US new home sales sink to a record low January 26, 2012 AMERICA’S dire housing market plumbed new lows in 2011, recording the worst year on record for sales of new homes. Sales fell 2.2 per cent in the final month of the year, data revealed yesterday, to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 307,000 homes. Yet separate figures appear to show that elsewhere in the US economy, [...]
FTSE closes up on US Fed’s growth plans January 26, 2012 BRITAIN’S blue-chip index rose 1.3 per cent yesterday after the US Federal Reserve pledged to support economic growth, boosting miners and other cyclicals stocks and setting the index on course for another week of gains. The FTSE 100 rose 72.20 points to 5,795.20, although the index failed to close above a key technical resistance at [...]
RAPID RESPONSES January 26, 2012 Data deluge Craig Drake rightly emphasises the importance of institutions making big data “work for their business” [Big industry responses are needed to big data explosion, yesterday]. Data must be seen as an asset for businesses and managed properly. If it’s not, then it just becomes a liability. The financial services industry is only now [...]
Miners fuel FTSE gains as Fed eyes growth January 26, 2012 The FTSE was boosted by the US Federal Reserve’s promise to keep interest rates – and therefore bond yields – ultra-low for the next couple of years while positive results from miners also contributed to gains. Fed chief Ben Bernanke said that it may consider further monetary easing and would keep rates near zero until [...]
Fed: We won’t increase ultra-low interest rates until late 2014 January 25, 2012 THE GLOBAL economy is so weak and US growth so anaemic that interest rates are unlikely to rise until late 2014, the Federal Reserve announced last night. Markets rose on the “highly accommodative” policy announcement, buoyed by the promise of cheap money for years to come. The Dow Jones rose 0.38 per cent, the Standard [...]
FTSE flat as UK recession looms January 25, 2012 The FTSE 100 was flat after optimism from strong results from Apple in the US fell away with GDP data showing that Britain is on the brink of recession. Later today the Fed will announce its interest rate decision after the European markets close, with no change expected to the US central bank’s 0.25 per [...]
Yet another fine mess in the search for a European solution January 24, 2012 EURO-DOLLAR had another up and down ride yesterday. The release of better than expected Eurozone PMI composite figures gave the pairing an initial jump, but this brief optimisim that pushed euro-dollar up to $1.3062 quickly subsided when markets were reminded that the Eurozone is fundamentally more than a little shaky. Finance ministers rejecting a 4 [...]
Get the haggis right at your Burns supper January 23, 2012 If you’re thinking of hosting your own Burns night, the haggis should be the star of the show. Contrary to the belief of many south of the border, a well cooked haggis is far more than a bag of offal. Quality haggis contains an aromatic blend of spices and oatmeal, with meat as high quality [...]
Lobster and burgers, folks… that’s it January 23, 2012 THE vogue for culinary simplicity has been around for a while. The shorter the menu, the better – after all, asks the modern diner, how can caviar, steak, chicken, risotto and a thousand other dishes from one kitchen and one staff be fresh, made with the best of the day’s ingredients? Well, the guys behind [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD January 22, 2012 STOCKS rising, bulls rampant are motifs you might pick if designing a coat of arms for Wall Street at the moment. But the motto should read: Caveat emptor. Yes, buyer beware. The S&P 500, a broad measure of the market valuation of the biggest US publicly traded companies, is up 20 per cent from its [...]