New York Report: US stocks rise on taper news July 9, 2014 US stocks finished higher yesterday, rebounding from a sharp two-day selloff, after minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting showed policymakers have started to detail how the central bank will end its easy monetary policy. The Fed indicated it will end its bond purchases in October and appeared near agreement on a plan to manage [...]
Fed minutes: QE stimulus to end in October July 9, 2014 The US Federal Reserve plans to end its program of quantitative easing in October according to minutes released from meetings in June. US markets dipped briefly on the news but quickly moved higher. The end of the bond buying program which began in September 2012 has already slowed by $10bn each month and the US [...]
The volatility debate: Be wary of betting on a swift reversal July 7, 2014 Central bank policy has distorted many asset markets. Financial markets have been remarkably tranquil of late. Traders accustomed to the ructions of recent years are now starved of volatility, with the US equity “fear index” (the Vix) continually falling towards pre-crisis lows (see graph, bottom left). As Gemma Godfrey of Brooks Macdonald points [...]
Recovery drives resurgence in finance hiring July 6, 2014 UPBEAT companies hired more staff in June than at any time in the past two years, the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (Apsco) said today. The number of permanent placements made by the recruiters jumped 33 per cent compared with the same period of last year. Finance and accounting hiring jumped 39 per cent, and [...]
Wall St The Week Ahead: All eyes on Fed minutes for rate hike info July 6, 2014 WITH US stocks hitting record highs just before the Independence Day break last week on the back of strong jobs growth, the Bank for International Settlements – the global forum for central banks – said that markets were in a “euphoric” state and that keeping interest rates too low for too long could sow the [...]
Economic boom in the USA as jobless rate falls to ’08 levels July 3, 2014 Americans go into the Independence Day holiday with their economy back on the front foot Dow smashes past 17,000 mark US jobless rate falls to ’08 levels Services reach a post-crisis peak THE US recovery appears to be well and truly on track, with figures out yesterday revealing a soaring service sector and tumbling unemployment. The Dow [...]
Bottom Line: How to lose friends and alienate people July 2, 2014 MIKE Ashley looked thoroughly bored at yesterday’s Sports Direct meeting, seemingly fed up with all the commotion surrounding its latest attempt to pay him a hefty bonus. One might have thought he’d be used to it. An extremely divisive figure, often ridiculed and reviled in the football world, the bolshie and controversial way by which [...]
World Cup: Di Maria brings Hitzfeld career to a cruel end July 1, 2014 ARGENTINA 1 SWITZERLAND 0 (After extra time) ARGENTINA coach Alejandro Sabella admitted he was delighted to avoid a penalty shoot-out after Angel di Maria’s dramatic late intervention swept his team into the World Cup quarter-finals. Real Madrid winger Di Maria made amends for a sub-par display with the winning goal in the 118th minute, booking [...]
Big Benz: a no frills Mercedes crossover July 1, 2014 It took some time to convince my wife that she should be driving something a bit more “off-road”. She didn’t buy into the whole mums-in-their-Range-Rovers thing, and would have been happier with a posh saloon. Now she’s one of the legions to have bought into the crossover genre and swears by her Kia Sportage. Everyone [...]
CNBC Comment: Why Draghi can’t relax this summer June 30, 2014 WHO’D be a central banker? As soon as you restore bond and equity markets to calm or even optimism, investors start fretting about something else. Most major Western economies have returned to economic growth, and countries that were causing sleepless nights just a couple of years ago, like Spain and Ireland, appear to be market [...]