Golf Comment: Heat is on as Ryder Cup deadline looms August 18, 2014 THE RYDER Cup is less than six weeks away and, more importantly for a handful of European players, there are just two more weeks of competition in which to secure guaranteed qualification. At least two of the nine automatic places, based on European and world points lists, are still up for grabs and there could [...]
Forward guidance: A political gambit that has retarded true capitalism August 18, 2014 IT’S A mistake to try and get too precise,” suggested Stanley Fischer last September, shortly before he was appointed vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. “You can’t expect the Fed to spell out what it’s going to do. Why? Because it doesn’t know.” Bank of England governor Mark Carney may now be wishing he had [...]
Janet Yellen to give debut speech at Jackson Hole monetary policy forum August 17, 2014 The annual American monetary policy gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming will get underway this week, Janet Yellen’s first as chair of the US Federal Reserve. The events, which begin on Thursday, are centred on the topic of “re-evaluating labour market dynamics” this year. The Federal Reserve chair typically gives a speech on the Friday morning [...]
Jackson Hole: Home of the annual American monetary policy forum August 17, 2014 ■ The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, one of the US central bank’s regional arms, invented the annual economic symposium back in 1978. ■ But the bank moved hosting the economic symposium from Kansas City after the first few years to Jackson Hole, a picturesque valley on the edge of the Teton Range of [...]
New York Report: Wall St rises amid talk Fed won’t up rates August 14, 2014 US STOCKS edged higher yesterday, as softer-than-expected economic data reinforced speculation that the Federal Reserve won’t rush to raise interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 61.78 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 16,713.58.The S&P 500 closed up 8.46 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 1,955.18, with health-care stocks leading the gains. And the [...]
Rapidly strengthening US job market could feed into wages August 12, 2014 AMERICAN businesses advertised more job vacancies this June than in any month for more than 13 years, according to figures released yesterday. This is the latest in a growing pile of data, which make the country’s economic outlook seem increasingly solid. Firms advertised 4.67m openings two months ago, the most at any point since February [...]
Film Review: Lilting August 8, 2014 ★★★★☆ Mass migration is one of the epic stories of our time, but Lilting finds a smaller tale hidden among the great shifting of cultures. It’s primarily about integration; two parents move from China to the UK with their young son so he can “have a better life”. Thirty years on, the boy, Kai, has [...]
CNBC Comment: Why markets are drowning in uncertainty August 4, 2014 It’s been a hot summer for some, with US stock markets breaking out to fresh highs in July, and European investors debating whether to dip a toe in the water on the back of more European Central Bank (ECB) action. But as thunder clouds roll in, and after Wall Street suffered its worst week since [...]
The Week Ahead: US analysts still bullish August 3, 2014 WALL Street’s worst week in two years was enough to get investors worried about whether a long-overdue correction is coming, but analysts are still leaning bullish going into the new week. The market is undoubtedly ripe for a correction – the current rally has continued for nearly three years without a decline of more than [...]
US economy adds only 209,000 jobs, unemployment rate rises to 6.2pc August 1, 2014 After last month's 288,000-job bonanza, the US economy has only managed to add 209,000 jobs in July. The headline unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 6.2 per cent after analysts had predicted it would remain on 6.1. It looked difficult for the labour market to top June's high figures, which meant the year to June [...]