Fed says it will publish interest rate projections January 3, 2012 THE FEDERAL Reserve will from this month onwards publish quarterly projections of future interest rates, in a move widely seen as a further attempt to stimulate the economy. The policy change “could provide an opportunity for a back door policy easing in January”, said Harm Bandholz of UniCredit last night. “If for example most participants [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 3, 2012 Avanti Communications Group Paul Walsh, chief executive of Diageo, has joined the board of satellite data company Avanti Communications as a non-executive director. He is also a non-executive director of FedEx Corporation and Unilever. Prior to joining Diageo, Walsh held financial and commercial positions with InterContinental Hotels and in the GrandMet food business, becoming CEO [...]
US markets begin the year on a high January 3, 2012 STOCKS and the euro started the year with a sharp rally yesterday, boosted by better-than-expected global data and hopes the Fed could ease monetary policy further, even as crude surged on tensions between the US and Iran. A number of Federal Reserve officials believed economic conditions could “well” warrant a further easing of monetary policy, [...]
Central bankers aren’t to blame for the crisis January 2, 2012 THE conventional story of the credit crunch is that following the dot-com boom the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates, creating an inflationary debt-fuelled boom that manifested itself in housing. But is the Fed to blame? US economists Jeffrey R. Hummel and David Henderson prompted controversy by lending support to Ben Bernanke’s theory of a [...]
US economy growing less than hoped December 22, 2011 US CONSUMER confidence is at its highest in six months, leading indicators point to growth into 2012 and new jobless claims last week were the lowest since 2008, according to a raft of upbeat data out yesterday. But GDP growth for the third quarter was revised down by the Commerce Department, while industrial activity slowed [...]
In dark days let Christmas spirit shine in the City December 22, 2011 JOYFUL and triumphant” are not the most appropriate words to describe the City at the end of 2011. It feels more like being “in the bleak mid-winter”. Yet the Christmas story is one that still inspires. It can lift us from the “woes of sin and strife”, dispel “the mighty dread” and renew a sense [...]
FTSE given lift by airline deal December 22, 2011 The FTSE 100 nudged up this morning led by BA owner International Airlines group (IAG) which announced a deal for Lufthansa’s bmi. Overall European shares started higher with the FTSEurofirst 300 index gaining around one per cent in early trade while global stocks, as measured by MSCI world equity index, were edged up 0.2 per [...]
UK economy faces sluggishness at home and abroad, warns Bank December 21, 2011 THE UK economy is slowing across the board, according to the Bank of England’s business conditions summary, published yesterday. Construction output declined in November, the Bank’s agents found, and growth also slowed in manufacturing, business services, and exports. Uncertainty in the economic situation is in part to blame – “employment intentions had softened recently, with [...]
Krona and krone won’t be safe-haven kings December 20, 2011 ALONG with Apple’s shares plummeting 50 per cent in value, Australia’s looming recession and wheat doubling in price, in its self-styled outrageous predictions for 2012, Saxo Bank speculates that Sweden and Norway could replace Switzerland as the safe haven currencies of choice. But could Sweden’s krona or Norway’s krone really become the security blankets for [...]
US GDP set to grow as Eurozone shrinks December 19, 2011 STEADY growth in the US economy means interest rate cuts are no longer needed, said Richmond Fed president Jeffrey Lacker (pictured right) in a speech yesterday. GDP will grow by between two and 2.5 per cent despite the Eurozone slowdown, he said, on the same day as PwC published grim forecasts for the major euro [...]