Chicago dove Evans urges the Fed to fire up the printing press June 27, 2012 SENIOR Federal Reserve official Charles Evans, one of the US central bank’s strongest advocates for further monetary policy easing, said yesterday he is flummoxed by the Fed’s timidity in the face of high unemployment and relatively low inflation. At its policy-setting meeting last week, Fed officials sharply slashed their GDP forecasts for 2012 and 2013 [...]
Surprisingly positive data lifts US shares June 27, 2012 U S stocks rose yesterday as stronger-than-expected economic data helped lift energy stocks, overshadowing concerns a European Union summit will not yield tangible progress in easing the debt crisis. The energy sector showed the strongest gains among the 10 major S&P 500 groups, rising 1.9 per cent as oil prices settled higher at $80.21 a [...]
The gold market only has eyes for Bernanke June 25, 2012 GOLD traders have been accustomed to being swept off their feet with big, bold moves from the yellow metal. But they have been left bemoaning the lack of thrills of late, as gold continues to struggle to break to the upside. Yesterday, the gold price held above $1,570 – but this is a long way [...]
The cup may overflow at Greene King June 25, 2012 INVESTORS will be hoping that final results from Greene King will allow them to raise a glass in celebration, with the company building on good figures for the fourth quarter. Sales at this particular publican have outstripped rivals, which could mean that some special figures are brewing. IG Index quotes 529p-532p for Greene King. The [...]
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 [...]