Angry banks hit out at Fed March 14, 2012 THE THREE US banks and an insurer that failed Federal Reserve stress tests last night signalled the start of a battle with the regulator. MetLife, the largest life insurer in the US, led the criticism after it was denied permission for a $2bn (£1.27bn) share buyback and a 49 per cent increase in its annual [...]
Tests looked at fraud, lawsuits and meltdown March 14, 2012 THE FEDERAL Reserve’s stress test results, released two days ahead of schedule yesterday, put banks’ balance sheets through a projected financial meltdown over a two and a quarter year period. The Fed said the 19 banks taking part would lose a total of $534bn under the worst-case scenario, including loan losses, market shock as well [...]
JP Morgan sparks a US divi bonanza March 14, 2012 SHARES in JP Morgan Chase soared last night after it became the first bank to say it would boost its dividend after passing the Federal Reserve’s stress tests. The bank’s stock closed up more than seven per cent at $43.39, making it the highest riser on the Dow Jones, after it said it would raise [...]
Dollar boosted by Fed QE3 stimulus restraint March 14, 2012 THE Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) followed expectations by holding rates yesterday, and at the same time dispelled the possibility of an immediate third round of quantitative easing (QE3). Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke pointed to “an improving economic situation”, though checked any untoward optimism by acknowledging that economic growth would be moderate. The central [...]
Wall Street finally out of the woods March 14, 2012 WALL STREET’S financial crisis is almost over – or so the Federal Reserve would like us to believe. It rushed out the results of its stress tests of the 19 biggest US banks last night: just four failed – in all cases relatively narrowly – a test which gauged their ability to withstand a financial shock [...]
FTSE lifts as defensive gains offset miner and bank losses March 12, 2012 BRITAIN’S blue-chip index ended with a small gain yesterday, as profit-taking on mining companies and banks was offset by gains among defensive shares. The FTSE 100 index ended up 5.26 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,892.75, having traded 90 per cent of its 90-day volume average. The index only moved into positive territory late [...]
US stocks up ahead of Fed’s statement March 12, 2012 DEFENSIVE names rallied in an otherwise flat day for Wall Street yesterday as investors paused after recent gains and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement. Investors will eye today’s statement from the US central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee to see whether the Fed will cool down expectations of more easing of [...]
US GROWTH MEANS THE DOLLAR-YEN BREAKOUT SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY March 12, 2012 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT IS THE North American region the last bastion of global growth? After last Friday’s strong US non-farm payrolls (NFP) and this weekend’s disappointing Chinese trade data, it certainly appears to be the case. In February, the US was able to record its third consecutive month of more than 200K new [...]
Doing game right – a stone’s throw from Cape Town March 11, 2012 After hours of anticipation, I finally caught sight of it – right in front of our jeep. Romantically backlit by the pinkening sky, a tall G&T with glinting ice cubes and a slice of lemon. Sundowners on safari. Best idea ever. We’d arrived in Cape Town five days ago for a little city before our [...]
Interest rates at record low for three years as Bank of England holds policy March 8, 2012 THE BANK of England held interest rates again yesterday, extending the period at which they have been at a record low to three full years. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also decided to leave its asset purchase programme unaltered, as the £50bn in quantitative easing (QE) announced last month continues to be implemented. QE began [...]