THE FED’S LIQUIDITY COST CUT November 30, 2011 Q.WHAT IS THIS LIQUIDITY THAT’S BEING OFFERED? A.The Federal Reserve offers dollars to other central banks, in exchange for their currency, at a fixed exchange rate. Those central banks – including the Bank of England – then lend it out to banks that need cash but can’t get it from the market. Q.HAS IT BEEN [...]
More jobs in US as economy still outperforms EU November 30, 2011 BUSINESS activity shot up in the US in November, according to the Chicago purchasing managers’ index (PMI), while companies created the most jobs in nearly a year according to the ADP national employment report, both out yesterday. The PMI rose to 62.6 this month, up from 58.4 in October. Such a strong jump represents a [...]
Trying to pour liquidity into a frozen market November 30, 2011 YESTERDAY’S coordinated central bank move flipped the FX markets onto their head, with increased dollar liquidity triggering a sell-off of the greenback, with the euro and the Aussie and Kiwi dollars coming out on top. The announcement came hot on the heals of the news that the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, [...]
DOLLAR-YEN IS WAKING FROM ITS SLUMBER November 29, 2011 UNTIL recently, the single most boring job in the currency business was to be a dollar-yen dealer. With the exception of a few days when the Bank of Japan (BoJ) would intervene in the markets, spiking dollar-yen by a couple of hundred points in a matter of minutes, the pair would remain moribund, sometimes moving [...]
Consistency marks Donald out as the star of 2011 November 28, 2011 IT’S BEEN an unforgettable year for the sport of golf and one that will last long in the memory. With Europeans occupying the top four spots in the world rankings and two more enjoying success at the Majors, there is certainly plenty to be enthusiastic about heading into 2012 which is, of course, a Ryder [...]
LUKE JOHNSON ENDORSES LAUNCH FOR THE CITY’S BEST-CONNECTED November 28, 2011 ARE YOU fed up with receiving endless invitations to “connect” with people you have never met on digitally promiscuous social networking sites? Then Ndoorse, the new network for high-quality professionals founded by ex-Deloitte strategy consultant Jeremy Weil and JC Rathbone director Kristian Rathbone is perhaps for you. The only problem is that the City-meets-entrepreneurs network, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 22, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES NOMURA STEPS UP ASSET SALE PLANS Nomura has approached big private equity firms about the possible sale of domestic businesses, including its real estate arm, as the Japanese bank moves to shore up its capital buffers. Several people familiar with the preliminary talks with parties including KKR and TPG said the bank was [...]
Fed’s PR plans prompt hopes over more QE November 22, 2011 THE FEDERAL Reserve has discussed how it can improve the communication of its policies to the public, it was revealed last night, stoking rumours that a third phase of the controversial quantitative easing programme (QE3) could be on the way. “A few” of the Fed’s committee believe the economic outlook may be grim enough to [...]
Six American banks face more stress tests over Euro debt crisis November 22, 2011 SIX of America’s biggest banks face a new round of stress tests as the Federal Reserve shows increasing concern over the Eurozone debt crisis. The tests against a possible market shock will take in Bank of America Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, which all have large trading operations. Yesterday [...]
Political ineptitude is driving euro-dollar November 22, 2011 THE string of announcements yesterday provided a snapshot of the failings of politicians and committees on either side of the Atlantic to come up with any form of solution to their respective debt woes. We saw some short-term euro-dollar moves off the news that the IMF had approved changes to credit line structures designed to [...]