Analyst picks for 26 June 2012 June 25, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Long dollar-yen at ¥79.80 Expertise: Technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 6 months Our recommendation for last week was triggered, and we are now long on dollar-yen after the market broke convincingly back above ¥79.80. We continue to contend that this market is in the process of carving [...]
Touch-down in Shanghai: getting ready for business June 24, 2012 MAKING my way across Shanghai following a 12 hour flight from London and a six hour flight from Boston left me urgently desirous of a tranquil bedroom, soft bed and a deep bath. As I was heading to the Four Seasons, I figured the only obstacle to achieving these would be traffic – an elegantly [...]
Anna Schwartz, 1915-2012 June 21, 2012 US economist Anna Schwartz has died at 96. She was co-author with Milton Friedman of A Monetary History of the United States, which blames the US central bank for the Great Depression. Ben Bernanke, the Fed’s current president said in 2002: “You’re right, we did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t [...]
FTSE pares back gains after China’s weakness punctures Eurozone relief June 21, 2012 BRITAIN’S leading share index dropped back yesterday, snapping a four-session winning streak on falls in heavyweight commodity stocks which were hit by fresh signs of economic weakness in China and concerns over growth in the United States. Energy stocks and miners were the biggest blue chip casualties, with the two sectors particularly sensitive to the [...]
FED TWISTS AGAIN June 20, 2012 A WORSE than expected outlook for the US economy has prompted the Federal Reserve to extend its stimulus programme known as Operation Twist to the end of the year, although it stopped short of expanding the overall size of bond purchases. Markets initially sank last night as the Fed revealed that it was not launching [...]
Invensys surges 27 per cent as talks of bid from US resurface June 20, 2012 SHARES in Invensys surged by 27 per cent yesterday on talk of a bid from US rival Emerson Electric. The rumours suggested Emerson was mainly interested in the company’s controls business and not the rail division, but would be willing to buy the whole lot to achieve its aims. That was enough to see Invensys [...]
Stocks sink on disappointing Federal action June 20, 2012 US stocks edged lower yesterday after the Federal Reserve acted to aid the fragile economy with stimulus measures that were in line with market expectations but went no further. Stocks rallied in recent days in the hope that the US central bank would extend Operation Twist, a bond-buying program designed to lower long-term rates and [...]
FedEx tops its profit forecast June 19, 2012 FEDEX reported above-forecast adjusted quarterly profit yesterday and forecast higher 2013 results, as it said it expected to take new cost-cutting measures to offset shipments weakened by soft global economies. The world’s second-largest package delivery company said that net profit for its fourth quarter ended 31 May was $550m (£350m), or $1.73 per share, down [...]
Hopes the Federal Reserve will extend stimulus lifts US stocks June 19, 2012 US stocks rose yesterday on hopes that the Federal Reserve will agree to extend stimulus measures as the economy struggles to recover and the Eurozone’s debt crisis gets worse. The S&P 500 has gained 7.2 per cent from a five-month intraday low reached on 4 June. The benchmark index closed above its 50-day moving average [...]
US tech stock rally stymied by debt fears June 18, 2012 THE Nasdaq advanced yesterday, propelled by a rally in Apple and other big-cap tech stocks, but fears Europe’s debt crisis is in danger of worsening limited broader gains. Positive analyst comments lifted both eBay, up 4.5 per cent to $42.49, and Groupon, up 10.8 per cent at $11.15. Apple accounted for about half the Nasdaq’s [...]