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 [...]
King calls fellow central bank chiefs for summit over Libor July 18, 2012 BANK of England governor Sir Mervyn King has written to other central bankers from around the world to propose talks over how to reform, or even scrap, the now controversial Libor lending rate. King suggested that the issue should be top of the agenda at the Economic Consultative Committee meeting in the Swiss town of Basle [...]
Bernanke backs easy monetary stance to stimulate US recovery July 18, 2012 FEDERAL Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday shrugged off inflationary concerns in the US, warning against a premature reversal of the Fed’s ultra-dovish monetary policies. Bernanke said he was confident that America would avoid a double dip recession, but signalled that the Fed’s accommodative stance is here to stay for a while yet. Responding to concerns that [...]
FTSE edges up as UK unemployment falls July 18, 2012 The FTSE 100 tracked gains on Wall Street as investors were given hope that the US Federal Reserve could pump in more monetary stimulus. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver further testimony to the US Congress today, having already indicated that more aid to the economy was possible. Meanwhile UK unemployment dropped by 65,000 in [...]
MPs call for cap on King’s power July 17, 2012 REGULATORS grossly overreached themselves by forcing Bob Diamond out of the top job at Barclays, top backbench MP Andrew Tyrie declared yesterday, accusing Sir Mervyn King and Lord Turner of “handing the chairman a revolver to shoot the chief executive” at the troubled bank. MPs on the Treasury select committee (TSC) also dealt a blow [...]
Bernanke wary of slowdown yet drops no QE hint July 17, 2012 AMERICA’S sluggish economic recovery is worrying the Federal Reserve, its chairman Ben Bernanke told politicians in Washington DC yesterday, yet he remained guarded over prospects for more quantitative easing (QE3). Bernanke predicted that any reduction in the US unemployment rate – which remains above eight per cent – would be “frustratingly slow”. “Economic activity appears [...]
Earnings relief and Fed hints lift Wall Street July 17, 2012 US stocks rose yesterday after Coca-Cola and Goldman Sachs joined the growing roster of S&P companies that beat profit forecasts and as Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke left the door open to more stimulus. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 78.33 points, or 0.62 per cent, at 12,805.54. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added [...]
Fed poised to offer stuttering economy monetary support July 17, 2012 The Federal Reserve stands ready to offer additional monetary support to a US economy that has slowed significantly in recent months, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers. He told the Senate Banking Committee the recovery was being held back by tighter financial conditions due to Europe’s debt crisis and uncertainty surrounding US fiscal policy. Financial [...]