RATE CUTS AREN’T ENOUGH TO SOLVE ECONOMIC GLOOM July 9, 2012 FX360 LAST Thursday brought rate cuts from the European Central Bank (ECB), the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), and the Danish and Kenyan central banks. On top of this, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised its asset purchase facility by a further £50bn. Whether coordinated or not, these actions represented substantial monetary [...]
WALL ST THE WEEK AHEAD July 8, 2012 WALL Street has been running in circles for the past two months, and the pattern may continue despite the upcoming start of the earnings season. Quarterly report cards from blue-chips Alcoa and JPMorgan this week could fade into the background as traders jockey for position before key data from China and more central bank headlines. [...]
FTSE ends higher but Europe closes lower as two-month high fades July 5, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index closed up but off session highs yesterday as markets fretted over global growth prospects, despite moves by central banks to boost flagging economies. Miners closed slightly higher after China surprised the market by cutting interest rates for the second time in two months. But in a sign of investor caution after [...]
US stocks edge higher despite signs of slump July 2, 2012 US stocks edged higher yesterday, shaking off a surprise contraction in US manufacturing, which some investors took as a signal the Federal Reserve will take more forceful actions to boost the economy. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index came in at a lower reading than expected in June, registering a contraction in the sector [...]
Analyst picks for 2 July 2012 July 2, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Short Aussie dollar-dollar and Aussie dollar-yen Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week Technical divergences are building and it appears we have completed five waves up in the Aussie dollar-yen and Aussie dollar-dollar, the FX market’s barometer of risk-appetite. As such, [...]
Libor manipulation scandal is a disastrous own goal for City June 28, 2012 WHAT preposterous emails. What were these traders thinking? That they would get away with it? Barclays and the entire banking industry have been badly damaged by the Libor manipulation scandal – and this time it is entirely a crisis of their own making. This is not like some previous rounds of banker-bashing, where lenders were [...]
Libor manipulation scandal is a disastrous own goal for City June 27, 2012 WHAT preposterous emails. What were these traders thinking? That they would get away with it? Barclays and the entire banking industry have been badly damaged by the Libor manipulation scandal – and this time it is entirely a crisis of their own making. This is not like some previous rounds of banker-bashing, where lenders were [...]
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 [...]