staff this year, down from close to £1bn in 2007 [...]
HUMAN LIE DETECTOR BOOSTED BY CITY COMPANIES ON THE WARPATH December 20, 2009 WE ALL know businesses are rather jumpier than usual given the difficult ride they’ve had over the course of the recession, but I hear some are taking truly unprecedented steps to counter risky office behaviour. Darren Stanton, who calls himself a “human lie detector”, tells me he has seen a surge in requests from corporates [...]
Call for probe into collapse of Flyglobespan December 20, 2009 SCOTTISH finance secretary John Swinney has called for an investigation into the failure of collapsed airline Flyglobespan. The Edinburgh-based business went into administration on Wednesday leaving thousands of passengers stranded and 550 staff facing redundancy a week before Christmas. Swinney said that a probe into the failure should look at the role of credit card [...]
Taking a punt on industrial strife can be a winner December 20, 2009 THE High Court may have helped restore Christmas cheer for passengers of British Airways by ruling that the proposed 12-day strike by the airline’s cabin crew was invalid, but investors should arm themselves with trading strategies for a 2010 that could be rife with industrial action. But the dispute is far from over. After the [...]
THE TIPSTER December 20, 2009 THE markets may have traded sideways for most of December but expect some volatility over the next couple of weeks. During the period between Christmas and New Year the markets can often move higher, which could benefit the FTSE 100. Capital Spreads offers a price of 5,245-5,246. The announcement of a new chief executive at [...]