Glass is both half full and half empty April 14, 2011 GLASSES can either be half full – or they can be half empty, depending on one’s temperament: optimist or pessimist. But when it comes to economic conditions, and prospects for investments, jobs, incomes and growth, there is enough material to make both sides happy. My own take is moderate medium-term optimism, combined with longer-term pessimism. [...]
Tech stocks push Wall Street higher April 13, 2011 US stocks finished mostly flat in a choppy session yesterday, as investors bet on strong technology earnings even as JPMorgan Chase’s numbers weighed on other market sectors. Network equipment maker Riverbed Technology boosted the industry and helped buoy the Nasdaq after its quarterly outlook. The stock surged 12.4 per cent to $34.74 (£21.32) on four [...]
Quantitative easing: the hot money problem April 12, 2011 DESPITE murmurings to the contrary by various members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), it seems that the US Federal Reserve’s $600bn (£368bn) scheme to purchase Treasury bonds will run its full course, up to June as initially planned. But an intervention the size of QE2 cannot just come to a sudden halt and [...]
RISING COSTS CAST SHADOW ON EARNINGS April 11, 2011 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT AFTER months of pressure, Portugal finally gave in last week and approached the European Commission for financial aid. This caused widespread relief, as the EU has been desperate to create a firewall between Greece, Ireland and Portugal and the rest of the Eurozone. The consensus is that this latest bailout will [...]
NO CASH FOR LIB DEM INTERNS AS CENTRAL OFFICE PASSES THE BUCK April 7, 2011 JUST days after Nick Clegg made an earnest pledge to improve expenses for the Liberal Democrats’ army of unpaid interns, The Capitalist was amused to see three job ads for internships at the party on the Work for an MP (w4mp) website offering barely a cup of tea. The “short volunteer opportunity” to work in [...]
Gold hits new record high against dollar April 6, 2011 GOLD soared to a fresh record high in New York yesterday, explained widely by spiralling inflation and tumbling confidence in the US dollar. Silver also spiked, to a 31-year high, with investors turning to both metals as “safe havens” amid economic uncertainty and historically accommodative monetary policy. “The record price of gold is only coming [...]
Demand for tech stocks lifts Wall St April 6, 2011 THE S&P 500 index inched upward on relatively light volume yesterday, with investors adding to winning positions in technology stocks, but avoiding large bets ahead of corporate earnings due next week. After days of struggling, the broader market index broke above the closely watched 1,333 level. The next closely watched technical point is 1,344, the [...]
Fed split as QE2 set to continue April 5, 2011 DIVISIONS within the US Federal Reserve were exposed last night, with the news that senior officials clashed over the controversial second phase of quantitative easing – dubbed QE2. “A few participants indicated that economic conditions might warrant a move toward less-accommodative monetary policy this year,” the March minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) [...]
Rush for safety sees gold surge April 5, 2011 PRICES of spot gold notched a record high yesterday while Brent crude ended above $122 a barrel, at a 2-1/2 year high, as Middle East unrest and fears over Portugal fuelled a drive for safety. Brent crude prices rose as worries about supply from oil-producing countries in Africa and the Middle East overshadowed China’s rate [...]
FTSE lags over China’s rate hike and European debt fears April 5, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index edged lower yesterday as miners fell on concerns that an interest rate hike in China could hurt demand for metals and banks dropped on worries over European debt. The FTSE 100 closed down 9.92 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 6,007.06, having rallied 7.4 per cent off lows hit in March [...]