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 [...]
Reflections on the causes of crises from one of America’s top bankers June 18, 2012 PUBLIC policy decisions are being made based on a myth. The misunderstanding driving this myth is that deregulation of the financial industry in the US, combined with greed in financial markets, caused the financial crisis and the continuing recession. And the root of this economic misconception is philosophical. In fact, the crisis and recession are [...]
MARKETS LOOK TO THE FED FOR ITS NEXT POLICY MOVE June 18, 2012 Last Friday, equity markets were rallying on rumours that central banks were preparing for coordinated action, should the majority of Greek voters make the “wrong” decision and back the anti-bailout party, Syriza. Yesterday, the major indices gave up early gains following the news that Syriza came a close second to New Democracy. After all, although [...]
A Paris adventure for City cycling teams June 17, 2012 SO MUCH for a relaxing weekend. That was the last thing on offer for the team of 17 Nomura employees who set off last Thursday to spend three days cycling 450km from London to Paris to raise money for the Rainbow Trust. Leaving Nomura’s London headquarters at One Angel Lane, the intrepid cyclists were warmly [...]
It is not all just about Greece as the G20 meets in Mexico June 17, 2012 NEW Democracy may have eked out a victory in Greece last night, but that won’t make Europe’s crippling solvency problems go away. It pays to take a look at history: Greece was the very first country to default on its debt in recorded history, going back to 377BC. Moreover, since its independence in 1829, Greece [...]
THE WALL ST WEEK AHEAD June 17, 2012 IN addition to backyard barbecues and beer, this year’s Father’s Day was likely to have seen many investors with their minds on Greece. The Greek election – the vote yesterday that grabbed the attention of the world’s financial markets – is expected to create volatility in the new trading week, in particular, for US stocks, [...]
US investors eye stimulus after weak jobs stats June 14, 2012 WEAK US jobless figures and lower inflation helped fuel an uptick on Wall Street yesterday, as traders took the data as a signal that a new round of quantitative easing is more likely. The Labor Department reported 386,000 new claims for jobless benefits last week, an unexpected rise of 6,000 on the previous week. And [...]
Greece on brink after decisive Czech bounce June 12, 2012 GREECE 1 CZECH REPUBLIC 2 TWO goals inside the first six minutes kept the Czech Republic’s European Championship hopes alive and pushed Greece to the brink of elimination from Group A last night in Wroclaw. Early strikes from Petr Jiracek and Vaclav Pilar minimised Czech fears they could suffer the ignominy of being the first [...]
MARKETS SET TO RETURN THEIR FOCUS ON THE FED June 11, 2012 MOST global stock indices rallied strongly in the first two months of this year. Investors bought equities in response to the European Central Bank’s (ECB) two Long-Term Refinancing Operations (LTRO), which provided around €1 trillion in liquidity to Europe’s banking system. But the indices have struggled since March, with the sell-off accelerating from early May. [...]
Analyst picks for 11 June 2012 June 11, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Long euro-dollar at €1.246, stop on close below €1.240 Expertise: Technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week This past week was rather constructive for the euro, in light of intense selling in previous weeks. A break of a sequence of four consecutive weekly lower [...]