US stocks take a breath ahead of Fed meeting July 31, 2012 US stocks fell yesterday with traders’ sights set again on today’s Federal Reserve statement on the economy and a possible new round of stimulus. The Nasdaq, which underperformed on Monday, was the smallest decliner among the three major US stock indexes in yesterday’s session, thanks in part to Apple shares’ gain of 2.6 per cent [...]
Analyst picks for 30 July 2012 July 30, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Short Australian dollar-dollar Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week Our previous Aussie dollar-dollar short from $1.0425 hit its initial profit target at $1.0270. The pair hit trendline support at $1.0190, in turn giving way to the rally up to $1.0500. [...]
WALL ST THE WEEK AHEAD July 29, 2012 STOCKS took off at the end of the week, drawn by the allure of a helping hand from the world’s two most powerful central banks. Traders are unlikely to resist those charms again this week. The US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank both meet this week amid investor expectations of action to stimulate [...]
PPI drags down Lloyds again in new £700m hit July 26, 2012 LLOYDS reported a first half loss yesterday as it set aside another £700m against PPI mis-selling claims, taking its total bill to date to £4.3bn. The majority taxpayer-owned bank said it made a management profit of £1.165bn in the six-month period, up six per cent on the year, but an overall loss of £439m thanks [...]
Shares rebound on hopes for US stimulus July 26, 2012 Asian shares rose on Thursday on bargain hunting as hopes grew for more US stimulus to support growth and new European measures to contain the Eurozone’s debt woes, but sentiment remained frail. Worries about the Euro crisis eased somewhat on comments from European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny who said there are [...]
Rare miss by Apple pushes Nasdaq lower July 25, 2012 THE S&P 500 fell for a fourth day and the Nasdaq dropped yesterday after a rare earnings stumble from Apple, while strong results from Boeing and Caterpillar lifted the Dow. Apple, the most valuable US company by market capitalisation, reported sales late on Tuesday that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations as the European economy [...]
Poor US factory data hits stocks July 24, 2012 DISAPPOINTING economic data weighed on US stocks yesterday, as worrying surveys continue to dent confidence in the recovery of the world’s biggest economy. An estimate of American factory activity for July revealed the slowest growth in 19 months, while a regional manufacturing survey showed its worst top line since April 2009. The Richmond Federal Reserve’s [...]
Trading trends change despite a stuck record July 23, 2012 AFTER a disappointing summer to date, we finally have some sunshine. But in the European markets, things are distinctly more gloomy. Italy and Spain have both brought in short selling bans. Their financial equities have taken a battering as the market lacks confidence in their long-term funding abilities. Both markets saw short-term relief rallies before [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Electricity market reforms unworkable The Treasury’s refusal to back the energy department’s low-carbon agenda has made flagship electricity market reforms “unworkable”, “vacuous” and counterproductive, the government has been told. A draft bill designed to spur billions of pounds of spending on power sources such as wind farms and nuclear plants is so flawed [...]
Tech shares push S&P to 10-week high July 19, 2012 US stocks rose yesterday for a third straight day, with the S&P 500 at a 2-1/2 month high, as earnings from technology companies and expectations for more monetary stimulus outweighed weak economic data. So far in this earnings season a majority of companies have beaten analysts’ lowered expectations. In the latest boost, IBM raised its [...]