Newcastle stadium naming rights deal could backfire November 10, 2011 SPONSORSHIP experts have questioned Newcastle’s hopes of generating £10m a year from a stadium naming rights deal and criticised the club’s handling of the rebranding of St James’ Park. The Magpies have renamed their historic home the Sports Direct Arena as an interim measure, with a view to attracting a commercial sponsor willing to pay [...]
Goldman lost on 21 days in three months November 9, 2011 GOLDMAN Sachs lost money trading in 21 days out of the third quarter of this year, it revealed yesterday in regulatory fillings. That compares to losses on just two days in the same quarter last year on its proprietary trading desk, which recorded net negative revenues of $2.48bn (£1.56bn) for the third quarter of this [...]
Dollar dented but not depressed November 8, 2011 FAIR FX RISHI PATEL Activity in the US has clearly been overlooked, as the chaos in the Eurozone takes the limelight. 2011 has been one of the more difficult years for macro trading, with the US economy so far managing to avoid heading back into recession. Early in the month we saw the release of [...]
Monetary policy is not all about pulling levers November 7, 2011 I’M A big fan of the Bank of England museum. I find the way it attempts to educate children about how monetary policy is conducted to be charming. There is an exhibit with a tube of clear plastic containing a ball. The tube is “balanced” when the ball is level with a marker for 2 [...]
Greek affairs so labyrinthine even Theseus would struggle November 6, 2011 INVESTORS and traders alike spent most of last week dazed and confused. Equity, bond, commodity and FX markets swung around wildly as they responded to headline news out of Greece and G20. There was no time available for detailed analysis, and even Theseus would have struggled to navigate the labyrinth that is Greek politics. While [...]
OSBORNE UNVEILS ARTS TAX BREAK November 3, 2011 TO TATE Britain for the launch of Legacy10, the scheme cooked up by culture minister Jeremy Hunt and RLM Finsbury chairman Roland Rudd to encourage the nation to leave 10 per cent of their wealth to charities and cultural causes when they die. Backers of the scheme, which takes advantage of a Budget change from [...]
Fed sticks to the Twist November 2, 2011 THE FEDERAL Reserve will hold down interest rates and continue with its project dubbed “Operation Twist”, it announced last night. Growth “strengthened somewhat in the third quarter,” it said, yet warned of “significant downside risks to the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets.” Three hawks who had previously dissented against Operation Twist – [...]
Wall Street makes gains in spite of low trading volumes November 2, 2011 US stocks rebounded from two days of sharp losses yesterday after the Federal Reserve said it is prepared to do more for the economy if conditions warrant, helping to stanch the panicky reaction to Europe’s debt crisis. Trading volume was light, however, possibly signaling that worries about Greece hold greater sway than the Fed at [...]
Fed holds policy steady as US outlook brightens November 2, 2011 The US Federal Reserve has left monetary policy unchanged as it offered a slightly brighter view of the prospects for the economy, although it appeared to keep the door open for more easing by saying there were still risks to growth. The statement by the Federal Open Market Committee gave no indication that it was [...]
Markets hit by MF Global bankruptcy October 31, 2011 MARKETS plunged in London and New York yesterday as MF Global, the $41bn brokerage, became the first big American casualty of the European sovereign debt crisis. MF Global Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US following the collapse of a last-minute deal to sell off assets. It became the eighth-largest bankruptcy in [...]