What Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen is likely to say this week – eToro Tips & Picks December 14, 2015 Many are now asking when – not if – the oil price will reach the $30 benchmark. A sustained period of very low prices will place increasing strain on the Saudi economy, potentially worsening the internal security situation and contributing to greater tension with its neighbours. Western economies are enjoying lower energy costs, but the [...]
Jordan Spieth has matched Tiger Woods’s best but Rory McIlroy will be back in 2016 December 14, 2015 Now that the last golf ball of 2015 has been struck in anger, it’s time to reflect on a remarkable and significant season that has at times felt like a changing of the guard. Former world No1 Tiger Woods has admitted that he may be finished as a force, and there have to be doubts [...]
UK small businesses aren’t prepared for foreign exchange volatility if the Federal Reserve raises rates in December December 14, 2015 UK SMEs are unprepared to deal with currency volatility if the Federal Reserve raises rates in December. While 88 per cent of small business owners said they understood the potential impacts of a US rate rise on currency markets, 70 per cent felt their business needed to be better prepared to deal with exchange rate [...]
Is Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn right – when it comes to kickstarting the economy, is it time for a people’s QE? December 14, 2015 This is a big week for capitalism. In the next few days, the US Federal Reserve will finally start to remove its accommodative post-2008 crisis policy by pulling money out of markets. With asset markets buoyant and the American jobs market seemingly strong, policy-makers should be surely saying ‘job well done’? But, on the ground, [...]
FTSE 100 hopes for Santa rally after week of decline -London Report December 14, 2015 This week the market is looking to put aside last week’s pain, which saw the FTSE dip below the 6,000 mark again, as it prepares itself for a much heralded interest rate rise from the US Federal Reserve. Don’t bet on anything other than volatility, however, with markets already nervous about what surprises a change [...]
Weak FTSE index should give Osborne sleepless nights December 14, 2015 How many people, back in January, were predicting that the FTSE 100 index would start with a “5” come December? Certainly not the experts at one leading bank (we’ll grant anonymity… for now) who forecast a reading close to 8,000, or its more restrained peers who thought the blue-chip index would be in the low-to-mid [...]
Fed revs up for historic lift in US interest rates – New York Report December 13, 2015 Stock market investors are ready for the first US Federal Reserve interest rate hike in nearly a decade this week, but they may not be fully prepared for all of the nuanced remarks likely to accompany that announcement. If the Fed lays out an aggressive schedule of future rate increases, stock markets could become very [...]
As the FOMC meets this week, is it now imperative that the US Fed starts hiking interest rates? December 13, 2015 Didier Saint-Georges, managing director at Carmignac, says Yes There are good reasons to be worried by the Fed’s rate rise, as growth remains very shaky everywhere, including in the US. Janet Yellen is obviously acutely aware of this economic fragility, and we would hope she isn’t fooled by headline employment numbers. But the case for [...]
US Federal Reserve to hike rates amid bond market jitters December 13, 2015 The US central bank is widely expected to lift interest rates from record lows this week, marking the Federal Reserve’s first move upward since rates were slashed in response to the 2008 financial crisis. Yet while the economy is strong overall, investors will be keeping a nervous eye on bond markets after junk bonds – [...]
US retail sales increase expectations for an interest rate rise from the US Federal Reserve December 11, 2015 US retail sales rose strongly in November as the Christmas shopping season got under way, heightening expectations that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly 10 years next year. The Commerce Department said on Friday retail sales excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services rose 0.6 per [...]