New York Report: US stocks rise with indexes near to records February 24, 2014 US STOCKS rose yesterday and the S&P 500 hit a record intraday high, helped by gains in health insurers’ shares and optimism about merger activity. The Nasdaq reached a 14-year high, though all three indexes closed off their highs for the day, with the S&P 500 finishing less than a point away from its record [...]
What you need to know before the US open February 24, 2014 With the week set to get progressively busier, a quieter monday will no doubt see investors look towards the ongoing turmoil in Ukraine. Ousted President Viktor Yanukovich is now wanted for the mass murder of protestors. And Ukraine has said it needs $35bn in foreign aid over the next two years in order to keep [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 24 February 2014 February 23, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Deutsche Bank plans to cut US assets Deutsche Bank has for the first time laid out its plans to slash its US balance sheet as it seeks to allay concerns over how it would deal with tough new rules imposed by the Federal Reserve on foreign banks. The lender aims to reduce assets [...]
Wall St The Week Ahead: Fed chair Yellen in spotlight for banking speech February 23, 2014 AFTER the S&P 500 slipped on Friday and broke a two-week rally, stocks may find tougher sledding this week as investors may be unwilling to push the benchmark index to a record high. The Standard & Poor’s 500 has risen three per cent over the past three weeks, as investors have largely been willing to [...]
Giant panda numbers are up: see them in Chengdu February 23, 2014 They famously eat shoots and leaves. LISA YOUNG gets up-close and personal with the Chinese city’s most famous residents IT’S a warm August morning, the time of year when the sizzling Chengdu summer gives way to cooler climes. Chengdu sits in a fog-filled bowl 500 metres above sea level in the Sichuan Province of south [...]
Here’s what the Fed thought of too big to fail at the height of 2008 panic February 21, 2014 During the height of the financial panic of 2008 members of the board of the Federal Reserve were voicing their concerns about the health of some of the world's largest financial institutions. Board member Thomas Hoenig brought the issue of too big to fail front and centre: Mr. Chairman, I have thought about this considerably [...]
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 [...]