Notes on a scandal February 6, 2013 RBS took a £390m fine for Libor fiddling yesterday after watchdogs found that 21 staff had colluded with rivals over four years to fix the key market interest rates for the benefit of their own financial positions. Traders offered each other steaks and sushi in exchange for entering false interest rates to drive the Japanese [...]
Don’t get hacked off February 6, 2013 Online villains are the scourge of leading international firms and home internet users alike. We suggest ways to make sure you Drug lords and gun-toting terrorists used to top governments’ “most wanted” lists. Now, the face of international crime has changed – and it’s wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. This week hackers have been in [...]
Banks cast off Eurozone insurance February 4, 2013 THE longer term refinancing operation (LTRO) – the European Central Bank’s (ECB) original miracle drug for the liquidity constraints dogging the Eurozone – has reached a crossroads. The banks that first took the pill now want to prove the dosage should be reduced, or stopped altogether. The hope is that reduced budget deficits, increased competitiveness, [...]
US growth falls off a cliff again January 30, 2013 THE US economy shrank unexpectedly in the final three months of 2012, official figures showed yesterday, taking markets and analysts by surprise. Ben Bernanke at the Federal Reserve responded by holding interest rates at record lows and continuing to print $85bn (£53.8bn) a month to buy government bonds and mortgage backed securities. Stocks dipped on [...]
FTSE loses pace after poor US economic data January 30, 2013 The FTSE 100 fell yesterday, weighed down by miners after disappointing US GDP data as investors considered whether the rally that has lifted the index to 4-1/2 year highs has further to run. The FTSE 100 closed down 16.08 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 6,323.11, having climbed some 20 per cent from its June [...]
Stocks dip on Fed decision to keep easing January 30, 2013 U S stocks edged lower yesterday after the Federal Reserve left in place its bond-buying stimulus plan, saying economic growth had stalled but indicating the pullback was likely temporary. Describing the US job market as continuing its modest pace of improvement, the Fed repeated a pledge to keep purchasing securities until employment improves substantially. The [...]
US corporate results round up January 29, 2013 Eli Lilly says generic competition to Zyprexa hurt fourth-quarter profit as sales slide 49pc Eli Lilly and Co said yesterday that fourth-quarter profit fell as competition from generic drugs, particularly for its once top-selling schizophrenia drug Zyprexa, drove revenue lower. The US drugmaker earned $827m (£525m), or 74 cents per share, down from $858m, or [...]
Fed is ahead in the battle of the central banks January 29, 2013 ALTHOUGH the US has shown signs of rebounding, a scratch beneath the surface reveals that there are still issues dragging on the world’s largest economy. By historical standards, the pace of its current recovery is feeble. Research from Bank of America Merrill Lynch points out that the average annual growth rate of this recovery is [...]
Fed data shows record balance January 24, 2013 THE size of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet reached a record, Fed data released yesterday showed, due to the central bank’s purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities that are part of its unconventional policy aimed at supporting economic growth. The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet – which is a broad gauge of its lending to the [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 24, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Fears over ECB funding scheme Concern is mounting among senior bankers that the European Central Bank’s special longer-term funding scheme risks backfiring, stigmatising the region’s weaker banks a year after it was launched. From the end of January banks have the opportunity to start paying back the cheap three-year money they borrowed under [...]