FX experts map out the direction for the dollar March 6, 2012 CMC MARKETS BRENDA KELLY When the US was downgraded from AAA to AA+ by Standard and Poor’s last summer, many believed that the safe haven status enjoyed by the dollar was coming to an end. This proved not to be. A look at the US 10-year Treasury indicates that level of demand – the yield, [...]
BANK’S TUCKER LANDS TOP SECURITIES ROLE March 5, 2012 Paul Tucker, a Bank of England deputy governor, was appointed yesterday to head a global rulemaking body for securities clearing, a sector at the heart of post-financial crisis reform. He replaces the Fed’s William Dudley as chairman of the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems, made up of central bankers from G20 countries. The committee [...]
Beat Europe’s economic blues by setting sights upon a brighter future March 4, 2012 MONEY, as they say, makes the world go around. Capital drives innovation and as success begets success the fruits of previous endeavours are ploughed into products and services of future creative destruction. Silicon Valley is the modern pinnacle of this virtuous cycle of money, brains and optimism. It’s all too easy to compare our failings [...]
Banks and financial shares lift FTSE on liquidity surge March 1, 2012 BANKS and other financial stocks, buoyed by central bank infusions of money into the system, helped Britain’s top share index rebound yesterday with fund manager Man Group surging after it reported client outflows have slowed. London’s blue-chip index closed up 59.74 points, or 1 per cent, at 5,931.25, erasing the 1 per cent drop on [...]
FTSE lifted by strong corporate results March 1, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged up this morning led by the financial and energy sectors, while heavyweights WPP and Man Group reporting strong results. London’s blue chip index gained despite losses in the US and Asia triggered by the Fed failing to signal and more stimulus measures and mixed economic data out of China. Factory figures [...]
GOLD SLUMPS AS FED COOLS ON QE3 February 29, 2012 GOLD plummeted yesterday as traders gambled that the American recovery is set to rule out further monetary stimulus, dubbed QE3. Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke appeared more upbeat than usual during his testimony to politicians in Washington DC, giving no hint that more quantitative easing is on the cards. Ultra-loose money has previously been one [...]
Shares retreat on profit taking and Fed speech February 29, 2012 US stocks slipped yesterday, snapping a four-day winning streak after comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke disappointed investors hoping for a strong signal of more stimulus. The Fed chairman’s comments drove the dollar up 0.7 per cent against a basket of major currencies and sent materials lower. Gold fell five per cent in [...]
Don’t blame the Depression on the gold standard – but don’t expect it back either February 27, 2012 TWO of America’s Republican candidates – Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul – have dared to toy with the idea of bringing back the gold standard. Their remarks have in turn triggered a fusillade of indignant replies, from pundits and professional economists alike, the general theme of which is that no one fit to be America’s [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD February 26, 2012 Today A diverse group of FTSE 100 reporters will kick off a busy week in the corporate calendar this morning, with banking giant HSBC likely to be top of many investors’ watch list. Analysts are expecting the bank’s geographical diversity to offset any potential weakness in it investment banking division, with profits expected to hit [...]
Manufacturing data boosts US February 23, 2012 MANUFACTURING output expanded strongly in the US Midwest this month, and the number of new unemployment claimants stayed at a four-year low last week, data showed yesterday. The Kansas Fed’s manufacturing index rose to 13, up from seven in January. The survey’s production index stayed strong at 20, while the employment component rose from nine [...]