A Romney victory would have a big impact on UK economy October 14, 2012 IF a week is a long time in politics, then three must be an eternity. The US presidential elections, which will be held on 6 November, are now becoming truly spell-binding, with any outcome still possible after an almost unbelievably bitter campaign. Remarkably, Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate, now leads the overall vote in all [...]
Bernanke: QE3 is helping the world economy October 14, 2012 MONEY-PRINTING in the US helps the world economy and does not harm developing countries, Ben Bernanke claimed yesterday, hitting back at critics of his latest quantitative easing (QE3) package. The Federal Reserve chairman insisted that the steps he is taking should boost the US economy and so help the world economy get back on track, [...]
Goldman to swing to profit October 14, 2012 US BANKS are expected to report strong revenue figures this week, in part thanks to the boost to the mortgage market from the Federal Reserve’s latest round of money printing. Goldman Sachs will report its third quarter results tomorrow, and is expected to turn 2011’s third quarter loss of $393m (£245m) into a solid profit [...]
Fed finds US growing modestly October 10, 2012 The US economy is growing modestly, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book, released last night. In its September report, based on anecdotal evidence collected by regional Fed banks, the Fed said hiring conditions were little changed over the several weeks. Its business contacts suggest economic activity is still expanding modestly in most regions [...]
Yellen says QE in the states helps the world October 10, 2012 Federal Reserve asset purchases boost US growth and thus benefit the world economy, Fed vice chair Janet Yellen said at an IMF event in Tokyo yesterday. Yellen denied critics’ claims that asset purchases on balance harm emerging economies by distorting capital flows.
Japanese car sales in China fall off a cliff October 9, 2012 JAPANESE car sales in China tumbled last month, data revealed yesterday, as the diplomatic spat over the Senkaku/Diaoyu island chain fed through into consumer decision making. Toyota’s sales in China plummeted 48.9 per cent in September compared to a year earlier, while Honda sales dived 40.5 per cent, Nissan’s plunged 35.3 per cent and Suzuki’s [...]
Jitters on Wall Street ahead of earnings season October 9, 2012 US stocks fell yesterday, led by losses in technology after brokerage downgrades of Intel and other major companies as worries increased about third-quarter US earnings. Shares of Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor maker, lost 2.7 per cent after negative reports by at least two brokerages. Robert W Baird & Co cut its price target on [...]
Why the Dow industrial and transportation divergence may be ominous October 9, 2012 Dow Theory is becoming hard to ignore. Created by Wall Street Journal founder Charles Dow, it suggests that divergences between the Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJTA) and the Dow Jones Industrials Average (DJIA) indicate future trends in the economy. Deep divergences between the two could mean that the DJTA would prevail, and the DJIA (as [...]
Krugman’s senseless manifesto is good on rhetoric but bad on economics October 9, 2012 NOBEL Prize winner Paul Krugman will shortly be in town. With Lord Richard Layard, he will be calling for more public spending and borrowing. The two have issued a Manifesto for Economic Sense. But is it? The opening sentences make dramatic claims: “More than four years after the financial crisis began, the world’s major advanced [...]
Thousands of Greeks protest in anger at Merkel’s visit to Athens October 8, 2012 ABOUT 8,000 demonstrators chanted anti-austerity slogans and hoisted banners warning Angela Merkel she was not welcome in Greece at a protest yesterday, the eve of a visit by the German chancellor. Organised by labour unions fed up with wage and benefit cuts, the demonstration was called before Merkel said she was coming to Greece in [...]