US markets are searching for rates insight – The week ahead on Wall St November 2, 2014 A SERIES of Federal Reserve officials are due to give speeches after the Fed surprised some investors last week with a hawkish-sounding policy statement that confidently predicted only temporary weakness in inflation. Now that the Fed has ended its massive bond-buying stimulus, financial markets are keen for any insight on how quickly it will raise [...]
A digital billboard revolution: The top out-of-home advertising sites changing the face of London November 2, 2014 In creative terms, advertising mediums can be split into “hot” and “cool” media. This distinction was first put forward by Canadian media critic Marshall McLuhan 50 years ago. The difference is that hot media grabs you, whereas people actively choose to get involved with cool media – the audience does the grabbing. Print, cinema, [...]
Nikkei jumps on Bank of Japan quantitative easing shock October 31, 2014 Following the US Fed's decision this week to draw its quantitative easing programme to a close, yesterday the Bank of Japan (BoJ) took the opposite stance, announcing plans to vastly expand its monetary easing programme. The Bank’s approach under Shinzo Abe has been anything but passive, but the announcement it would increase asset purchases so [...]
US growth beats expectations as dollar gets a lift October 30, 2014 THE DOLLAR continued to increase against the euro yesterday after US GDP growth surprised on the upside and the market further digested hawkish statements from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. Annualised growth – what annual growth would be if the three-month growth rate were maintained over a full year – was 3.5 per cent in [...]
US GDP defies expectations with 3.5 per cent rise October 30, 2014 US GDP grew 3.5 per cent in the third quarter, figures out today showed, smashing analyst expectations of three per cent. Although the figure is a slowdown from the previous quarter's 4.6 per cent growth, it was enough for the dollar to spike to 0.7967 against the euro as it was announced, before dropping back [...]
Bullish US outlook helps Janet Yellen win over Charles Plosser and Richard Fisher to interest rate pledge October 29, 2014 Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen persuaded two hawkish colleagues to join her pledge yesterday to keep interest rates low for a “considerable time”, winning them over by sounding an optimistic tone on the US job market and inflation. Immediately after the announcement, the dollar surged to a three-week high. The Fed announced the end of [...]
Wall St slips as US Fed ends bond buying – New York Report October 29, 2014 US STOCKS closed with slight losses yesterday, finishing off their lows of the session, after the Federal Reserve ended its stimulative monthly bond-buying programme and expressed confidence in American economic prospects. In a statement after a two-day meeting, the Fed ended its quantitative easing programme of bond purchases, as had been expected. At its peak, [...]
As QE ends in the US, has it changed the world for the better? October 29, 2014 Sam Bowman, research director at the Adam Smith Institute, says Yes. Many people, including me, expected QE to cause uncontrollable inflation and end in disaster. How wrong we were. The US and the UK, which did QE, are growing healthily. The Eurozone, which didn’t, is in ruins. QE helps to keep nominal spending steady during [...]
Markets keep their cool as Federal Reserve ends quantitative easing October 29, 2014 The Federal Reserve has announced the end of its monthly $15bn bond-buying programme, adding that its intention is to maintain low interest rates for "considerable time". The Fed was more bullish on the state of the US labour market, and all its members with the exception of one voted to draw quantitative easing (QE) to [...]
Is the world ready for the end of quantitative easing? Global markets rise on great Fed expectations October 29, 2014 What a difference a year makes. This time in 2013, markets across the world were thrown into turmoil as rumours abounded that the US Fed would begin tapering its quantitative easing programme. Fast forward 12 months, and the same markets have remained cheerful, even as the US' rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee prepares to make [...]