Chart: How much the Fed laughed during its 2008 crisis meeting February 21, 2014 The Federal Open Market Committee's emergency meeting that was held the day after Lehman Brothers went bust was a pretty amusing affair for those there – or maybe just a case of choosing whether to laugh or cry… This graph shows how frequently laughter punctuated the meeting – it was held on the 16 September. [...]
What Fed chair Yellen was saying the day after Lehman went bust February 21, 2014 Back in September 2008, now Fed chair Janet Yellen attended a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee as an alternate member. That meeting came the day after Lehman Brothers went bust. Here's what she had to say: During the past several weeks, my head office and Branch directors have become decidedly more pessimistic about [...]
What you need to know before the US open February 21, 2014 US stock futures have edged higher as investors concentrate on the fortunes of tech companies, following some strong results. Better-than-expectated manufacturing data have continued boosted confidence across European and Asian markets, particularly after China’s equivalent results were weaker than forecast. Focus is on existing home sales, which are expected to have fallen slightly in January, [...]
Expansion brings sterling year for Moneycorp February 20, 2014 FAST growing foreign exchange firm Moneycorp grew gross profits by nearly 50 per cent last year – underscoring its ambitious plans to crack high street banks’ dominance of the overseas payments market. The Knightsbridge-based firm, which is controlled by a former investment vehicle of RBS, said gross profit rose to £97.2m from £65.2m in 2012 [...]
New York Report: Facebook and Tesla prompt rise in shares February 20, 2014 US STOCKS climbed yesterday after a data reading on manufacturing activity hit its highest in nearly four years, while news about Facebook and Tesla drove their shares to record highs during trading. US factory activity accelerated at its fastest pace in nearly four years in February, according to Markit’s preliminary US manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, [...]
What you need to know before the US open February 20, 2014 US stock index futures suggest markets will open lower, as investors look again towards ongoing emerging market turmoil. The continuing and severe violence in Ukraine at the moment has seen the country’s hryvnia plummet to five-year lows, and state debt insurance rising to 2009 highs. Weaker growth from China – the Markit/HSBC purchasing managers’ index [...]
What you need to know before the open February 20, 2014 Europe is expected to open lower this morning, after disappointing Chinese manufacturing data and yesterday’s release of the latest Federal Open Market Committee minutes. The minutes showed a further taper of $10bn is likely in March. The Chinese HSBC purchasing managers’ index has come in at 48.3, considerably below expectations of 49.4. Corporate news Centrica [...]
Fed backs plan to taper $10bn every month February 19, 2014 THE FEDERAL Reserve has confirmed its intention to trim the US quantitative easing (QE) programme by $10bn (£5.98bn) each month, according to official minutes released yesterday. The details of Janet Yellen’s first meeting as chair of the Fed makes official the “clear presumption” that QE will be tapered at the same pace, unless there is [...]
New York Report: Wall St edges lower as Fed minutes weigh February 19, 2014 US stocks slid yesterday in a late sell off after minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s latest policy-setting meeting indicated that the central bank will keep trimming its bond-buying stimulus unless there is a significant economic surprise. Minutes from the January meeting of the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting committee showed that several policymakers wanted to hone [...]
US storms are still playing havoc with markets February 19, 2014 While analysts thought that freakishly cold weather over the winter wouldn't dent US growth, many are now starting to question the usefulness of all recent data. Nick Beecroft, chairman at Saxo Capital Markets, says that the storms are now fooling markets. He says that "the dreadful ice and snow storms that have been battering the east [...]